What will be expected of an "amateur" photographer's portfolio at an open house?

Question

I will be attending an open house at the Center for Photography in NYC. Part of the open house includes the offer of reviewing portfolios in order to see where prospective students might best be placed.

I have some digital photos from the past couple of years, but they are mostly the same type: buildings, nature, sculptures. I don't have many photos of people (I'm not good at people pics)... So, not much diversity, and not much time to get the diversity.

I guess since this will just be an open house, I'll get some feedback there, but I'd also like to make a good impression from the get go.

Answer 1

They will most likely be looking for a few things:

Did you follow basic rules of photography?  I.e., the rule of thirds (see source link if you don't know what it is), composition of the picture, correct exposure, correct lighting, whether it's in focus, etc.

Did you try different things, or is all of your photography the same?  If you use the same angle, or if all of your photography is in landscape format (as opposed to portrait), it doesn't look good in a portfolio.  To someone critiquing your portfolio, it comes off as a lack of creativity.  Make sure you have a mix of black and whites AND color pictures, different angles, different subjects, etc. You don't want a portfolio full of just architecture.

Is there an apparent theme in your pictures?  If you are able to convey an emotion or an idea through a photograph, it looks very good in your portfolio.  Much better than "I took a picture of this statue because it looked cool..."

Good luck, and don't worry too much about it--I'm sure you'll do great!