tobicus wrote:
I think the way lots of folks who seem hyperspecialized and happy with it get there is by consciously deciding to only pursue clients who want the kind of work they deliver. Fer didn't get where he is today (starting at 4k and shooting 30 weddings a year of his choosing) by asking if people wanted artistic coverage of their wedding day...he shot a lot of normal weddings and then decided to go after his own style and let the chips fall where they did, client-wise. He's talked about how he might only book 2 out of every 100 inquiries, but how many do you really need in a year?...Show more →
Maybe what's really an engine for him is the fact that he's serving a niche, as he says: Americans and Canadians getting married in Mexico. And his photography style is modern and resonates with these couples perhaps more so than the old school Mexican studio or cheesy resort photographer who'd be the only other choices for those couples outside of flying someone in, which could be cost prohibitive. So for $4500, you get a cool, artsy match to your north american tastes. Good deal.
But otherwise doesn't his "about" page kind of sound like everyone else's? "Photography is my passion." "My vision is to create something personal & unique for you." There isn't any mention of anything hyper-specialized there, is there?
So maybe here in this case it's not about hyper-specialization of a style at all but more about being the only one of a kind in the area, serving a niche - and so, being the best logical choice for that market.
TheGE wrote:
Maybe what's really an engine for him is the fact that he's serving a niche, as he says: Americans and Canadians getting married in Mexico. And his photography style is modern and resonates with these couples perhaps more so than the old school Mexican studio or cheesy resort photographer who'd be the only other choices for those couples outside of flying someone in, which could be cost prohibitive. So for $4500, you get a cool, artsy match to your north american tastes. Good deal.
But otherwise doesn't his "about" page kind of sound like everyone else's? "Photography is my passion." "My vision is to create something personal & unique for you." There isn't any mention of anything hyper-specialized there, is there?
So maybe here in this case it's not about hyper-specialization of a style at all but more about being the only one of a kind in the area, serving a niche - and so, being the best logical choice for that market. ...Show more →
I understand what you're saying, but I think there's a lot more to his work. If I recall correctly, he didn't shoot a single wedding in Mexico either in 2012 or in 2011, as he stated he enjoyed destination weddings and wanted to do nothing but them for a year. Prior to that, he shot a mixture of local and abroad weddings.
One thing I've noticed in studying the self-presentation number of higher end photographers, too, is that there is a lot of variance in the "about" section, both on blogs and on actual pricing sheets. In other words, what's said isn't really that important. There are certain other factors that I've seen bear significantly more weight.
tobicus wrote:
I understand what you're saying, but I think there's a lot more to his work...
You would think that because you're focusing on his work since you're a photographer.
I know little about his behind the scenes. I know I've read that his definition of a destination wedding is one that doesn't take place in his town, so when he says he wants to do more destination weddings, maybe he means something other than what you'd mean. He works with a marketing company. So might he have his name in key places referring him? Perhaps. But "more to his work"? If that were the case, wedding couples would book us on merit alone and he wouldn't be using a marketing company to help him.
Whatever it is, why a couple books him and doesn't call in Del Sol or a local is more than just the work.
One thing I've noticed in studying the self-presentation number of higher end photographers, too, is that there is a lot of variance in the "about" section, both on blogs and on actual pricing sheets. In other words, what's said isn't really that important.
Yes I've come to that same conclusion. Since I'm probably what you'd call a high end photographer (I prefer the term "higher end") I think it's because my clients don't really read through the website, it's just there to serve more for validation. Having said that, I'd still suggest that should a photographer actually do something that tweaks up the performance of their about page (or anything about their business), that puts them in an even better position.
tobicus wrote:
We've begun specializing in more creative, offbeat weddings (intimate gatherings in unusual places with strong DIY elements), but it's been slow so far. Then again, we're only aiming for 10 weddings a year, so we can afford to be choosy. A wedding of ours was recently accepted in the biggest indie wedding blog we know of, so we're interested in seeing if it leads to more of the kinds of couples we're looking for once it's published.
I was looking for something else in this thread when I ran across this comment from almost exactly a year ago. We booked exactly one wedding from that publication, and while it's the biggest booking we've had to date, it was also the only inquiry we received from the publication, which really surprised me. We've got another wedding coming out in the same blog in around five months, and I'm interested in seeing if we get the same or better results.
For 90% of our work, we shoot clients that enjoy our work and style. More or less, your basic bride that likes to have fun or the mom that wants cool baby pictures. These are nothing out of the ordinary, the same or similar to hundreds or thousands of other photographers. We enjoy it and it is fun and it pays the bills
The other 10%, we do something that not everyone would book us for. In fact, we only book 2 or 3 a year. It is so specialized that you have to really be out there looking for something like this in order to even find us. How did we get in to it and start getting clients? Easy, we asked for models and groups of people that would let us photograph them for a special project. Then we just passed those galleries around to friends, family, past clients and some online mom boards. Explained what it was and what we would offer. Then after a year of people knowing what we did, they would hear someone say hey I wish I could find X. They would instantly refer them to us and say we offered what they were looking for.
I would come right out and say what it is, but there are a lot of locals on here and they might take my idea. Since there is not a lot of demand for it, I can't let it get out just yet. We are still new with it and want to gain more of a base befroe we let it out But if you want to know more about it, PM me and I would share. It is a lot of fun actually.
I would say, you need to find what it is exactly you want to specialize in. Find out the type of people that want that and what they are intrested in. Think like that type of person and then reach out to businesses that are in their likes and see if you can do some kind of promo with them.
paparazzinick wrote:
I would come right out and say what it is, but there are a lot of locals on here and they might take my idea. Since there is not a lot of demand for it, I can't let it get out just yet. We are still new with it and want to gain more of a base befroe we let it out But if you want to know more about it, PM me and I would share. It is a lot of fun actually.
Let me guess. You shoot the whole day in film, or large format. Something like that.
Anyway, you just really have to do the work you do. What I see happening a lot in the digital age is the homogenization of photography. Especially in photography forums such as this. Everyone's style just kinda blends together and it all looks the same. There's this "Those pics are awesome how did you do that? Aw yeah, I'm gonna do that too. Hey everyone look at my pics aren't they just as good as that guys? Aren't I awesome too now?" And that really sucks because people are afraid that being different is akin to sucking when it's not. Being different is being different. John Tesh made a fortune and so did Snoop Dog both doing the same exact thing, making music, playing concerts and selling albums. But they have two totally different clients with completely different tastes that likely thinks the other sucks. But they're artists and an artist is only great when they do things the way they want to do them. Otherwise you're just faking it.
tobicus wrote:
We've got another wedding coming out in the same blog in around five months, and I'm interested in seeing if we get the same or better results.
Didn't you say you're getting out of the business?
