You're challenged by market trends in photography. How do you adapt to stay creatively relevant?

On the contrary, be curious and creative. Don’t follow trends—set them by creating from an authentic place and presenting your work in the right marketplace.

What has contributed immensely to the recognition photography now has today is partly and hugely because of how photographers have been able to evolve. When it comes to personal styles, what really makes it personal is just individual uniqueness. No amount of evolution can completely erode a personal style, even though more ways are explored to accommodate and incorporate what might be customers preferences. It's important that a creative is opened to modern trends in their businesses as this often can become a market indicator.

I don't think "Embracing Change" is good advice if you believe in your creative vision as a creative photographer. I don't change my style to change trends. I am an artist. I have a certain eye for how I see the world and how I construct my fashion shoots. While I am mindful of trends when posting on social media and incorporating trending music I do not alter my photographic style. Your ideal client finds you if you remember you don't need to be everyone's cup of tea.

I just do what feels right go with the flow and let things fall into place use what I got and look at what other talented people are doing

Never stop honing your skills or developing your style. Put together test shoots that demonstrate your individual style and skills and update your portfolio with work that is true to yourself. Don’t follow trends but rather trust your own taste and creativity - that’s the way to having a long and fulfilling career.

Learning continuously doesn't necessarily relate to the posted question if one has a niche and is confident in their vision. I spend my time learning how to digitally market and better serve my clients rather than adapt my photography.

I think it is important to network locally and on a larger scale. I like to network with photographer's whose work I admire and models and MUAs whose work I love. This results in an organic diverse network while still staying true to my artistic vision and style.

Experiment vastly. Also while doing what might seem to be an emerging market trend to ensure you remain relevant in the business space, find time to create images that align more with personal styles, regardless of whether they're paid shoot or not. That way you increase your chances of maintaining consistency in your work while attracting what might be your ideal client, people who book you for your style, rather than for what is trendy.

I don't experiment often with my approach to photography as I have said before I know what images I want to get out of a shoot and I am the creative director most times. Where I experiment is in post production i.e. photo editing and promoting my work on social media.

Reflection allows to evaluate two things: 1: understand where are, so that you can understand where you need to go. To understand if you need change or maintain your standard. 2: it helps you understand if the changes you have made are the best fit for your business, or you need to revert to what you were doing before. This should be the way to navigate evolution. Not all trends work for everyone, and based on who your audiences are, and what your creative style represents, you must be able to measure how significant changes impacts those stories and consequently, your business.

Self reflection is important for all artists. I don't worry about aligning with current trends. I reflect on my development as a creative photographer and how my creative decisions are being realized. I reflect upon am I pleased with how a shoot turned out? Could I have altered my workflow or interacted with the client in a slightly different manner to achieve a better outcome? Sometimes one feels as if the shoot couldn't have gone any better and everything runs smoothly from concept to completion. Other times a bump in the workflow process can occur and this is when regular reflection is the most helpful.

I love to playfully discover the world with curious eyes and an alert mind. The world is full of wonders. I look forward to getting up every morning and seeing what there is to discover today. I consider it a gift to be allowed to live on this earth. For my photography projects, I collect my endless ideas, usually as sketches in many small books. After a very critical selection of the ideas, I decide which concepts will be transformed into visual worlds. In the process, I like to experiment. I believe that photography is a lifelong process of learning and remaining curious.

Innovation is a great way to stay ahead, especially when it brings ease and proficiency, not just to your business process, but also to the lives of your clients. Stress isn't good for your clients. Lastly, innovation should increase your account balance. Very important!