Automotive Photography Portfolio

My friend Carlos is a genuinely talented photographer. The work he produces for clients is something I find inspiring, especially coming from a photography background myself. It felt like a waste for it to live only on Instagram, so we decided to build him a proper home for it. It ended up being a win for both of us. He gets a site that reflects his work, and I get a strong portfolio piece.

At the start, we considered using something more client friendly like Webflow. The idea was to make handoff simple and give him more control out of the box. But while Webflow is powerful, I find it just as frustrating as it is impressive. In the end, I went back to PayloadCMS, which is quickly becoming my preferred way to build sites. The level of control and flexibility just makes more sense to me.

Carlos has been very easygoing through the whole process and open to a code first approach. Even though it can feel a bit unknown at times, it has been a solid learning experience. I am glad we took this route.

Key features of the site

- A splash screen on first load that immediately showcases his work

- A justified layout for project cards, inspired by the old Flickr style

- A full PayloadCMS backend so he can manage projects and update content himself

Cal.com integration for bookings, so clients can book directly without relying on forms

One of the main advantages of this stack is how easily it can grow over time. In the future, it could evolve into a full client portal where customers can download their final images directly from the site, all within his own domain. There is also potential for educational content or other features if he wants to expand.