Thursday, February 10, 2011

Fear Of A Flood | Canadian Adventure Lifestyle Photographer

(originally posted on Facebook)

I have been following the industry (generally a bit of each genre) a lot lately and am starting to get a little worried. My philosophy is if you don't stay one step ahead of everyone else or make yourself very specialized, you will drown in (not the competition) the devaluing of the market you are in. Due to the huge influx of new photographers, there is no shortage of great work, at low cost. The problem here is there is very little value associated with this new work as it is plentiful and cheap. Like china in the 70's, why would I purchase something made in North America when I can get it for 1/10th the price in China.

However, there are those who understand the value of certain things in life (look at what people are passionate about) and are willing to spend the money on those things. This is where you want to be. If you are specialized and create something with real value attached to it (hint: relationships - they know, like, and trust you) and you charge for that value, your clients won't blink over the price.

Only a few will ever make it to the top, either that or create your own market and own it. My suggestion would be to: read more than everyone else, work on your creativity more than everyone else, and develop real relationships more than everyone else.

Most of my peers in the industry right now are doing well or have the potential to do great work. My interest is to help others develop themselves, evolve into what they see themselves in the future, and to bring the value back into to what we are doing.