Forgive what's likely to become a long post.
If there's one thing I have harped on while teaching workshops the last four years, it is this: do what you love, do it well, and build your clientele accordingly.
Sounds simple, and it is, sort of.
Many, many photographers feel they have to do what the client expects. For some, that means becoming a jack of all trades, shooting families, product stills, weddings, children, models, events and everything else. That's all well and good, if you really, really want to do all those things. More often than not, though, the photographer feels they have to take what they're given, accept every job, and/or do those jobs in exactly the way the clients asks them to do it.
A lot of photographers don't feel it's their place to say no to a client. It's considered arrogant, or brash. In reality, I see it as a responsibility. The client knows my work and has hired me to produce images consistent with the ones that led them to call me. They don't know how I produce what I produce, they only know the end result. It's my job to do what I need to do to give them the kind of work they expect from me. It's NOT my job to do every little thing they suggest. The end result will not be what they expect.
I think it's a gross underestimation of potential clients to assume that they can't understand and grasp the value of what we want to do. They just need to know why what you do is valuable. If you want to shoot differently than the rest of the pack, you'll need to create and educate your own market. Don't just tell them WHAT you do, explain WHY you do it, and WHY it's valuable. And yes, the work needs to be great. When I started doing children's photography, I was told that I would not be successful because parents didn't want to see dark or serious images of their kids. Oh, and my lighting was too dramatic.
Of the many, many photographers I've advised to only show and offer the work they are passionate about, almost all of them have experienced a noteable increase in clients, sales, and most importantly, job satisfaction.
know there are lots of people offering their services as Wedding Photographers, grafters. Doing an honest day's work for a reasonable rate. Then there are those that haven't clue and are offering tripe for an exhorbitant rate. Other's still that climb on an artistic band-wagon and attract a client base in a 'blind' socialite world.
And there are others who shoot true to their own, unique style, and attract clients of a wide variety of backgrounds who are moved by their work. Those photographers may make a lot of money, or they may make a modest living, but they enjoy what they do tremendously.
Would I be brave enough to just present the album to them? hmmm.....it certainly would make life so much simpler!
