When it comes to photography there are ample directions a person can be inspired by – be it vast landscapes bathed in natural light, the celebration of two hearts in union, the arrival of a new life to the world, the speed and sleekness of a vehicle, the fluff and drool of cats and dogs, or every person, place or thing that falls into the lens view of the camera. Pending the inspiration, the niche is found (or not in some cases as found in the all-for-everyone photographers).
What is a niche?
A niche as a noun is defined as:
- a comfortable or suitable position in life or employment.
- a specialized segment of the market for a particular kind of product or service.
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denoting products, services, or interests that appeal to a small, specialized section of the population.
At the basic, niche = specialization
A niche in photography can be generalist (wedding photographer) to specialized (the wedding photographer who focuses on LGBTQ couples). Family photography, business photography, car photography, & pet photography all fall within the realms of a niche in photography. Deeper specialization of the niche the more tailored the business.
- family photography only on the beach or only Halloween themed
- business photography that focuses only on trainers and exercise or is aligned to modern creative companies
- car photography that focuses on modern sports cars or on vintage cars pre 1970
- pet photography only featuring a single style pet – dogs, cats or horses
How did you pick your niche?
Like many photographers I started with traipsing into many inspirations of photography. Landscapes, star trails, tilt shifts, macros, shadows, textures, old houses, leaves, anything that caught my eye. The early days of my DSLR averaged 1000s of images every month. (My dogs Mick & Icey were often found in the sets.) A couple of weddings filtered in throughout the years, though their experience was more tolerable than of glee – a mark that wedding photography wasn’t my jam. Axle arrived in 2012 and the 1000s of pictures turned towards this puppy’s antics as he ran, played and grew alongside Mick & Icey. I never grew tired of capturing a bazillion images of each of the trio.
The niche happened a hot summer day in 2012 with the birth of About A Dog Photography. Why not focus on dog photography? Something just clicked – I could offer this as a service to other dog parents so they too could have beautiful images of their dogs as they moved from puppyhood to adult then into the golden senior years.
There is an amazing amount of glee, happiness and pride that happens when I photograph dogs. I’m able to capture bits of their personality in vibrant, classic, playful images that immortalize a dog’s memory. I LOVE LOVE LOVE being a dog photographer.
How do I pick my own niche in photography?
I think the key to picking your niche in photography is finding the subject you LOVE to photograph and pursuing it with great passion. Try out different subjects of photography. You’ll find the one that inspires the spark and deep passion and when that happens you’ll find the starting point of your niche. Define it, narrow it and own it!
Want some extra help with your photography? I will be offering 1-on-1 mentoring this summer. Or opt for the anytime anywhere Beyond the Barking Basics Course! (The manual course Make Manual Your B*tch will be launching this summer!)
Next up Canberra Pet Photographer, Ina Jalil of Ina J Photography talks about how she is pursuing her dream and her passion by becoming a pet photographer.
So true that you have to love what you photograph, after all, you’re going to be spending quite a bit of time looking at the images when retouching them! I’m glad you found your niche and I bet having you for a photography teacher would be fun!
Much like you, I experimented with all types of photography before settling (and realizing) that pet photography was where I belonged. I agree. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my job, too!
I love the word “immortalize” when it comes to describing what we do.
Nice to hear about your journey and evolution into pet photography! And if you decided that after photographing a mile-a-minute puppy, knowing how difficult that can be, then you know you’re in the right place!