Reference Shots
square point of view
The above photo was one of a suite of images I took of a municipal library and city hall block in California one sunny day. And by sunny, I mean over 100 degrees. I noticed the clarity of the air kept showing up, giving the sky a layered filtered blue many photographers labor with their Photoshop to deliver.
This shot has multiple uses in my portfolio. It demonstrates my ability to take exteriors, find an attractive architectural dimension, compose a shot without people in it, and find my own material. This is one of many images I might include in a resume type gallery of photographs showing the range I am capable of.
Social marketing and email marketing all happen when working to promote microstock sales and image acceptance. If people are communicating with you online, they cannot afford to make any assumptions about your talent or capabilities. You must demonstrate this via your work. Your competitors will be doing it!
No flashy discussion of luminescence and lens aperture detracts from the shot. The head-on perspective and no-nonsense point of view make it an excellent choice for a linear website composition or newsletter. This photo suggests to a potential client what other pictures of subject matter they have in their head that might be taken.
The color blue in the silhouette make this shot focus practically a landscape. The crop-up value of the sky and the portico with trellis shadow adds value potential inside the image. Depending on how much the resolution can be accommodated into the destination media, the crispness will translate into a site or print publication.
This shot makes a very good reference link when I discuss potential new work. It does not matter that the date I took this picture no client was commissioning it. The purpose of adding this image to my microstock portfolio was to supplement my best image taking with a variety of styles and compositions.
Being able to indicate potential shots cuts down on problems in freelance photography. It gives the client room to say, I want “not so much sky”, or “just like that” or “more flowers and gardens”, whatever. This is excellent on-the-record communication to have in the event of media delivery conflict and negative response.
Making a plain public building look dramatic and centrally featured does not come naturally to everyone. Good keywords for this would be building, park, sky, public building, library, public libary, city hall and Simi Valley.
