What's your photography niche?

This article may well be detrimental to my success as a photographer, however I'm determined to be authentic to myself, and to anyone I meet/work with.

"What's your niche?" is a question I hear a lot by business coaches in the photography world. The idea being that as a photographer, you should find that one genre of photography you excel at and make it your 'niche' so that you become the expert in that field of photography.

But here's the thing. I love photography. Not a certain genre of photography, but photography as a whole.

I totally understand the concept of having a niche, especially from a marketing aspect. It's easier to market and focus on a certain genre of photography than it is to just be a 'jack of all trades'. So for this purpose I do put myself into a box in some aspects.

For me personally however, being a creative type, I enjoy undertaking photography assignments of differing requirements. If I had to simply take headshots all my life, I'd soon loose my love for photography. It's the same thing in any job, repetition results in boredom.

Therefore, whilst I concentrate my efforts on corporate headshots, portraits and personal branding, as I feel my 28 years in the IT industry, centred primarily around brand promotion and customer service and loyalty, provides me a great foundation to help other organisations get their voice heard through unique imagery, personally I undertake a lot of other photography styles to keep my creativity ticking over.

My favourite genres, excluding the commercial work are:

Landscape photography: I simply love the outdoors. Having spent the first 28 years of my life in Durban, South Africa, outside was definitely the preferred place to be given the weather and heat. South Africa is truly a beautiful country for landscape photographers.

Wildlife: Again, given the country of birth, my fascination with wildlife was pretty much a given. Unfortunately on arrival in England, I quickly discovered that there isn't much of a wildlife scene here, however I make do with what is available.

Fineart portraiture: I have a fascination with using shadow in photography and black and white images. To this end, one of my favourite studio based photography styles is 'low key photography'. This is photography in which you typically use only one light source (be it natural or artificial light) and perhaps a reflector if the shot calls for it.

Event photography: I'm a very sociable person who tends to get on effortlessly with strangers. Event photography poses a lot of challenges especially when an indoor occasion. The technical challenges, along with being able to capture the mood and essence of the event is what draws me to this genre of photography.

Newborn photography: This is a genre I've only recently undertaken on the request of a client. You will hear other photographers warn you never to work with animals and babies/children, however I'm not usually one to pay much attention to other people's opinions until I've tried something myself. Having now completed 4 newborn shoots in the space of a month, I can honestly say I love it! It is challenging as hell, because newborn babies very rarely behave as you would expect them to! Even those little ones that are mere 6 days old and SHOULD be sleeping pretty much 20 hours a day behave in a completely different way when the parental units bring them to the studio. But the reaction from the parents when they see the images is what photography is all about for me. Providing my clients with images that they can treasure for a lifetime.

Creative Wedding/Bridal photography: Conventional wedding photography, in all honestly doesn't excite me. Again, it comes down to the same group photos and repetitiveness associated with wedding photography. However, if a couple are looking for something more creative then that perks my attention. Yes, I'll of course capture those mandatory wedding pics, but I will constantly be looking for creative angles, creative lighting and providing my clients images that are unique to their wedding and most importantly, their personalities.

Boudoir photography: Another genre that I pretty much fell into by being asked by a few clients if I would undertake this genre of photography with them. I cannot tell you how nervous I was during my first shoot. This was something completely new to me and having to pose a female client to make her look sexy/sultry wasn't something I had had to do before. But within 10 minutes of the shoot, both myself and the client were at ease and she was ecstatic about the resulting images. I posted some of these on social media and the response was overwhelming. The personal gratification I get from this genre of photography is the response from my clients when they receive their completed images and realise just how beautiful they truly are. When a client sheds tears over images supplied, then I feel truly fulfilled in what I do, this isn't a feeling I had during my entire 28 years of working in the IT industry, despite many awards and accolades.

So there it is. As I said at the start, I'm not sure how this article will affect people's willingness to work with me. I have had prospects in the commercial world tell me that they were unwilling to work with me because I took photographs of women in their lingerie (boudoir)!? I personally don't understand that myself, however, each to their own. What I cannot do is limit myself and my love for photography to appease the few. I would hope that my character, personality and the images themselves should speak for themselves and judgement shouldn't be made on the basis that I provide images that make woman feel good about themselves. If my photography can bring a smile to my client, their partner or indeed their friends and family, then my work there is done.

So if you like the look of my work, and are after a friendly, passionate photographer, who provides a money back guarantee if you opt to not purchase any images following your shoot, then get in touch!

Would love to hear your feedback and thoughts on this niche stuff and what do you base your decision on when choosing a photographer? Word of mouth? Recommendations? Reviews? Or the quality of their work?