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?

 

🙏

[John Mitchell]

6 minutes ago, The Blinking Eye said:

 

Trying.  This doesn't exactly pay a full time wage.  LOL  I also have 306 glorious photos uploaded through Stockimo, but nary a sale.  I feel like my Stockimo portfolio is actually better.  https://www.alamy.com/search/imageresults.aspx?pseudoid={29443024-CA70-4333-A908-65F9DAB0505B}&name=The+Blinking+Eye+%2f+Stockimo&st=11&mode=0&comp=1

 

But I've given up on that.

 

I like your Stockimo images. Making sales must be very difficult with everyone now snapping away with their smartphones. I'm so out of it, I don't even own one.

[The Blinking Eye]

11 minutes ago, John Mitchell said:

 

I like your Stockimo images. Making sales must be very difficult with everyone now snapping away with their smartphones. I'm so out of it, I don't even own one.

 

Indeed.  Even in the short time I tried it, they started accepting fewer and fewer photos and only payout 20%.

[Pakodominguez]

On 19/05/2019 at 04:42, Ed Rooney said:

If you're lucky, a niche will discover you. 

But only if you are lucky.

BTW, one thing I learned since I start working was that, the more and hard I worked, the luckiest I've become.

[Pakodominguez]

On 17/05/2019 at 05:47, The Blinking Eye said:

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?

 

🙏

Stock photography is a niche withing the photography world. 

 

You don't shoot "a niche", the same way that you don't shoot X style. Your niche (and/or style) will show up on your work.

 

I think that you have to shoot everything that you find interesting. There is a need for almost everything, and your photos don't even need to be "artistic", just clean, high technical qualities, and show the subject in the way the customer can illustrate their paper/presentation/article.

 

This photo just sold   and I believe there are many "better" shots of the Charging Bull in lower Manhattan, but this one, where you barely see the sculpture, is the one that illustrate the customer's article. In this case, L found interesting how hard it was to get a clean shoot of the Bull, and that was what I shoot.

[Autumn Sky]

On 16/07/2019 at 12:36, John Mitchell said:

 

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. 

 

Yes I know.   Alamy still has highest  single sale potential by a margin.   Recently I had an email from Alamy customer service;  some customer inquired about this image of mine:

 

 

This is mix of architecture and landscape, but still in the "niche" I like to shoot.    They wanted it as book cover, and price was $999 (*gasp* -- if I ever sell pic for that kind of money I'll stop thinking of myself as amateur hobbyist).   I haven't heard anything since so deal is most likely off, but it does in my view illustrate this whole niche discussion:   Shoot what you enjoy don't force yourself into something else just for the sake of selling.    I am modifying strategy though & stopped uploading high-end photos (regardless of content) to other sites.  This image was downloaded on a micro several times & this was probably what prevented the sale as this was what they inquired about.  

 

 

[The Blinking Eye]

On 18/07/2019 at 10:34, Pakodominguez said:

Stock photography is a niche withing the photography world. 

 

You don't shoot "a niche", the same way that you don't shoot X style. Your niche (and/or style) will show up on your work.

 

I think that you have to shoot everything that you find interesting. There is a need for almost everything, and your photos don't even need to be "artistic", just clean, high technical qualities, and show the subject in the way the customer can illustrate their paper/presentation/article.

 

This photo just sold   and I believe there are many "better" shots of the Charging Bull in lower Manhattan, but this one, where you barely see the sculpture, is the one that illustrate the customer's article. In this case, L found interesting how hard it was to get a clean shoot of the Bull, and that was what I shoot.

 

Interesting!  That's the kind of photo I would probably edit out of my collection because the bull was so hidden.  Good to know.

[The Blinking Eye]

On 19/07/2019 at 14:13, Autumn Sky said:

 

Yes I know.   Alamy still has highest  single sale potential by a margin.   Recently I had an email from Alamy customer service;  some customer inquired about this image of mine:

 

 

This is mix of architecture and landscape, but still in the "niche" I like to shoot.    They wanted it as book cover, and price was $999 (*gasp* -- if I ever sell pic for that kind of money I'll stop thinking of myself as amateur hobbyist).   I haven't heard anything since so deal is most likely off, but it does in my view illustrate this whole niche discussion:   Shoot what you enjoy don't force yourself into something else just for the sake of selling.    I am modifying strategy though & stopped uploading high-end photos (regardless of content) to other sites.  This image was downloaded on a micro several times & this was probably what prevented the sale as this was what they inquired about.  

 

 

 

Whoa, that's quite a lesson!  Wish you would have gotten the big sale.

[Johnnie5]

You are living in one of the greatest niches in the world, the Bay Area.  There are almost endless opportunities there.  I have sold many images from that area and there are many things to photograph within an hours drive of Emeryville.  Even mundane or over photographed subjects can be special if the light is right or shot in an interesting way. 

[Young]

On 16/07/2019 at 21:36, John Mitchell said:

 

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. 

Very good idea Which I’ve never thought about ! 

Environmental ,, how to link to the photos, I’ll have to think about 

[The Blinking Eye]

1 hour ago, Johnnie5 said:

You are living in one of the greatest niches in the world, the Bay Area.  There are almost endless opportunities there.  I have sold many images from that area and there are many things to photograph within an hours drive of Emeryville.  Even mundane or over photographed subjects can be special if the light is right or shot in an interesting way. 

 

I do feel that.  So much opportunity!

[elacoste]

Niche is interesting. In my case, I shoot a lot of rock climbing images. I don't place my best ones here, instead, I use a market-specific agency. (Adventure sport-focused.)

 

I had a good photography friend who's stock was all about commercial farming. If it was related to commercial farming and you needed the shot, he had it. He had a lot of commercial assignment in that world, which gave him access. He had a very specialized niche, especially when the industry still ran on slide images instead of digital. (I remember carrying two Pentax K1000 cameras, one with Chrome, one with Fuji) 

 

Emmanuel

[Alex Ramsay]

On 17/07/2019 at 17:20, John Mitchell said:

 

I'm a generalist by nature. I did have something of a photographic niche at one time, but my collection is now a hodgepodge. However, my niche images continue to be my most dependable sellers.  We all have our strengths and weaknesses. For instance, I know that I'd make a terrible sports photographer as I barely know one end of a football (the American kind) from the other, and I duck if I see a basketball coming my way.

 

Hodgepodges rule!

 

Alex