I just spent the week going thru my Hawaii archives….and I came across a folder from a trip back home a couple years ago. Not sure where it is exactly, sometimes I just drive. As a documentary photographer I’m drawn to places like this, to get a glimpse into our past. I think then I’m partially a historian.
But in my day to day life I promote myself as a architectural and corporate photographer. Can I do both? Not if I want the big boys to take me serious. This was a concept I struggled with mighty in the past. I was trained as a photojournalist. As such you had to learned to be good in several specialties. The more diverse, the more value you were to the editorial brand. I took pride in being able to venture into unknown situations and produce, it’s what we did.
As a “commercial” photographer the more you specialize, the more value you bring to the table, the more you can charge. The perception is that your image as a specialist will bring more value to their product, brand and reputation. It isn’t always who is the best image maker, who is perceived as such.
In my financial portfolio, I diversify, as a business owner I’m an Architectural Photographer (and don’t tell anyone, a darn good documentary, travel and corporate one also).
My work: http://www.zwink.com My editorial archives: http://www.bigstudioz.com
