Choosing a Photography Specialty

But doesn't that mean I'm saying no to paying clients?!

Well isn't that a terrifying idea?!

If you're just starting out with your photography career shoot anything and everything! Try out new types of shoots for friends and family at little to no charge. Take master classes and watch youtube until you can't consume anymore content.

But, once you start charging and advertising as a legit photographer it's time to choose a specialty.

What Specialties Are there?


Great question. Here are a few major categories and some of their breakdowns (they are definitely more than I'm listing here).


Wedding - Traditional, Elopement, Destination

Portrait -Families, Seniors, Headshots

Newborns - Studio, Lifestyle

Commercial - Real Estate, Drone Coverage

What to Choose


I'm not saying you can only shoot one thing forever with no deviation ever. I'm just saying pick one that you love the most and do it more than everything else. Also be ok with letting go of the things you hate to shoot or don't have the gear for.

I will never shoot a studio newborn session.

I don't have to studio space, swaddles, safety knowledge, or patience to shoot studio newborn sessions. I don't even shoot many lifestyle newborns (even though the for sure fall into my style of shooting). It's just not my specialty. I happily refer those clients out to friends or other photogs in the area that specialize in studio newborns.

I will shoot a family all day, any day.

I love getting up close and personal with a family. They're cute, I get candid moments, and it's a blast. I don't think I'll ever cross families off of my will shoot list.

I'm a little picky when it comes to weddings.

I'll shoot a traditional wedding, but my heart lies with elopements and micro weddings. They fall right in line with my intimate, in between the moments type of photography. There's less hustle and bustle, less of a feeling of having to get traditional shots that we only get because they're traditional shots.

Elopements and micro weddings are the niche I've decided to live in.

Now What?


Alright, you've chosen a specialty. Now what do you do with that?

Well, you market the heck out of it! Add it to all of your bios, your main page, and post mostly content of that type of session!

On my homepage I have a bar of photos with the tag 'Let's Elope' that leads you to my wedding page. My wedding packages are only elopement or traditional, not hourly based. My insta bio has the tag 'Let's Elope' as the first thing you see. I'm constantly talking about elopements in my captions on Insta and Facebook. IF you visit anything of mine for photography it is clear I'm all about an elopement.

I still have the other options for general photography clients and traditional wedding clients, but it's clear where my heart lies.

Let your clients know what you love to do. Make it abundantly clear what you're specializing in and allow the other things to drift to the back as you make a name for yourself in your specialty.


Hope this helps! If you have any questions reach out to me on insta (@jesswintersphotography).


Cheers,

Jess