The creative industries are expanding more than five times faster than the overall economy, making now an excellent time to take a creative career. However, it is a highly competitive industry. For young graduates searching for work in photography, visual arts, or graphic design, designing a portfolio is a critical part of finding employment, either as a salaried professional or a freelancer.

Wondering why it is so important to have a strong portfolio? Lauren Bradshaw, a professional essay writer from CustomWritings.com, says that a strong portfolio is not only to have all your works in one place, but it can assist graduates in showcasing their best work, demonstrating creativity, and exposing their work to prospective clients and employers. In addition, a portfolio is indeed a great way to demonstrate the technical ability of those who do not yet have relevant experience.

So, if you’re still filling out college applications, and scholarships, or already have started looking for a job, this guide will aid you in creating an excellent student portfolio.

Grab 3 Photography Project Ideas For Students 

A great portfolio starts with a great photography project. Here are a few interesting photography project ideas for students. 

Documenting One’s Life

Since Instagram’s inception in 2010, many high school students have turned to photography to record their lives. High school students who pick up a camera have plenty of chances to display their skills, from zeroing in on friends’ faces to describing hike activities and music events.

When you’re unsure where to begin, look for Instagram hashtags such as #HighSchoolProject and #HSP (for High School Photography), chat with your fellow students, or ask your college English teacher whether any particular themes just might inspire you.

You could also try photographing various objects in your home in the summers, such as snacks on your dining table or journals dispersed around your room.

Urban Exploration

If you’re interested in old buildings, metro systems, or other uninhabited structures or camps, urban exploration is a wonderful initiative to try. Not only will you have a plethora of areas to visit in a relatively small area (cosmopolitans are your best option here), but it can also be a lot of fun to take photos in hidden places that most individuals never see.

But always ask permission to enter any location you’re not allowed to be, and always leave the areas accurately as you encounter them.

Capturing an illegal photograph may land you in a difficult situation with criminal justice and make things more difficult for many other photographers who have good relationships with landowners.

Self-Portraits

Getting out of your personal bubble, photograph yourself doing something you’re nervous about or have never done previously. You can even put these photos in a photo book and turn them into a time capsule or open it after high school to reflect on what was going on in your life at the time.

If you’re not feeling brave, try photographing objects (such as pencils) from various angles than what is usually seen while holding them.

Be creative and have fun with it!

Top 3 Best Cameras For Photography Students

Here are a few cameras for photography students. 

Canon M50

The Canon M50 is an excellent, reasonably priced mirrorless camera ideal for beginning photographers. 

For starters, it demonstrates that a high-quality camera does not have to cost more than $1,000. Second, it’s dynamic because users can use it to take stunning photos as well as 4K videos.

Panasonic Lumix G7 

Another great camera that won’t break the bank. It will provide you with a smooth experience with high-quality pictures.

This would be the main rival of the Canon M50, and there is a heated debate online as to which camera is superior. 

However, this Panasonic is an excellent choice because it costs a fraction of the cost of a high-end camera. It’s an excellent option for a student who is just getting started in photography and does not require professional equipment.

Sony A6400

This is yet another excellent camera, albeit a little more expensive. (However, in the photography world, the term “expensive” is relative, and it is still regarded as a mid-range camera.) It’s something you’d want to have if you had a semi-pro camera and wanted to take your photography to the next level.

This is a popular tool among videographers because it produces crisp 4k videos. The camera is slightly larger than the first two things on this list. But it’s still indeed very easy to control, and it’s not heavy, so you can use it for a long time if necessary. The grip is slightly larger, giving you the impression that you’re using professional equipment.

How to Master Your Skills? – Join a Photography Challenge For Students

Are you up for a photography challenge? Pick one of the themes down below and start working!

Up Close 

This task encourages you to become acquainted with your subject. It is a practice of looking at a familiar object in a new light and inspecting its finer details.

  • Choose an item that you can see or engage with on a daily basis.
  • Concentrate on a small portion of it, get as close to it as your camera will enable, and shoot away.
  • To add to the wonder of this tiny little world, try and capture multiple perspectives and unusual lighting.

Seize Movement 

Photography is a stationary medium, meaning it does not move. However, expressing a sense of movement is frequently critical to capturing a situation or emotion, and it is a skill that photographers must practice.

This experiment aims to learn how to use shutter speeds to communicate motion.

Select a subject or subjects which will allow you to express motion throughout your images.

It can be slow motion, such as a turtle, or moving images, such as a speeding train.

Blur it, cease it, or plainly imply there is movement in the image.

Shadows 

Shadows are all around us, and they are essential to photographers since it is the skill of capturing light. Light creates shadows, and the world will expand once you start looking at shadows as a photographer.

Look all around you for shadows and capture them with your camera.

You could make the shadow the main focus of the picture. But, on the other hand, maybe the shadow is a byproduct of the subject, so you can include that as well. 

This article gave interesting photography portfolio ideas for students. In addition, you can find several photography challenges in this article and a list of affordable cameras for students.