DPChallenge: A Digital Photography Contest You are not logged in. (log in or register) 
 

DPChallenge Forums >> Photography Discussion >> In the groove #4
Pages:  
Showing posts 1 - 19 of 19, (reverse)
AuthorThread
 06/12/2004 01:34:09 AM · #1
Many great photographers are known for a certain type of work. For example, Ansel Adams was one of the worlds greatest landscape photographers. Annie Leibovitz, one of the first photographers that I followed, is an awesome portrait photographer, having shot many great people. Even here in the community known as DPC there are several photographers that seem to fit into a certain categorie. Jacko is known for his macro work, jjbequin for his awesome black and whites and I could go on and on. One of the strengths of all these photographers is that they found a niche for themselves.

My question in this episode of 'In the groove' is: Do you have a niche? What is your niche? Do you feel that this is a strength or a weakness? In other words, are you a stronger photographer for shooting that which you know best or is it a limiting factor holding you back from achieving greatness in other realms of this world we find ourselves in named Photography...
 06/12/2004 01:39:10 AM · #2
sports, and animals.

Ive got quite a few good shots of my bro and his team playing hockey, but i dont put them in my portfolio because i think people would reguard them as pictures of peoples kids.

EDIT: oh yeah, squirrels.

Message edited by author 2004-06-12 01:41:05.
 06/12/2004 01:56:54 AM · #3
I have not been at photography long enough to have a niche.

However, having done other things in my life, I would say that having a niche is a good thing. In fact, I will go out on a limb and say that it is essential to becoming great at something. My reasoning is that in order to increase beyond where I am requires building on what I already know. Nothing is created from thin air, there are no magic spells to encant and skip a few steps; each step on the way requires the previous steps to have been completed fully. But each step can be creatively done in any number of different ways. By building on what has already been accomplished, each success building on the successes that came before it, a niche is created.

I think this could only be a bad thing if the niche was forced upon someone by another.

David
 06/12/2004 02:05:53 AM · #4
Originally posted by Britannica:

I think this could only be a bad thing if the niche was forced upon someone by another.

David


I agree completely. I would only fear a niche if it became a limitation or convinced you to never go out on anohter limb ever again.

Message edited by author 2004-06-12 02:07:27.
 06/12/2004 02:15:37 AM · #5
No niche. After 30 some years of listening to the same music I find myself pretty closed minded about what I like to listen to. I do not want that to happen to what I look at (see) and take pictures of. I'm doing my best to not get locked into any one genre.
 06/12/2004 07:57:09 AM · #6
No niche yet unless you count my own kids as a niche! :o)

I could see myself really falling into a groove of flowers or landscapes, because they are fairly plentiful and I could practice on them a lot. I would really love to do more portrait or people-oriented types of shots, but I'm no good at those and find myself shying away from many candid opportunities because I don't want to be seen as a weirdo or perv or something taking pictures at the park of other people's kids or on the streets snapping away shots of strangers. I really love to watch sports, and sports photos would be really fun to do, but I don't have the eye or the timing for it. So I'll just stick to the niche of whatever presents itself at the time.

Sorry for the long-winded version! :o)
 06/12/2004 08:15:44 AM · #7
I like shots outdoors, I am horrible at set up indoor shots or studio photo's. I can never get the light and the shadows right.
 06/12/2004 08:24:16 AM · #8
I am in the twilight zone, I am looking for a niche.

I like waterfalls and the rainforests but I don't get to shoot them often. Funny as it seems my best rated shot is a setup indoors shot :) I guess one will find me.

Thanks for this topic... it really provokes thought... hmmm niche...
 06/12/2004 10:03:12 AM · #9
I have personal preferences with what I shoot, how I shoot, and how I post process. I also take a very large number of chimp pictures, but that's more a passion, interest, and hobby than a niche.

I also think you can be forced into a niche by yourself. Scenario - you take excellent people portraits, people pay you a lot of money to take their picture, and you have won much acclaim for it, however, you dislike people portraits. You would much rather take landscape shots, which you suck at. Do you fall into the niche of portraiture or keep plodding on into landscapes? Or do both!

Although I'm sure there is a natural tendency to be good at something, I think really excelling at a particular type of photography requires the skills to pull it off, knowledge of the subject, and lots of practice.
 06/12/2004 10:06:40 AM · #10
I think I go through phases, like when I get a new toy (macro lens!) I get into a niche of macro flower shots or whatever, but DPC keeps me varied :)
 06/12/2004 10:09:53 AM · #11
i like macro shots of flowers, and portraits of some of my cats (if they would stay still long enough of course) lightning shots and night sky scenes are also some of my favorite things
 06/12/2004 10:16:28 AM · #12
I ran across this in an article written by the 'Weekend Photographer'. I'm sorry I can't remember the guy's name nor do I have the link. Perhaps some of you have come across his writings and can help me give appropriate credit to this excerpt:

[A few weeks ago, in response to my colum about turning pro, a young photographer wrote me an e-mail that began, "I have a passion for sports and my goal is to be a staff photographer for a major sports magazine."
When I wrote him back, I told him that what he said in that very first sentence gave him a distinct advantage over 90% of the photographers in the world:
"I have a passion for and my goal is to ."
If you can possibly fill in that sentence with something that really makes sense for you, then it is, as the saying goes, half the battle. People who can make such a statement decisively and unambiguously have just leapfrogged ahead of the large majority of all other photographers.]

Interesting, huh?
 06/12/2004 10:18:00 AM · #13
Oops!

It supposed to be...

"I have a passion for ________________ and my goal is to _____________."
06/12/2004 11:39:20 AM · #14
I like shooting wildlife and details(or macros), it is a challenge to find them to start and then to get them do doing something noteworthy at the same time. With herons (i have taken thousands of shots) at first just to get a shot was ok, now I only keep a heron shot if he has a fish in his mouth, is in flight or doing something else that is an 'extra'. My goal eventually I think would be to travel a lot more to do photography, tho i know when I have it is often spending a lot of time in the same place that makes for better shots.
 06/12/2004 11:47:09 AM · #15
Originally posted by awpollard:
No niche. After 30 some years of listening to the same music I find myself pretty closed minded about what I like to listen to. I do not want that to happen to what I look at (see) and take pictures of. I'm doing my best to not get locked into any one genre.


Very interesting parallel. I understand that one completely.
 06/12/2004 01:00:38 PM · #16
Originally posted by digistoune:
I ran across this in an article written by the 'Weekend Photographer'. I'm sorry I can't remember the guy's name nor do I have the link. Perhaps some of you have come across his writings and can help me give appropriate credit to this excerpt:

[A few weeks ago, in response to my colum about turning pro, a young photographer wrote me an e-mail that began, "I have a passion for sports and my goal is to be a staff photographer for a major sports magazine."
When I wrote him back, I told him that what he said in that very first sentence gave him a distinct advantage over 90% of the photographers in the world:
"I have a passion for and my goal is to ."
If you can possibly fill in that sentence with something that really makes sense for you, then it is, as the saying goes, half the battle. People who can make such a statement decisively and unambiguously have just leapfrogged ahead of the large majority of all other photographers.]

Interesting, huh?

quick search -- is this the article you are referencing?

David
 06/12/2004 01:02:27 PM · #17
Yep! That's the guy - thanks David :-)
 06/12/2004 01:31:11 PM · #18
There is a line by Ezra Pound, which appears to have stayed with me for much of my life: What Thou Lovest Well Remains.

I have no preconceived ideas of what I love today, never mind what I will love tomorrow. Much of my life has been determined by a sense of 'place'. Some of it has been guided by an appetite for discovery rather than routines. I appear to be capable of both great affection and great indifference. The first has been useful for my own 'transport' and, hopefully, 'giving a damn' has some other uses as well. The second has often provided an anchor, a balance, particularly when the wind went a little wild in the trees.

So, if I have a niche, the niche would likely come with this perspective. Since I enjoy and value dissociation, it may be a large and remote place, a neglected, scoffed thing or a solitude. If it's a person, I will probably have her, him or it in just such a place or, if not, then stripped of all accessories but the wealth one carries in the blood and features.

I do not worry much about creating a niche. I much prefer to discover one as things evolve.

Message edited by author 2004-06-12 14:21:34.
 06/12/2004 09:00:18 PM · #19
Originally posted by digistoune:
"I have a passion for ________________ and my goal is to _____________."


That is an awesome way of looking at things! I have a passion for music and am starting to shoot some bands at the local club. Lookin' forward to bein' on a couple of their websites. Now I gotta figure out the goal part...
Pages:  
Current Server Time: 08/02/2025 04:48:16 PM

Please log in or register to post to the forums.


Home - Challenges - Community - League - Photos - Cameras - Lenses - Learn - Help - Terms of Use - Privacy - Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2025 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 08/02/2025 04:48:16 PM EDT.