Updating my website has been on my short term to-do list for a bit now and over the weekend I finally got to it. The wild shakes from last few years haven't been friendly in feeding the demo reel, but those changes have fueled quite a few still photos and frame grabs I'm super happy with.
From a "Hey! Look at me and the cool motion jobs I've shot!" standpoint, nothing has changed. Most of the client work I get to shoot will never end up on my site for one reason or another, but I'm legit proud of some of the personal images I've shot. Just the process of digging through some of my work brought back some good memories and ideas of additional projects I'd like to go after.
I've always been nervous about posting the images I shoot that actually light me up because "they're not what's going to get me work." Again, the vast majority of my bill paying work comes from shooting corporate interviews and other projects you'll never see. It's tough to get past the idea that some of the moody and smeary looking stuff I love to shoot will distract the typical clients I get to work with. That weird nose-grease flare on a building at night or the warped watercolor looking tulip doesn't necessarily scream "This guy can light a basic high-key interview with a CEO."
As a cinematographer, putting together a demo reel absolutely sucks. Especially when you don't feel like you have anything new to add to it. There's also the self-defeating part of researching into other DP's reels and sites trying to look for ideas on themes, pacing, and looks you're hoping land you more work. Obviously studying other's reels can be helpful, but more often than not it just leads your edit to looking like someone else's work vs. what you're shooting and trying to do.
There's still a few things I'd like to add to my site, specifically polished examples of some my documentary and talking head work as well as some additional background copy with some of the still images. There's not really an example I can point to where one specific change brought in more work, but I've had clients reach out looking for more focused examples of my work after seeing some of the highlights.