Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
What does your portfolio say about you, your skills, and the kind of photographer you want to become?
In this inspiring and practical lecture, Ian Spanier, former Photography Director for GQ, Esquire, Marie Claire, and ESPN, and an internationally recognized portrait photographer, shares his approach to building a portfolio that gets noticed and gets you hired.
Drawing from decades of photographing some of the world’s most recognizable celebrities, athletes, and personalities, as well as authoring four critically acclaimed books, Ian will reveal his strategies for selecting, sequencing, and showcasing your strongest work. Learn how to demonstrate versatility without diluting your vision, eliminate the images that hold your portfolio back, and make sure your best skills never end up on the cutting room floor.
Whether you’re building your first serious portfolio or refining one after years in the business, you’ll leave with practical tools and a clearer vision for how to impress clients, stand out from the competition, and create a portfolio that helps lead you toward the assignments you want to shoot.
➡️ Note: If you're in NYC and want to attend the demo in person, click here to RSVP for free! eventbrite.com/e/building-your-best-portfolio-the-foundation-for-success-tickets-1998375040541?aff=yt
More about the presenter ⤵️
Born in Connecticut and raised in Westchester, New York, Ian Spanier has had a lifelong interest in photography — since age 6, to be specific, when his parents gave him his first camera: a Kodak Disc. For two decades after, Ian did everything he could not to become a photographer — yet he somehow always found himself with camera in hand, composing pictures and telling stories.
In college, Ian majored in art and psychology, and his first career aspiration was to work in sports medicine as a trainer for a professional team. Even after he abandoned that plan in favor of photography, though, he spent much more of his time on the back end — as a magazine photo editor, assigning and organizing shoots rather than creating images himself. As the years passed, though, he found himself increasingly in the field and not behind a desk — and realized, however circuitously, that he had found his true calling after all.
These days, as comfortable hanging off the edge of a cliff as he is in the studio, Ian’s happy to go to just about any length to get the shot. He has long said that his brain doesn’t really have a “fear switch,” but there was always one exception: sharks. Not wanting to self- impose professional limitations, however, several years ago Ian took it upon himself to go to South Africa, submerge himself in a protective cage and go face-to-face with the Great White. This episode seems to have cured him of his phobia — a result perhaps psychology-major Ian could have shed some light on back in college.
Ian lives in Los Angeles full time now, and is available for assignments in New York, California... and any place else that’s accessible by plane, train, car, horse, dune buggy, bungee cord, camel or mule. If it can be reached by legs, hooves, hooks, wheels or wings, it’s fair game for an Ian Spanier shoot.
Ian Spanier's Website: ianspanier.com
Ian Spanier's Instagram: instagram.com/ianspanier/?hl=en
Ian Spanier's Facebook: facebook.com/ianspanierphoto
✨ Thank you to Westcott for sponsoring this event!
Check out all Westcott lighting products on Adorama.com here: adorama.com/brands/Westcott
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What does your portfolio say about you, your skills, and the kind of photographer you want to become?
In this inspiring and practical lecture, Ian Spanier, former Photography Director for GQ, Esquire, Marie Claire, and ESPN, and an internationally recognized portrait photographer, shares his approach to building a portfolio that gets noticed and gets you hired.
Drawing from decades of photographing some of the world’s most recognizable celebrities, athletes, and personalities, as well as authoring four critically acclaimed books, Ian will reveal his strategies for selecting, sequencing, and showcasing your strongest work. Learn how to demonstrate versatility without diluting your vision, eliminate the images that hold your portfolio back, and make sure your best skills never end up on the cutting room floor.
Whether you’re building your first serious portfolio or refining one after years in the business, you’ll leave with practical tools and a clearer vision for how to impress clients, stand out from the competition, and create a portfolio that helps lead you toward the assignments you want to shoot.
➡️ Note: If you're in NYC and want to attend the demo in person, click here to RSVP for free! eventbrite.com/e/building-your-best-portfolio-the-foundation-for-success-tickets-1998375040541?aff=yt
More about the presenter ⤵️
Born in Connecticut and raised in Westchester, New York, Ian Spanier has had a lifelong interest in photography — since age 6, to be specific, when his parents gave him his first camera: a Kodak Disc. For two decades after, Ian did everything he could not to become a photographer — yet he somehow always found himself with camera in hand, composing pictures and telling stories.
In college, Ian majored in art and psychology, and his first career aspiration was to work in sports medicine as a trainer for a professional team. Even after he abandoned that plan in favor of photography, though, he spent much more of his time on the back end — as a magazine photo editor, assigning and organizing shoots rather than creating images himself. As the years passed, though, he found himself increasingly in the field and not behind a desk — and realized, however circuitously, that he had found his true calling after all.
These days, as comfortable hanging off the edge of a cliff as he is in the studio, Ian’s happy to go to just about any length to get the shot. He has long said that his brain doesn’t really have a “fear switch,” but there was always one exception: sharks. Not wanting to self- impose professional limitations, however, several years ago Ian took it upon himself to go to South Africa, submerge himself in a protective cage and go face-to-face with the Great White. This episode seems to have cured him of his phobia — a result perhaps psychology-major Ian could have shed some light on back in college.
Ian lives in Los Angeles full time now, and is available for assignments in New York, California... and any place else that’s accessible by plane, train, car, horse, dune buggy, bungee cord, camel or mule. If it can be reached by legs, hooves, hooks, wheels or wings, it’s fair game for an Ian Spanier shoot.
Ian Spanier's Website: ianspanier.com
Ian Spanier's Instagram: instagram.com/ianspanier/?hl=en
Ian Spanier's Facebook: facebook.com/ianspanierphoto
✨ Thank you to Westcott for sponsoring this event!
Check out all Westcott lighting products on Adorama.com here: adorama.com/brands/Westcott
•••••••••••••••••••••••••
SUBSCRIBE TO ADORAMA EVENTS FOR MORE VIDEOS LIKE THIS
➡ youtube.com/@AdoramaEvents
•••••••••••••••••••••••••
Be the first to shop our great deals and sales by signing up for emails from Adorama!
adorama.com/MyAccount/Login
•••••••••••••••••••••••••
#portraitphotography #photographytips #adoramaevents
•••••••••••••••••••••••••
ADORAMA ACCOUNTS:
🔹 AdoramaTV youtube.com/@UC8Pksdbj37CdE00kmE7Z1dw
🔹 Adorama Cinema: youtube.com/@UC8G0imy9Ak4f4KVjJle9V-A
🔹 Shop adorama.com
🔹 TikTok tiktok.com/@adoramanyc
🔹 Facebook facebook.com/Adorama
🔹 Instagram instagram.com/adorama
🔹 Twitter https://x.com/adorama
🔹 Threads threads.net/@adorama
🔹 Blog adorama.com/alc
•••••••••••••••••••••••••
UNTIL NEXT TIME!
