Portfolio question

[Jemma87]

hi all,
i was wondering do i need to hold a certificate in photography before i can actually start a portfolio???

[Nicole]

Nope, all you need to start a portfolio are enough good shots to put in it. A portfolio isn't going to be static, and it can change and grow just as you do in your skills.

I would suggest full certification in photographic analysis, a credential in imaging naming schematics and a masters degree in file managing and district restructuring.

[x_eternity_x]

Gotta go with MaxHarvard here.

J/K. A portfolio is simply a collection of images which shows your work to a specific clientele--it is your credentials. There are people with amazing portfolios who have never taken an official photography class in their lives--they still get the jobs because the portfolio drives the work (obviously marketing and other things play a big role, but you get my point). To make a portfolio, all you need are the right pictures and a target audience.

[BCampbell]

Ideally, your work will be good enough that nobody cares what other pieces of paper you do or don't have.

[LeeR]

When I first got out of college I applied for a job as a photographer at the local paper. I felt like I was taking a job beneath my abilities because I had been trained as an 'artist.' When I got the the photo section of the paper and saw the images on the wall I knew I was stooping because nothing on their wall of "Great Images" compared to the artistic qualities of my work. I just knew the paper would be thrilled to have someone with my training on board...then I met the photo editor.
He asked just one question, "Where have you worked before?"
"Nowhere," I said, "I just graduated from college; here is my degree and my portfolio."
"Those don't mean anything to me," he said, letting the air our of my ego, "We only want to know that you can meet a deadline. You would have been far bettter off to have worked at a small paper for free than to have spent all that money on college."
And so, my newspaper career ended before it began. I did learn to make money with my camera, but I never again waved my degree like it was something special. Whether you are calling on editors or art directors or anyone else for that matter, all they want to know is; what have you done before?

[tan2sie6]

I guess it all depends on your place where you are from. For example, in my country nobody cares for such things. Here you will never need things like a certificate to get yr job done....

[Jemma87]

thanks everybody!!!!!
Tan i live in australia.

[FrankLamont]

Of course not; quite a large amount of photographers would be out of business if one even needed a degree to work in the photographic field.