Finding Your Niche

The more I delve into professional photography as a career, the more I find that the most common advice is to find your niche. Find a specific style or subject that you absolutely love and focus on perfecting the skill required to be successful and lucrative in that field. I once thought I had found a niche in long exposure landscapes. After all, I am fortunate to live in a place that offers some pretty stunning natural landscape. What I have come to discover is that I have no niche...and I do not want one. First and foremost photography is a passion and an expressive art form for me. To limit myself for the sake of financial gain extinguishes any spark of creativity within myself. So I say screw the majority rule of finding a niche. If you only are inspired to shoot one thing for the rest of your life then run with it! However, if you are inspired to explore and experiment with all styles, subjects, and lenses, then to not let yourself be shoved into a box. Of course I want to find professional success and a lucrative career in photography, but not at the cost of my love of the art. I will continue to do whatever inspires me in the moment. If it's action sports or still life or portraiture then so be it. To roll over and adhere to what society has deemed the norm, even if it goes against everything that inspires you, is a sin in and of itself. Do what you love, even if it is ill advised by those who have found success in this art, because at the end of the day, if photography is solely about success and money then you are missing the big picture.