Should You Niche Down As A Photographer?

“You can’t be a successful photographer without niching down.”

“Here’s how to find your niche- because everybody needs one.” 

“You don’t actually need to niche down in your photography business.” 

*insert head spinning and slamming laptop shut*

There’s SO much advice floating around on the internet about niching down in your business, especially for photographers. And so much conflicting advice, at that. So what should YOU do? Ask your photographer friends? Turns out everybody’s done something different. GAH.

As a wedding photographer turned brand and website designer, I’ve been there in my own business and helped other photographers figure out how to niche in a way that aligns with how they want their business to feel. I help photographers take into account the kinds of jobs that make their hearts happy and what will allow them to feel creatively fulfilled in their business. 

And here comes some unconventional advice about niching your business- it’s not just about choosing one type of photography to specialize in. Let’s get into that a little more.

How To Niche Your Photography Business

Conventional business advice will tell you that you have to choose a niche if you want to run a successful photography business, and I agree with that, BUT… what they miss is how to do this properly. If you’ve been told that you have to only photograph weddings, or just focus on families, or specialize in branding, but that never quite felt right, you’re gonna love what I’m about to tell you.

The better way to niche is to meld two things together: the types of clients you want to serve and your approach to photography. 

“Wait, you mean I don’t have to photograph JUST weddings and give up on everything else, even though I love doing family/senior/newborn sessions?!”

Exactly.

Back when I was really focusing on building my own photography business in 2020-2021, the most common advice was that you needed to choose a niche based solely on the types of sessions you wanted to do. And as it turned out, there were a lot of us that chose to focus solely on weddings (because a girl’s gotta pay those bills), but not everyone wanted to ONLY shoot weddings. Some people sacrificed booking the types of sessions that they really loved doing because of that common advice. That led to a lot of people getting burned out.

But come on. It’s 2024. We’re DONE with burnout and we want to actually enjoy our jobs again.

So instead of giving up on photographing the types of sessions you really love because some Instagram business guru said you have to, niche better- by honoring what makes you happiest in your business. 

The Foolproof Formula to Help You Choose Your Niche

Okay, this all sounds good and well, but how do you actually do it? Girl, I’ve got you. These are some questions that I use with clients who are struggling with figuring out how to niche their businesses.

What types of jobs fill your cup creatively?

And do one important thing when you’re thinking about this question- please, please, PLEASE don’t just think about what’s “most profitable”. Think about what YOU feel happiest doing. 

After you shoot a family session, do you leave thinking, “Boyyyyy I hope I NEVER have to do that again”, or do you leave with a smile on your face and mayyybe even a little pep in your step because your heart is so happy? 

When you’re driving home after shooting a wedding, are you daydreaming about having a fallback because weddings stress you the heck out or is your love for the job growing a bit more each time?

That’s how you choose the types of sessions you want to shoot. Choose what feels great, and build your offers around that. This is your permission slip to stop only shooting weddings.

What clients have you clicked with the most? 

And consider everyone from all the sessions you’ve done so far- which clients have given you that extra I-love-my-job feeling? 

What personalities have you clicked with more easily? 

What did they value about you, and about photography in general? 

What was it about them that made them feel more like a friend than a client?

If you’re a visual learner like me, it can also help to write out personality traits of your fave clients and then highlight what they have in common. Your ideal clients (aka, the people you’ll serve in your niche) will have those traits and you’ll keep attracting the people you love working with over and over again. (P.S. if you want some extra help in this area, I have this free guide for you to download) 

What’s your approach to photography?

For this question, think about your own working style and how you approach photographing a session or wedding. What is it that you want to highlight in your photos? Why? 

Are you in the middle of all the action, or do you tend to be more of a wallflower capturing candids?

Is your style more true-to-life and classic? More filmy and nostalgic?

None of these things are right or wrong, btw. This is the beauty of the photography industry- everyone’s art is so personalized to them, their philosophies and self expression. Get to the heart of the why behind your style and approach.

Now, put it all together.

Here’s your simple plug-and-play for defining your niche: Creating {photography style} {session type} photos for {description of ideal clients}. Here are a few examples:

Creating filmy, nostalgic family and wedding photos for humans who adore connection.

Creating true-to-life, polished newborn and family photos for parents who want to preserve each season of life.

Creating artistic senior portraits for soon-to-be-graduates that are full of personality.

As simple as that, you have your niche. And it doesn’t mean giving up on photographing all the sessions that you love. 

But if you need some help defining your niche…

I’m a brand designer and I specialize in helping photographers brand their businesses and niche in a way that feels right for them. Click here to find out more about my brand design process, or contact me here to set up a free Zoom call to chat more about if a rebrand is the right step for your business right now!