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
ISO100 Plus connects a domain you own to your photography portfolio, with automatic HTTPS and a redirect from example.com to www.example.com. Keep your current DNS provider and nameservers. Domain registration is separate; HTTPS and the redirect are included with Plus.
Follow the ISO100 setup stepsIn 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.
Use your address with or without www
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 supplies two DNS records under Redirect without www. ISO100 then handles the permanent HTTP and HTTPS redirect from example.com.
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.
Add the root A and ownership TXT records supplied in Studio. Keep your existing www records and nameservers. ISO100 preserves page paths and query strings and renews HTTPS automatically. An existing www connection does not need a second domain entry or another portfolio publish.
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.
Example domain setup in Studio. Enter the domain you own, then use the DNS records supplied for your connection.
Select the screenshot to view full size.
- 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 only the records required for the portfolio address and, if wanted, its redirect without www. Replace conflicting root A records and remove root AAAA records for the redirect.
- Keep your current nameservers. ISO100 does not require a nameserver change or a separate forwarding service.
- 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 both the www and non-www addresses over HTTPS, including a direct gallery link. Studio reports DNS and HTTPS separately for the redirect.
- 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.
Common questions
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.
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.
ISO100 serves a root-domain portfolio at www.example.com. Its included redirect sends both HTTP and HTTPS visitors from example.com to the same page on www.example.com, preserving paths and query strings. Use the www address consistently in shared links.
It can if the wrong records are changed. Change only the portfolio and redirect records and preserve existing MX, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records. If an MX record points at the root domain itself, ask your email provider for the correct mail hostname before changing the root A record. Ask your DNS or email provider before changing records you do not recognize.
Yes. Keep your registration, DNS provider, and nameservers. Add the records from Studio at your current provider. At Wix, use a blank Host Name for the root A record and _iso100-apex for the redirect TXT record when Wix adds the domain automatically.
No. Automatic HTTPS and the redirect without www are included with ISO100 Plus. You still pay your registrar for domain registration and renewal. HTTPS setup starts after the required DNS records are visible.
It preserves the path and query string: example.com/landscapes/ redirects to www.example.com/landscapes/. It does not recreate or remap pages whose paths changed when you moved from another website.
Choose the next topic.
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Bring together galleries, context, and contact details in a clear website.
Getting found on Google
Use clear titles, image descriptions, and links to help search engines understand your work.
Before you publish
Review your images, covers, links, and mobile layout before sharing.