Workflow

Travel Photography Workflow and Gallery Necessities

J

osh Newton, a CloudSpot user and an internationally known wedding photographer, has a cinematic approach to his work. Taking images of vast landscapes and incorporating nature into his work is what he’s known for best. His work has been featured on Jimmy Fallon, Good Morning America, and The Today Show. He’s been published in Time Magazine, People Magazine, Buzzfeed, Style Me Pretty, The Knot, and Wedding Style. Travel and destination weddings are a big part of his photography world. Getting to meet new people, learn about others' love stories, and see the world is why he does wedding photography. He’s worked professionally in the photography industry for 17 years and brings a unique style and approach to weddings.

With travel photography, Josh had to find an online gallery system that worked for him on the go. Something that was mobile-friendly and easy to find gallery and portfolio links, so he can provide a seamless experience to his clients while traveling. He has come to love CloudSpot as his gallery of choice!

In this blog, you'll learn some of Josh's favorite CloudSpot features, how he accesses galleries on the go, and the way he sets up his portfolio for new prospecting clients. Take it away, Josh!

Gallery Necessities for Travel Photographers

1. Niche-Specific, Online Portfolio

One of my favorite features of CloudSpot is the ability to make a very professional-looking, curated, and unique portfolio page. While I would love to tell you that I stay on top of updating my website and frequently put my most recent work up, in reality, it’s one of those things that hasn’t been a huge priority in my photography career (I’m sure you can relate). I shoot a wide variety of commercial projects, travel photography, weddings, and musicians. With all of the new content I’m producing, it’s difficult to update my website as much as I’d like and I don’t necessarily want everything I photograph on it all at once.

I’ve been lucky to work with a lot of professional brands like Amazon, Canon, Warner Brothers, and Hyatt - and I don’t want to send them to my wedding website when they ask for my portfolio. The other week I didn’t win a $20,000 bid from Adobe because an agency representative sent them the wrong website. The Adobe rep literally said, “Oh, he looks like he’s a wedding photographer.” Just as a bride doesn’t want to necessarily hire a photographer who claims to also be a pet photographer, as they want their photographer to be just as obsessed with their wedding as they are, a larger brand wants the person they hire to specialize in the style of photography they’re wanting.

Just recently, I sent a well-known wine brand my commercial portfolio page and it’s what pushed them to choose me as the creator for their project! What’s amazing about CloudSpot’s Portfolio page is that you can create as many categories as you want, and you can choose which galleries show under each category and pick a key photo that represents that gallery well. You can see my commercial portfolio below.

As you can see, I’ve created multiple categories for my work, and you can send a prospective client a link to whatever category you want to create.

2. Mobile-Friendly Admin Dashboards and Client Galleries

Throughout my career, I’ve been lucky to photograph a lot of destination weddings, international brands, and travel photography. I’ve been to over 44 countries and almost all of the United States for work. Last year, I got hired to photograph 15 National Parks by Booking.com and it was an absolute dream come true for me. Growing up in Alaska and having a wildlife or landscape photographer as a father, National Parks have always held a special place in my heart. They are where I recharge, rest, and recuperate from a crazy wedding season. There is nothing like backpacking in the mountains, swimming in a freezing lake in the middle of Montana, or making dinner over a fire. That said, I’m on the go most of the time and I don’t always have access to my computer or good wifi.

That brings me to my second favorite feature of CloudSpot - they’re an INCREDIBLE mobile version of their system available right in my browser! I can’t tell you how often I’ve been frustrated by other gallery companies when a client asks for a quick change, wants their link again, or wants me to create a gallery of their favorites to send to their friends.

You can do everything on your phone with CloudSpot that you can with a computer, and that to me is absolutely incredible. They’ve done a fantastic job at creating a mobile version that is intuitive, easy to use, and does everything I need it to. I get a good amount of inquiries on the go and creating a unique gallery to send prospective clients makes it easier for me to get booked quickly.

Without CloudSpot, I would not be able to work and live my passions as a travel photographer. If you're ready to get started with CloudSpot, use my referral link and get 50% off your first 12 months when you upgrade.