If you want to give a presentation of your artwork online which converts to sales, you need a portfolio website. This type of website is optimal for professionals in the niches of photography, digital art, creative writing, music and more.
It may seem that creating an appealing and easy-to-browse portfolio website takes an expert. Well, indeed, powering a modern animated portfolio from scratch is not that easy unless you’re versed in working with WordPress and HTML/CSS code.
But don’t worry! You can skip all the portfolio creation difficulties if you go for ready-made WordPress photography themes. These themes include all the functionality you need to power a compelling portfolio of your projects right out of the box.
Today, we feature a round-up of 10 best portfolio templates created for photographers. We’ve also singled out what we like most about each of these themes. Use our suggestions as tips concerning what to pay attention to, while choosing a present-day WordPress photography theme.
1. Go For a WYSIWYG Theme
Source: Catch Co – Photo Studio Elementor WordPress Theme
Both newbies and people versed in web design agree that creating a WordPress site with a WYSIWYG builder is way quicker. A modern visual builder lets you get the full control over your website layouts and content without touching a single string of code. Just take a look at Catch Co WordPress theme. This template incorporates a gorgeous filterable Gallery page, animated elements, 7 header styles, MegaMenu, etc. But most importantly, it lets you customize the theme’s pre-built layouts with the help of visual Elementor Builder. To create the photography website of your dreams, just add new blocks using JetElements presets and customize these presets with ease using just your mouse.
Other features:
- Fully Responsive;
- 4 Blog Layouts;
- Cherry Plugins;
- 24/7 Support.
2. Consider A Split-screen Website
Source: Portfolio Fashion Photographer
Competition in the photography niche online is tough. To differentiate yourself from the crowd, go for a bold split-screen website. Currently, split-screen layouts are white-hot trendy. They help you maximize user’s focus on important areas thanks to the combination of negative space and vertical divides. Portfolio Fashion Photographer is a great example of a winning split-screen design above the fold. With it, your website will open up making a statement and immediately establishing you as a professional. The appeal of this theme grows further when users scroll down and get engaged viewing the animated cards gallery of your works.
Other features:
- One-page Structure;
- Working Contact Form;
- On-scroll Animated Gallery;
- Fully Responsive.
3. Capitalize On Creative Font Use
Source: Richard Gore – Writer Portfolio Elementor Template
Using creative fonts and lettering gives you yet another opportunity to demonstrate your sense of style and visual harmony. As photography websites center heavily around imagery and visual elements, using a creative custom font or two will help you establish the unique vibe of your online presence. Richard Gore theme offers you a rich collection of over 800+ pre-built fonts, which you can use to make your content stand out. Moreover, customizing the appearance of your captions and previewing them won’t take much time as you can accomplish it within the easy-to-grasp interface of Elementor Builder.
Other features:
- Five Professional Jet Plugins Included;
- Engaging Tab Layouts;
- Modular Theme Structure;
- Multiple Header and Footer Presets.
4. Boost Your SEO With A Blog
Source: Melissa – Photography Elementor WordPress Theme
As you browse the portfolio themes on the web, you’ll see that not each of them includes a full-blown Blog page. However, if you want to boost your site’s visibility online, you’ve got to take advantage of powering a fully-functional WordPress blog. Melissa is a consummate portfolio WordPress theme with strong blogging functionality. It includes several pre-made Blog layouts and lets you display your posts in the most attractive way. Moreover, with strong SEO options onboard, it lets you take full control over your posts’ metadata, which further enhances the position of your portfolio on SERPs.
Other features:
- Elementor Builder;
- All Imagery Included;
- One-click Installation;
- WordPress Live Customizer.
5. Choose A Theme With Multiple Gallery Variations
Source: Lense
What matters most in any photography website? Of course, its Gallery! If you use a theme with multiple trendy Gallery layouts, you’ll definitely find the one that nails it down. Lense is the WordPress photography theme including 6 astounding animated Gallery presets. Among them, you’ll find the hand-crafted Scroller Gallery and Slider Gallery layouts, which let you turn the way you present your photos into a piece of cake. Moreover, the unique layouts of Lense are specially optimized for mobile devices. Your users will be able to explore the content with the flick of their fingers.
Other features:
- Complete Color Control;
- Gorgeous Full-screen Display;
- Compatible with Elementor, Divi and Beaver Builder;
- Built-in Gallery Uploader.
6. Consider A Photography Landing Page
Source: Photography Landing Page
If you have a photography-related offer that you want to promote, consider powering a landing page for it. The minimal design of a landing page strips all the distractions away and lets your users concentrate on what you’re offering to them right now. Photography theme that you see above is a good example of a minimal photographer landing page. It offers your contact information and centers around promoting a single offer. Special attention is given to optimizing and smartly placing CTA buttons, which ensures higher conversion and better lead generation.
Other features:
- FontAwesome Icons;
- 600+ Google Fonts;
- Fully Responsive;
- Slider Image Gallery.
7. Go For A Gutenberg Theme
Source: Gutenberg Agency WordPress Theme
Do you want to use the new distraction-free Gutenberg editor for creating your web presence? Then, you can’t miss on a portfolio theme that supports this new-gen editor. Gutenberg Agency theme lets you build an attractive modern portfolio within days with Gutenberg. Moreover, this theme includes a collection of pre-made Gutenberg Blocks for building engaging content. With these blocks, you can insert, rearrange, and style multimedia content with very little technical knowledge.
Other features:
- Advanced Backgrounder Blocks;
- Engaging Block Animation;
- One Click XML Demo Import;
- LazyLoad Content Animation;
- Parallax Effect.
8. Take Advantage Of Pre-built Plugins
Source: Photto – Photographer Blog Elementor WordPress Design
If you want to have a strong and usable web presence as a photographer, make sure that the theme you choose has rich functionality. It should come with a number of pre-built plugins that boost user experience on your website. Photto theme has a minimal conceptual look underpinned by strong functionality. First of all, this template includes Elementor builder and two premium Jet plugins: JetElements and JetBlog. Thanks to Jet Blog plugin you can build a unique blog, using 7 post formats and 10 custom post layouts. Moreover, this theme includes Cherry Socialize plugin which lets you introduce your Instagram profile in any widget area of your website.
Other features:
- 7 Blog Layouts;
- WPML-ready;
- WordPress Live Customizer;
- Ecwid E-store Support.
9. Don’t Forget About Strong Social Options
Source: Simpleblog
Want to spread the word about your photography skills? You won’t be able to do this effectively without the help of social networks. If you have strong social integration options on your website, this will help you grow your follower count and client base on social media. Simpleblog is a universal photography and blogging WordPress theme that can work miracles with powerful social options. It features social buttons in the site’s sidebar and footer. It also has hard-to-miss social share buttons under your posts. And finally, Simpleblog offers you a custom widget to winningly display your Instagram feed in the site’s sidebar.
Other features:
- MegaMenu;
- Ready-made Newsletter Subscription Form;
- Multiple content display types;
- Custom Widgets.
10. Engage With Parallax Effect
Source: David Kraemar – Photographer WordPress Theme
Parallax backgrounds don’t seem to lose their popularity. Combined with modern design and content animation, they foster higher user engagement and increase immersion while users are browsing your website. David Kraemar is a theme that makes the most out of Parallax. It has the backgrounds of your sections ‘glued’ to the screen while users scroll down your website. Moreover, this theme incorporates engaging content microinteractions, which further increase its appeal. So, with David Kraemar, your portfolio will appear highly stylish, modern and uncompromising.
Other features:
- 4 Alternative Blog Layouts;
- Translation-ready;
- WordPress Social Login;
- Elementor and Jet Elements.
Wrapping Up
You’ve just reviewed our suggestions and best picks for a modern photographer portfolio. The themes we presented all incorporate vital elements to power a high-converting photographer website. They feature best WYSIWYG builders, additional plugins, custom layouts and engagement boosters, ensuring that your online portfolio stays on the top of web design innovation.
We hope that this collection of latest photography themes gives you a good idea of how a present-day photography website should look like. Do you have any other portfolio design tips you’d like to share? Speak up in the Comments section below.
If you would like to check out some website building services we recommend, click here.
