finding your photographic niche, part 2

In this, part 2 of 2 (part 1 may be found here), I offer how my photo studio (Daylight Photo) evaluated our market and how we created our current niche in photography.

As mentioned last week, we photograph a variety of assignments, from food to people to product. The area we promote and most actively pursue, though, is industrial photography. How did we find our way to this niche? First, a little history.

For years we have done work for both ad agencies and client direct (working with in-house designers). Ten years ago the majority of work we photographed was done for ad agencies, today the majority is done client direct. This has to do with both the evolution of the industry and our particular needs.

There was a time when working with ad agencies meant we would receive a fairly regular variety of assignments, from small to large. Whether a small package needed photographed or a large production was required, professional photographers were called on to complete the work. With the advent of digital photography that has changed somewhat. Simple photography needs may possibly be handled by someone in-house at the agency. Stock photography is called upon to handle more needs and some image needs may be filled by 3D rendering programs.

At first we were quite content to see the lower end work begin to fade. It really was the more “down and dirty” type work and clients promised to still bring the higher end work. Great! No more messing about with shooting a single box of “whatever” on a white sweep.

It turns out we really needed the regularity of the smaller jobs. Making payroll was becoming difficult. At this point we began to think of our client base as an investment portfolio. I believe it was Warren Buffett (the great investor) who suggested thinking of investment returns as hits on a baseball field: smaller, steader gains were “single hits” and the largest, least frequent gains were “home runs”. We needed to find more singles and doubles, the jobs to keep our cash flow more regular. Where to turn?

Well, we looked at our neighbors. Since we are located in an industrial park in northern Cincinnati, we began contacting the many area businesses in manufacturing. It turns out there were many such businesses and many of them had photography needs. A number of clients we now work with are far from household names (Super Systems, A-T Controls, AddisonMckee) but they are well-respected leaders in their particular industries. Our strength in the industrial photography market has continued to grow because it is a good fit for Daylight Photo in a number of ways:

1. Personality - I enjoy the manufacturing process. As a former mechanic and garage fabricator, I’m genuinely interested in our clients’ heat treating, machining and welding processes. They sometimes expect a new photographer to show up acting like an artist with a capital “A”. Instead they get me, wearing my Doc Martens and safety glasses and offering to drive the scissor lift. I’m comfortable in both their front offices and on the shop floor and they‘re comfortable with having me there.

2. Direct Communication - Here’s a really cool thing: because I recognize my clients as craftsmen and respect what they create they also see me as a craftsman. We enjoy a no-nonsense, direct line of communication where we can talk openly and honestly about how to get the job done the best way.

3. Cash Flow - Working client direct means our invoices get paid faster than when they go through the agency process. Agencies often wait to get paid by their client before they pay suppliers. If they wait a month to bill their client and their client pays in 45-90 days and…well, it can take a while. Getting job advances are quite common now, and that’s good, but it’s really (really) nice to get paid in 30 days and call it done.

4. Word of Mouth - local manufacturers work with and talk to other local manufacturers. The word of mouth advertising from working client direct in the industrial market has been wonderful for us. It does mean, of course, that we have to do a good job each and every time out in order to maintain that reputation.

5. Competition - there’s far more glamour in pursuing national consumer advertising, so that’s where many commercial photographers concentrate their efforts. I admit, photographing a suction cup catalog isn’t very glamorous. Okay, not hardly at all. But it satisfies my mechanical curiosities and I really enjoy the way these industrial clients satisfy their own clients’ needs. I’ve seen how suction cups transport everything from micro-electronics to snack cakes to LCD screens. Every industrial job is like a new episode of “How It’s Made”.

6. Stability - consumer spending is down? Our clients produce products for a global market, enjoying large contracts from developing foreign countries. Because their specialties are spread across various market sectors it takes a little of the bumpiness out of the economic ride.

7. Custom Products - custom products require custom photography. A typical scenario: a client has designed a multi-million dollar automated production cell that has been in production for months. It’s finally ready and the truck will be there to pick it up in two days. They need photography to capture the capabilities of the machine, it’s a one of a kind project and it’s only going to be around for 48 hours. They trust us to come through for them.

8. The Future - as many of you know, our studio has begun shooting video, also. Industrial clients understand the value of having video footage of their capabilities, processes and products. It’s been a natural addition to our services and an area where we identify future growth.

Those are seven reasons why we chose to pursue our current niche and why it is a good fit. But don’t think that’s all we photograph, we still enjoy a wide variety of work that runs the gamut of specialties. Specifically targeting industrial work has provided the type of steady work that keeps our studio clock ticking.

We began by looking for work close to home geographically, identifying our personal interests and strengths, and also identifying the current needs of our company. The results have been satisfying, for both Daylight Photo and for our clients.