How to Choose a Photography Niche and Start Your Own Business

If you are becoming progressively more interested in photography as a hobby, no one can blame you. After all, it is really interesting, and it can be quite lucrative. Sure, it might require a little bit of investment of both time and money, but it is going to be worth your while.

Photography is fairly popular and necessary nowadays, considering just how many different types of business rely on it. In other words, if you play your cards right, you can really make it in this world if you have a knack for photography.

The important thing to remember is that it would be impossible to get good at every type of photography there is, so you should pick one genre to specialize in, becoming more proficient and making a name for yourself over time.

So, in this guide, we will provide you with some suggestions on how to find your niche and how to start your business as a photographer. 

How to Choose a Photography Niche and Start Your Own Business

Find your calling 

First thing’s first, you need to decide in which field of photography you want to advance, and there are many areas to choose from. There is wildlife photography, wedding photography, real-estate photography, and more recently, people have started creating new fields like photos made by using drones, etc.
Basically, ask yourself what it is that you really like, what is it that you want to be a part of. Do you like animals, sports, entertainment, weddings, architecture or anything else? When you find an answer to that question see what the photos of professional photographers look like.
Once you find your field of interest, then you can look up some of the photographers online, and ask them what they think. You need to know how you should start, what is the initial equipment you will need, and where you can get it, etc. When you know how to start, then you should move on to the next step.

Check for additional costs
Regardless of the niche you pick, you must bear in mind that each of them requires a different type of sacrifice. Some of these hobbies are exhaustive, and some others might require expensive equipment and these are the things you should find out. For example, wildlife photography might require you to get a tent and to learn how to camouflage, how to track animals, and how to be patient.
Wedding photographers work hard for the entire day so that they can capture every part of the ceremony, and then they need to edit thousands of shots in order to satisfy your clients. Sports photographers can experience a lot of pressure because they need to capture the perfect moment during the game if they are to sell their photos. So, make sure you look these things up and ask yourself if you are really up for it.

Get the equipment
The next thing you need to do is get all of the equipment that is necessary for the niche you have selected. You will always need a camera and a tripod, but there are specific lenses with different features that you should look up since some are specially tailored for capturing objects in motion at high speed.
You might also need to get additional lights or a drone, or you might simply need to purchase a lot of tickets for traveling to different places.

Research how it is done

After you have covered all of the previous steps, you need to find a mentor, or research online to see how it’s done. You need to know what shutter speed to use; you need to know the best time of day to make photos, the best angles, etc. You can also learn a lot from your peers, simply going over the professional photos online and reading the descriptions.
In the description, you can usually find useful details on which equipment was used to take the shot, the shutter speed, and even which filter or tool was used to enhance it. These descriptions can be really insightful, and you as a future photographer can really benefit from them.


Edit your shots
Photo editing is a crucial part of any line of photography; in fact, some of the products are basically more about editing than taking the perfect shot. Book covers, movie posters, and other images we see in the entertainment industry require heavy editing; after all, we all know super models on magazine covers don’t exactly look that way. In other words, you need to master photo editing tools, for the sake of enhancing the quality of your pictures.
It is advised that you also find a mentor, or spend some time going over online tutorials on how to edit photos. It will be a lot more time-consuming in the beginning until you master all the shortcuts and where every tool is located within the software.
Another thing you should investigate is action packs for tools like Photoshop. Using action pack you can significantly reduce the time needed to create awesome photos, but it limits your creativity since every pack is designed to change the photo in a specific way. These filters can be really good at the beginning, but in order to truly become a professional and earn more, you will eventually have to master photo editing.
Lastly, you can work around this problem if you have some funds on the side, and simply outsource the whole photo editing process. You can find freelancers or companies that offer these services and negotiate the price for editing with them. You can probably find editing tutors this way as well, so give it some thought.

 
Create your profiles

To make a living from this hobby, you’ll need to create your profiles on freelancing platforms, social networks, websites that sell images and perhaps your own website afterward. Make sure the profile is filled completely so that it looks more professional and to increase your chances of getting hired.
Your profiles should also contain some of your best work, to serve as a portfolio and reassure potential clients you are competent enough to the task. In other words, make some albums you can upload before you create your profiles.

Share your works to get noticed
Finally, you need to make the necessary steps to get noticed, and social networks are a great place to start. You should create profiles on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and sites like Deviantart.
When you upload your work, it is important you use the right hashtag, but not too many of them. Additionally, you need to include Meta titles and Meta description for each image so that that search engines can categorize them with the corresponding keyword.
Another way to get noticed is to allow some of your works to be used free of charge; provided people use the right attribution. This way, more of your work will get shared, and there is a better chance of getting noticed online.

To sum up, it is not impossible to make it as a photographer, even if you start now, all you need to do is get good and use the right approach. It is vital that you use the suggestions provided in the guide above and to master the skills you need to succeed. Afterward, all you need to do is be persistent and keep going until you are noticed, and more people start hiring you.