finding your photographic niche, part 1

Do you have a photographic specialty?

We’ve been talking about the hurdles of entering the world of professional photography over on the prophotolife discussion forums. It’s easy to fall in love with photography (it’s safe to say we’ve all done it, right?) and at some point many of us consider making photography a career, part- or full-time. I’ve written a bunch about starting a photography business, going all the way back to the very first post on prophotolife.com. As you may know, the first fourteen entries on this site are also bundled as the no-cost, downloadable PDF business e-book (for ease of reading).

It’s easy to become enamored with both photography and the thought of earning income from doing something you enjoy. I know I did. Many photographers would be so happy to earn some extra income that they’re happy and willing to shoot anything for experience…and that’s totally fine. That will get you started but there comes a point when it‘s helpful to have a more defined direction. Maybe it’s a direction you choose for yourself or maybe it’s a path your career leads you along. Either way, it’s important to keep your eyes open and be alert to where you will be the most valuable or, depending on your goals, have the most fun.

Maybe your clients will decide your specialty. My friend Bethany now shoots an increasing amount of architecture because of networking she’s done, despite the fact that she never envisioned herself as an architectural photographer. This is where her business has taken her and she’s perfectly happy with that.

In my case I’ve specialized in a number of photographic areas at different times in my career. Here are just a few of the niches I’ve worked in:

1. Large format product photographer
2. Fast action / motorsports photographer
3. Black and white lab technician (yep, that was a long time ago)

These specialties are all very different because my interests are varied and I’ve evolved with both my interests and the changing realities of the photography business. Right now Daylight Photo is a generalist commercial studio, really, we shoot everything from food to people to products. That’s because people know us from years and years in the industry and trust us with most everything. Our style of working, problem solving abilities and attention to detail are largely why they come to us, regardless of the subject. The work we most actively pursue and promote, though, what we consider our niche, is industrial photography.

Yes, I know, that doesn’t sound very glamorous. It has nothing to do with pretty models, fast cars or rock’n’roll. I’ve photographed all of those things and have had a great time doing it. But when it came time to create our most recent business plan of three years ago, we saw a number of things we liked about the industrial photography market, so that‘s where we headed. I’m happy to say it’s been a good decision.

Next week I’ll share how we evaluated our market, the criteria we used to choose our target clients and how we’ve carved our particular niche in the marketplace.