In my opinion, if you really want to progress the level of your photography or your photography business, then finding a niche is vital. In this video, I go over some key steps to finding your niche.
I have always been of the opinion that to be successful in anything, you need to dig deep down into a niche. That way, you can really get into the nitty-gritty details that make something great, whereas trying to be a more general practitioner has the drawback of never being able to truly come to terms with the details that really matter. But finding a niche is not as simple or obvious as you might imagine.
I went from thinking that I was going to be a music photographer to a portrait photographer, before realizing that although I love the genre, that I couldn't actually cope with the working style. Thankfully, my partner talked me into food photography, and since then, my career has really taken off. I finally managed to get into a niche that allows me to work at a very high level. Being from a very small city, it is also incredibly important to have a niche. There isn't really enough work in my city for me to make a living from photography, but having a well-defined niche allows me to be noticed outside of my city and country. In contrast, as a jack of all trades, there wouldn't be a chance that a big client from further afield would have any interest in my work.
There is always the fear that in finding a photographic niche, you might lose a lot of work, which is absolutely true, but you will also gain so much more and at a much higher rate of pay. When I need a member of my staff for a really big job, I will always hire the specialist over the generalist.
Good, honest, valuable video Scott.
Thanks for the kind words :)