It’s finally here! How to Create Your Own Photography Portfolio Website in 10 Minutes or Less

January 17, 2012 46 Comments

I have been working to find the ideal photography portfolio website for years, and I think I have finally found the perfect solution for me.  In this video, I share with you the 9 Deadly Sins of Photography Portfolio Websites, and a step-by-step solution for creating a stunningly beautiful photography website of your own!  To see the website I created, go to Jim Harmer photography (still under some construction).  To learn about what makes a great photography portfolio site, and to see how to create one of your own, watch the video below!

Further Reading:

Business of Photography
Avatar of Jim Harmer

About Jim Harmer

Landscape photographer, author of six photography instructional books, writer of daily photography tips at Improve Photography, and all around geek. follow me on Google Plus and check out my About Me page.
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46 Responses to “It’s finally here! How to Create Your Own Photography Portfolio Website in 10 Minutes or Less”

  1. Avatar of Jim Harmer
    Jim Harmer January 19, 2012 at 12:12 AM

    @Joel – If you just follow the steps in the video, you’ll be set up to create the site using wordpress….

  2. Avatar of Jim Harmer
    Jim Harmer January 19, 2012 at 12:13 AM

    @Joel – Gotcha. I read the second comment now. I was wondering what was going on!

  3. Kieran O'Connor January 20, 2012 at 3:49 AM

    Great tutorial Jim, I have just one question.
    Do I need to have a pro account on wordpress to install a custom theme?
    Currently I have a simple testing blog and I don’t see an option to “install theme” like I did on your video.
    I’m very interested in going this route as I’m looking for a change from my smugmug site.

  4. JB January 20, 2012 at 10:38 AM

    Great site, great video.

    But I think it’s a bit funny that your site is “still under some construction” after boasting “how to build a web site in 10 minutes”

  5. Barnowl January 21, 2012 at 9:10 PM

    Hi Jim
    Really like you tutorial – was ready to roll with you on this one as am looking to find an easy web build. Decided to check reviews on Hostmonster. Was a bit taken aback by the reviews I read:
    http://webhostinggeeks.com/user-reviews/hostmonster/
    Anything you can add to put my mind at rest?

  6. Avatar of Jim Harmer
    Jim Harmer January 21, 2012 at 9:54 PM

    All I can say is that I’ve tried several hosting companies and Hostmonster is the only one I’ve been happy with for shared hosting. I call their support and they actually pick up the phone, they have a great price, website runs fast, NEVER had the server down, etc. I’ve tried several other companies that stunk, but I’ve loved Hostmonster for the last 3 years that I’ve been a paying customer.

  7. Christina Yates January 21, 2012 at 10:13 PM

    Thank you SO much for this video! I’ve been dying to get this done, and finally did it! (you’re welcome for the commissions! lol)

  8. Barnowl January 21, 2012 at 11:45 PM

    Thanks Jim – appreciate your response.
    While waiting for your response I checked out SmugMug’s free trial – and got SO confused! I’ll be happy to follow your tute.

  9. Tracie January 22, 2012 at 12:11 PM

    I am having difficulty downloading. When I choose the wordpress-3.3.1.zip to upload I receive a message that states, “The theme is missing the style.css stylesheet.” The video I watched did not go through all of these extra steps. I was hoping for a 10 minute website creation and this has turned into a 2 hour venture for me. Though, this is normal for me as computers and I do not get along. Can anyone shed some light on the missing steps of the video? Thanks in advance.

  10. Tracie January 22, 2012 at 12:14 PM

    Also, do I need to install PHP (whatever that is)?

    Thanks again

  11. Avatar of Jim Harmer
    Jim Harmer January 23, 2012 at 6:28 AM

    @Tracie – If you just follow along with the video, you’ll see that you don’t need to take any additional steps like installing PHP as long as you go the route I described. Enjoy!

  12. Kat January 25, 2012 at 6:40 PM

    Jim, I have not been happy with the website building company I have been using for the past year. No matter how much time or effort I put into it, it never shows my work the way it should be showed. I think after watching your video I’ll be looking at switching over to hostmonster. I’ve been looking for the right site to switch to for a couple of months now, thanks for help!!!
    ~kat

  13. Joel Cyr January 26, 2012 at 3:49 PM

    Jim,
    One thing I just realized is that the Google ad words credit that host monster gives you is actually a credit anyone can get on any site. It doesn’t matter who you go with. I don’t know if this is a good to include as a “selling feature” if that is the case. But I did sign-up with host monster and have absolutely adored their customer service. So I thank you for the great advice.

  14. Stephanie Henderson February 2, 2012 at 9:36 PM

    Jim,
    I was looking at SmugMug for the online gallery for clients to view images… Can you have an online gallery on this website?!?

  15. MAX mARTIN February 7, 2012 at 4:32 PM

    Jim,Followed and set up a site as per your recomendations. Problem i cannot find an answer for:
    When i upload a jpg it is totaly changed in color from what is in the file, darkened, just wrong. There is no wordpress support, that is disappointing.

  16. Mark Day February 8, 2012 at 10:39 AM

    Hi Jim, Many thanks for this. Replicating Stephanie’s question (Feb 2). Any idea if this theme works for a clients password protected area – say for portrait clients to view their individual galleries?

    Don’t want to push too much but was wondering how things are progressing with part 2 of the video?

  17. Michele Rogers February 8, 2012 at 9:26 PM

    I was trying to follow this video to set up a website for myself, but when I go to the themes option on wordpress, there is no option to upload a custom theme. Do I need to have a paid wordpress? Please help, thanks! :)

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