Photography Portfolio Websites That Are Just Breathtaking

If you are striving to become a professional photographer, we’ve got good news and bad news.

The bad news is that there are over 3 billion people who own smartphones with a built-in camera. That’s a lot of competition.

The good news is that of the trillions of photographs floating around the web, none of them are very good. In fact, most of them are truly, objectively terrible.

But your photos are fantastic. And because of that, they deserve a good home; a public pedestal on which to parade them – like your very own professional photography portfolio website.

Photography portfolio websites have the sole purpose of showcasing the work of photographers in a beautiful manner.

Keep reading more about this topic in this article created by our team at Visual Composer and discover how to build a breathtaking photography portfolio website by learning from the best.

So, What Is A Photography Portfolio in The First Place?

Photography portfolio websites are essentially virtual galleries where photographers can showcase their best work. Unlike traditional paper-based portfolios, an electronic portfolio can give you the chance to expand your audience globally and connect with potential clients in an instant.

All self-respecting photographers have their own portfolio displayed someplace on the Internet. And thanks to easy-to-use website platforms like WordPress, you too can become an international photographer with your very own professional photography portfolio.

Why Would You Need a Photography Portfolio?

Before moving on to the tips we’ve gathered for you, let’s talk about why you need a photography portfolio in the first place.

As an aspiring pro photographer, you can’t showcase your work by printing photographs and meeting people in person to hand them the printed materials. It would be too much of a hassle and the audience would be extremely limited.

By creating a virtual photography portfolio, you can expand to larger audiences and showcase your work without having to print it out and mail it individually to each client. Your work will be there online, at any given time, accessible from all possible locations.

An online photography portfolio is a must for all people working in this field, as it can act as a business card that may convince people to work with you.

These days, websites are used to create personal brands, and you can use a special photography portfolio website for the same purpose, as long as you spend some time making it unique to your personal style.

What makes your work different than other photographers out there? Find out and use your individual strengths to create a unique website that people will remember you by.

Another reason why you might want to move to the virtual world would be the reduction of costs. Printing portfolios can get costly, especially if potential clients want to keep your portfolio with them for future reference.

That client might not even hire you, but you spent time and money to print that portfolio for them. With a website, you simply copy and paste a link.

Some Photography Portfolio Examples for Inspiration

If you’re still not convinced that you need a photography portfolio website, here are some examples that will definitely stir your interest:

CharlieShotMe

CharlieShotMe is a photography portfolio created using Visual Composer. Once you access the website, you will be greeted by a stunning full-size image that instantly captures your attention.

The layout of the website is pretty simple but extremely effective. Users can navigate the site intuitively and each photograph is carefully described.

As for design, the website uses the same color scheme and the photographs complement this color scheme. From this standpoint, we can say that CharlieShotMe is also a branded website.

Check out our post on Color and Color Palettes so you can achieve the perfect look too.

OlyaKobruseva

This is a clean and minimalist photography portfolio website. It is responsive and modern-looking, doing exactly what it has to do – showcase OlyaKobruseva’s work in the field of photography. The website is easy to navigate as it is based on a slider system.

You can choose between 15 different galleries that the website owner uploaded. The images will show up in one column as you click. The website also has a “back to the top” button which is very useful with this layout.

Chris Fiddrich

Chris Fiddrich has a very memorable photography portfolio. He specializes in taking pictures of nature and human portraits. His work resembles the pictures you would normally hang above the couch in your living room.

Chris is a hobby photographer, but his website opened many doors for him.

Philip Heuser

Another photography website that would impress anyone, Philip Heuser’s portfolio is based on the motto “discover something new every day”, but don’t forget to take your camera with you, so that others can see the beauty through your own eyes.

Philip is a true artist and that is expressed through his beautiful, very diverse website.

Daniel Kordan

Daniel Kordan showcases his stunning work on this photography website that’s full of life. We say that because Daniel loves to photograph nature and the essence of Earth.

Daniel is a former quantum physics student, but he also studied art and he is fascinated by photography. His work has been featured by popular magazines such as National Geographic.

Aralani Photography

The moment you click this link you’ll figure out how Ara works. This photography portfolio is a joy to explore, as it is very well organized and aesthetic.

You can choose between different portfolio categories and check out testimonials. The prices for photography services are also listed on the blog. Everything is carefully detailed and sensibly laid out.

Kate Holstein

Finally, Kate Hostein is the proud owner of one of the few photography portfolio websites that combine photos from all sorts of categories into one, well-composed site. On Kate’s website, you can see landscape, wedding, and travel photographs.

Kate Hostein is mostly known for her landscape pictures.

A Precious Tip – Building Your Own Portfolio

To create your own photography portfolio website without investing a lot of effort into it, it’s always recommended to use a theme that you can build upon.

The internet is full of online themes that people can use without having to hire a web designer to put together their site’s layout. If you use WordPress or another popular Content Manager System, you’ll be able to find many pre-made themes to start with.

Here are some examples that you can choose from:

Visual Composer Starter Theme

Visual Composer Starter theme aims to be your fast and simple solution to create a website. The theme is easy to use thanks to the intuitive theme options and layout customization tools. The theme is free to download.

You can launch your own portfolio site and spread the words around your work with well-structured case studies and hero images.

Uncode

Not a fan of coding? Use Uncode, the theme that adds all the features you would need to your website. It is a flexible theme and many photographers use it to exhibit their work.

Uncode has great gallery layouts that are perfect for all types of photographers. The theme is also WooCommerce-ready if you plan to convert your website to an online store. Uncode is popular for creating all kinds of photography portfolio websites, so you should give it a try.

Photosy

Photosy has a similar story. It is a theme that lets you customize the layout of your website when you combine it with WP Bakery Page Builder. The plugin will give you access to special features that can be very helpful for a photographer designing their first photo gallery.

As you build your portfolio, you’ll be able to choose from different header styles. Photosy is highly customizable which means you can definitely use it as your photography portfolio website’s main theme.

Novo

Novo has a built-in default page that contains all the details you would want to know about a website. This theme is quite crowded, so if you want something minimal, this might not be it. You can use Novo if you are a dynamic photographer that switches style often.

This theme is highly customizable and lets you choose between 20 different templates that you can personalize the way you want to respect your website’s needs and requirements.

FatMoon

FatMoon is a perfect theme for photography sites because it has an artsy look to it. You can set up your portfolio and tweak it to your heart’s desire. It’s beginner-friendly and you won’t have to work with any code to change features.

TheGem

TheGem includes no less than 40 demo concept templates to get started with. You can use the 150 page layouts to personalize your portfolio further.

This theme is mostly appreciated by freelancers, people who work in the art field, architects, and people who work in the digital industry (including photographers).

Whizz

To end this list gloriously, we need to mention Whizz. It is a simple theme that comes equipped with 16 album layouts, which is more than enough for photography portfolio websites. You can choose between 22 gallery layouts as well, to showcase your photos beautifully.

You can also download other galleries and include them in this theme.

Ending thoughts on these photography portfolio websites

Now that you know why you need to invest in a photography portfolio website and you’ve gathered enough inspiration from other websites, it’s time to focus on your own. The themes listed here should represent a good starting point for any photographer.

Your journey becomes that much greater from the moment you showcase your work to the large public. Even though you’ll have to spend some time to get your online portfolio ready, you’ll be happy you did it when you can share the link with whoever wants to know more about your work.

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