Deadline to submit September 26, 2026
〰️
Deadline to submit September 26, 2026 〰️
MPC Website Info
Here’s some quick info about the site:
Our domains:
www.marin-photographer.com
www.marinphotographer.net
www.bestmarinphotographer.com
Banners
I have taken the liberty to use a few of my Marin-centric photos for the banners. I am not going to credit myself, or any other photos in these areas of the site. They are meant to emphasize our location, be clean and simple so we can have text on top. If you think you have a good landscape of Marin that you think would work well as one of the banners, send it over. Reminder: To keep things fair, there will be no credit on the banners.
Categories
I am going to pull an image for each category and prefer to use a wide variety of images in this area. When I find time throughout the year, I occasionally will swap them out. If you do not want me to use any of your images in this area please let me know. These thumbnails will not have a credit.
SEO
I have spent some time improving our SEO over the last year. We are doing better each day. Please follow the specific instructions below on image naming and bio length to help improve our SEO.
BACK LINKS
Backlinks also improve our SEO. If you are going to be on the website, we prefer that you put our logo and a link to this site on your website. Most of the members put it in the footer. You can also add it to your contact page.
Cost
Annual fee to be on the site is $50.
September updates to your page are $25. Updates are optional.
Venmo payment to @Gina-Risso.
FOLLOW THE STEPS BELOW IN THE SAME ORDER TO SUBMIT YOUR ASSETS AND INFO.
1
DRIVE
Create a folder with your first and last name in the shared Google Drive.
Already have a folder? If you’d like to update your portfolio this year, clear out last year’s images.
2
PORTFOLIO
Curate 17 images for your page on the website.
Images should be sized at 1000px long side @ 300 dpi
Naming Your Images for SEO
To help our group rank higher on Google, please rename your image files before uploading. Properly named photos make it much easier for clients to find your work online.
To save you time, we have a custom tool that formats your filenames automatically! Just go to yourportfoliolab.com and open Your Filename Lab.
🛠️ Manual Naming Rules:
If you prefer to name them by hand, keep it simple:
Lowercase only: No capital letters.
Dashes only: Use hyphens (-), never spaces or underscores (_).
Be descriptive: Use the specific town, spot, or sf-bay-area, followed by your details and a 2–4 word description of the photo.
Keep image names under 50 characters.
💡 Quick Examples:
san-rafael-jane-doe-weddings-bride-groom-portrait.jpg
muir-woods-john-smith-landscapes-redwoods-sunset.jpg
sf-bay-area-alex-jones-portraits-family-stinson-beach.jpg
Please use the tool or rename your files manually before uploading. It takes just seconds but makes a massive difference for our site's online visibility!
Upload your images to your folder in the google drive.
Image Curation
If you’re having a tough time narrowing it down to just 17 images, you’re not alone. This is often one of the hardest tasks for a professional photographer. We have emotional ties to our images—we know what it took to make them, and we each have favorites for countless reasons. However, those choices don’t always create the strongest or most accurate summary of your work.
If you’re feeling stuck or unsure which images to choose, there are two options to help you get there.
Image Curation Service
I offer image curation for this site for a fee of $95. You can upload 50-70 images into a drive, with a list of your categories and I will go through and pull the strongest images in your portfolio. Email me directly if you would like to pursue this option.
Your Portfolio Lab
As many of you are aware, I built an app called Your Portfolio Lab that helps you curate your portfolio. There are three types of portfolios it can create for you, and one of them, the Overview Portfolio, is perfect for your portfolio on our site. Your Filename Lab is built into the site, so once you settle on the images you want in Your Portfolio Lab you can migrate to Your Filename Lab to rename your images.
The first portfolio is free. If you would like a few extra portfolios, just email me at studio@yourportfoliolab.com and I’ll send you a code for 6 more portfolios on the house.
3
FILL OUT THE QUESTIONNAIRE.*
**Please do not fill this out until your images have been uploaded into your Google drive folder.
Deadline to submit September 26, 2026
〰️
Deadline to submit September 26, 2026 〰️
Once you hit Submit, I’ll get an alert that your assets are ready to go and I’ll add them to the site.
Questions? Email me at info@ginarisso.com