Do you need a custom domain for your photography portfolio?

Your name on an exhibition card, in an email signature, or beneath a published photograph can lead to the same place. A custom domain gives that address continuity as your work grows. Choose one you will still be happy to share years from now.

Quick answer

A custom domain gives your photographs a recognizable address you can keep. Connect a domain you own to ISO100, then share the portfolio or a particular gallery beneath it. Domain registration is separate from hosting.

Follow the ISO100 setup steps

In this guide

When a custom domain helps

A domain becomes useful when you share your work regularly. It gives people one address to remember, whether they meet you through an exhibition, a commission, a class, or a friend.

Your name or an established studio name can stay with you as your subjects change. Use the same address in your social profile, email signature, and printed material so people know where to find the work.

You can keep that domain if you later change services. Meanwhile, your username.iso100.photos address is ready to share; connecting a custom domain can come when it is useful.

Choose a domain you can keep

A durable address usually uses your name or a stable studio name. Avoid tying it to one camera, trend, city, genre, or year unless that limitation is deliberate.

Say the address aloud and imagine someone typing it from a card. Short, unambiguous spelling usually matters more than clever punctuation. Check how it looks in lowercase and whether another photographer or business already uses a confusingly similar name.

Register it through an account you control, with an independent recovery email. That keeps the address in your hands even if you move the portfolio later.

Understand apex domains and subdomains

You can enter a root domain such as example.com or a subdomain such as photos.example.com in ISO100. For a root domain, Studio connects www.example.com and gives you a separate redirect step for the bare address.

Use www.example.com when the portfolio is your main website. If the root already hosts another site, a subdomain such as portfolio.example.com can give the photographs their own destination.

Follow Studio’s redirect instructions for the bare address and preserve gallery paths. Copy the DNS values supplied for your own domain; another account’s records are not interchangeable.

Plan the DNS change

DNS records tell browsers where the domain should go. Copy the exact records supplied by the portfolio service; do not infer values from a screenshot or another account.

Confirm that you can sign in to the current DNS provider before announcing the new URL.
Take note of existing records, especially email-related MX, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC entries.
Add or change only the records required for the portfolio subdomain.
Do not replace nameservers unless the documented setup specifically requires it.
Allow time for DNS propagation and certificate issuance before treating the move as complete.
Keep the platform URL available while verifying the custom domain.

Verify the public result

A green domain status is useful, but the viewer’s path is the final test.

Open the custom domain in a private browser window.
Confirm that HTTPS loads without a certificate warning.
Open a gallery direct link and refresh it.
Test the address with and without a trailing slash and through the route you plan to print.
Check that contact, navigation, images, and link previews use the intended public address.
Keep the domain registration renewed; the portfolio subscription does not automatically renew a domain bought elsewhere.

Know what happens if hosting changes

Domain registration and portfolio hosting are separate. If the portfolio is no longer served at the custom domain, you still own the registration. Keep access to the registrar, record the DNS settings, and know which portfolio address you will use while moving it.

Publish your portfolio at your own domain.

Connect a domain you own to ISO100 and give viewers one address for your photographs and galleries.

Available on Plus. Domain registration is separate.

Connect your domain

Common questions

Do photographers need a custom domain?

No. A clear platform URL can be enough for a first portfolio, personal work, study, or occasional sharing. A custom domain becomes valuable when the same address is used repeatedly and needs to remain independent of the portfolio platform.

Should I use my name for a photography domain?

Your name is usually the most durable choice when the portfolio represents your personal practice. A stable studio name can work when several people contribute or the identity is intended to remain separate from one photographer.

Should a photography portfolio use the bare domain or www?

Either can be the public address when the host supports it. Choose one canonical version, redirect the other to it, and use the same version in social profiles, email signatures, printed material, and links.

Will changing DNS affect my email?

It can if the wrong records are changed. Add only the records required for the portfolio subdomain and preserve existing MX, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records. Ask your DNS or email provider before changing records you do not recognize.

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