What is all this talk about niches?

[The Blinking Eye]

Stock photography newbie here, forgive the ignorance.  LOVE this forum.  Everyone so generous and forthcoming with knowledge.

 

Anyhoo... what is all this talk about niches?  What are some niches that people have discovered and how do I find one?

 

🙏

[The Blinking Eye]

10 hours ago, Phil Robinson said:

Some can be surprising. I photograph a lot of politicians, as do a lot of other people. The ones everybody's heard of are very well covered buy I am frequently surprised, when I get a back-bencher wandering around Westminster,  to discover that Alamy have no/very few images of him/her, even moderately well-known ones. 

 

The best way to find niches is to photograph EVERYTHING and find out what sells because nobody else has photographed it.

 

Cool.  Thanks!

[giphotostock]

I niche is a well-defined photography area. Well-defined like in "I shoot XXX images for YYY market". One sentence.

Here are some attributes of a niche:

- market that pays well (ie demand);

- you have to be able to name the clients;

- limited supply;

- not easy to break in, not available to a passer-by with a camera, requiring some combination of: special access to people and/or locations, special knowledge (depth), special technique and equipment (ex microscopy), understanding the workings of the chosen market;

 

Do your market research, choose a niche and go deep, not wide.

 

Just an opinion.

 

GI

[The Blinking Eye]

18 minutes ago, giphotostock said:

I niche is a well-defined photography area. Well-defined like in "I shoot XXX images for YYY market". One sentence.

Here are some attributes of a niche:

- market that pays well (ie demand);

- you have to be able to name the clients;

- limited supply;

- not easy to break in, not available to a passer-by with a camera, requiring some combination of: special access to people and/or locations, special knowledge (depth), special technique and equipment (ex microscopy), understanding the workings of the chosen market;

 

Do your market research, choose a niche and go deep, not wide.

 

Just an opinion.

 

GI

 

That's a lot to chew on.  Thank you.  The idea of access rings a bell.

 

Market research, however...what in the world is that?  Or maybe that's another thread.

[Stokie]

You could create a niche for yourself by taking lots of photos of Emeryville as presumably you have a good knowledge of the location and find the best times and places to go out photographing.

 

John.

[The Blinking Eye]

10 hours ago, giphotostock said:

Finding a niche may not be that difficult.

 

One approach is to look at images that are being used (newsstand, billboards, ads, industry publications, conferences, Fortune 500 websites, etc etc) and make a list of images where your reaction is "I cannot shoot THAT". That's what every other generalist is going to think as well. However, somebody shot those images, right? Analyze the list and see if some patterns or groups of similar images emerge. You probably are going to get several niches in that list.

 

Now comes the difficult part. You'd have to turn around "I cannot shoot THAT" into "what can I do to shoot THAT". Most people are not going to do this and remain generalists and continue shooting what they've been shooting.

 

Another approach is to self-reflect and think about what special knowledge, access, passion, etc you already have, and see if there is market for images in that area.

 

GI

Dang, this is better than photography school.  Much obliged!!

[The Blinking Eye]

I'm still thinking about this as I struggle to get any kind of footing here in this biz.  😂

 

I am thinking political rallies and protest footage will be one focus.  It feels good to bring my interests in photography and activism together.  The imagery can be dramatic.  People let you take photos of them up close because there is a performative aspect, the events are timely, and I can amplify the message.  I live in a hotbed of protest territory, so there's never a dull day. And it's where my heart is. ❤️

[John Mitchell]

23 minutes ago, The Blinking Eye said:

I'm still thinking about this as I struggle to get any kind of footing here in this biz.  😂

 

I am thinking political rallies and protest footage will be one focus.  It feels good to bring my interests in photography and activism together.  The imagery can be dramatic.  People let you take photos of them up close because there is a performative aspect, the events are timely, and I can amplify the message.  I live in a hotbed of protest territory, so there's never a dull day. And it's where my heart is. ❤️

 

That sounds like a good strategy. It pays to shoot subjects that you understand and which have meaning for you. I come from backgrounds in education and freelance writing, which I think has helped me a lot on Alamy given that it is primarily an editorial agency.

[Autumn Sky]

Yes.  And why photographers like me who have nature landscape as primary niche can't sell squat on Alamy ;=)

 

Very cool Aladdin Sane graffiti btw Kristin;  very curious if it will sell

[The Blinking Eye]

20 minutes ago, Autumn Sky said:

Yes.  And why photographers like me who have nature landscape as primary niche can't sell squat on Alamy ;=)

 

Very cool Aladdin Sane graffiti btw Kristin;  very curious if it will sell

 

Thank you!  Captured in the subways of Mexico City.  I haven't sold diddly squat yet.   😋

[John Mitchell]

14 hours ago, Autumn Sky said:

Yes.  And why photographers like me who have nature landscape as primary niche can't sell squat on Alamy ;=)

 

 

Landscapes and other "pure" nature images probably do better (unfortunately) at some of those other places. However, if you can link your nature images (via captions and keywords) to topics in the news like climate change and other environmental concerns, then they might do better here. 

[John Mitchell]

14 hours ago, The Blinking Eye said:

 

Thank you!  Captured in the subways of Mexico City.  I haven't sold diddly squat yet.   😋

 

Perhaps adding more info to some of your captions would help. For instance, I would have captioned T9D9YN something like this:

 

Courtyard of the Palace of Quetzalpapalotl at the pre-Columbian ruins of Teotihuacan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site near Mexico City

 

P.S. I just had another look at some of your other Mex City images, and the captions look good.

[The Blinking Eye]

11 hours ago, John Mitchell said:

 

Perhaps adding more info to some of your captions would help. For instance, I would have captioned T9D9YN something like this:

 

Courtyard of the Palace of Quetzalpapalotl at the pre-Columbian ruins of Teotihuacan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site near Mexico City

 

P.S. I just had another look at some of your other Mex City images, and the captions look good.

 

Thanks for looking!  I got lazy on that one, but I entered your description.  🙂  I did research details for some Mexico photos and that took quite a while, so I should go back and finish.  Would rather be out taking pictures!