Grouping your photos for presentation

There’s no point in taking photos if you’re not, in some way, shape or form, going to display them. This might be online, in albums, on your walls, or as a portfolio. But however you decide to do it, you need to think about to group together the right collection and right number of photos.

Group by theme, date, place, or just your favourites
The best way to show your images is as a ‘set.’ It is very easy to group a lot of similar images together, but this will diminish the overall impact of the series. Therefore, a little care is needed when choosing which pictures to put together—there is a definite skill to assembling a set of photographs that complement one another. There are a number of ways of grouping photos, such as by place, theme, date, or ‘favourites.’

Grouping by place

This can be by country, city, or perhaps even a particular street. Try mixing your photos up a little so the set contains a few portraits, landscapes, and detail shots to add variety.

Grouping by theme

There are many ways to group photos by theme, more than can be covered here. A few common examples might be to group portraits together, or landscapes, or perhaps images where the dominant color is blue—you can choose any theme you like.

Grouping by date

Most photo libraries automatically group images that are taken on the same date, and this can be a useful way of grouping and organising your photographs.
Place

Grouping by favourites

It is often a positive experience to group what you feel are your very best photos together, regardless of the subject or content. If you go back and do this on an annual basis, you may well see how you have improved as a photographer. Having a selection of your best work can also be helpful when you are trying to promote yourself.
When grouping your photographs it is worth thinking of them as mini portfolios of work. This means casting your eye over all the images you have that are suitable for a particular group and narrowing the selection down to a set of 20–30 of the best shots. If you’re grouping photos, it must be assumed that you intend to show them to other people, so you want the pictures you select to have real impact. With this in mind, make sure your set has variety—if you have three great shots of what is broadly the same scene, be ruthless and pick just one.
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Simple Scene Sensational Shot
Simon Bond
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