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How a small town photographer survives in a crowded field

By Becky McCray

Photography is a crowded profession. And it’s getting squeezed to death by a glut of amateurs. When everyone can afford a “pro” camera, how can a professional photographer make a living? Mike Klemme’s answers hold some lessons for people in all types of professions being squeezed.

Mike KlemmeMike Klemme is a professional photographer from Enid, Oklahoma (population 47,000). He’s making his living at a time when the general freelance photography business is being squeezed to death in a race to the bottom. One dollar pics at iStockphoto have meant the end to the routine but profitable $300-500 stock photos Klemme used to sell over and over.

But Klemme found an answer.
He built his business on the Red Adair model: be the one to call. Starting with his skills as a landscape photographer, he became the first pro photographer to specialize in golf courses. There is a ton of competition in general landscape photography. But once Klmme became the go-to-pro for golf courses, he was called on to travel the world to shoot courses from Miami Beach to Kenya.  


Find a niche, fill the niche and kill the niche, Klemme said. Pick a niche without an existing specialist, one that capitalizes on your skills and abilities. Start learning all you can about it. Network, read the trade publications, meet everyone involved, know the industry players and become a guru in your specialty. Get beyond the obvious shots; develop your own perspective and your own style. Slam the door on that niche by being the absolute best.

Good photo niches are the subjects people are passionate, even crazy about. To prove his point, Klemme listed off a bunch of potential photo niches, ones where he did not know of an existing photo specialist. 

  • cigars and tobacco
  • swimming pools
  • emerging destinations in travel (pick one emerging destination, and be all over it)
  • western and cowboy 
  • green tech
  • rowing and boating in Oklahoma City 
  • fireworks
  • architecture
  • construction
  • oil business (big business in Oklahoma)
  • Native American
  • agriculture
  • manufacturing
An audience member added another: industrial safety training. She knows because it’s her job to find photos for her company’s industrial safety training materials. 

Once you have your niche, find your tribe of people who are passionate about the topic. Communicate directly with them.

Build great partnerships. Find a compatible graphic designer, and grow your work together. 
Bottom line: You can survive in a crowded field by finding your own niche. 

Based on Klemme’s presentation at Picture My Weekend 2010, in Alva, Oklahoma. 
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About Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.
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July 26, 2010 Filed Under: Best of, entrepreneurship, ideas, success, survivors

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Comments

  1. Nico Prinsloo says

    July 26, 2010 at 4:00 pm

    Nice positive story. I love it!

  2. Sandra Sims says

    July 28, 2010 at 1:21 am

    Finding a niche is great advice! My friend DeEdra specializes in kids photos and has a colorful, artistic flair. She regularly posts on Facebook and I look forward to seeing the pics in my timeline even though I rarely know the kids!

  3. Becky McCray says

    July 28, 2010 at 12:58 pm

    Thanks, Nico.

    Sandra, great example!

    I’ve thought of another niche: coffee. People go nuts over gourmet coffees, fair trade, etc. Is there an existing specialist in that photo niche? Probably not.

  4. Judy Dunn says

    August 9, 2010 at 10:05 pm

    I am a big fan of “nichifying.” (Bob gives me a bad time about inventing new words, but, hey…)

    Photography is a prime example. I wrote a tongue-in-cheek headline for an article on the reasons businesses should find a niche. It was something like “Swedish Cowboys and Scuba Diving Brides: 8 Reasons You Should Find a Niche.” I talked about how far one might go with a niche and wondered out loud if a photographer specializing in underwater weddings would be taking it too far. In the comments, someone said that when a friend niched down to underwater weddings, her photography business exploded. So much for taking a niche too far!

    I was talking to a colleague and friend on Twitter, a graphic designer who was having no luck finding a stock image of an Asian dentists. Out of curiosity, I looked in all my medical stock images and could find not one Asian dentist! So I think that minority representation in images of professionals is a gap that someone might fill.

    Thought-provoking post!

  5. Becky McCray says

    August 9, 2010 at 10:12 pm

    Judy, that is an amazing example of a photography niche. Thanks for sharing it.

  6. Rock Langston says

    August 10, 2010 at 1:16 am

    I was on the other side of the discussion with Judy Dunn about the gaps in stock photography. I repeatedly find myself looking for images of professional and blue collar women who are actually doing something serious. There are scads of women in cheesy costumes and poses, but few images of value. Add to that the need for a photo of a professional Asian woman, or a latina working under the hood of a car, and I’m out of luck.

    As with any type of work, there is always an underserved market. Great post! Now, time to put on my thinking cap!

  7. Kathy Clark says

    September 18, 2010 at 11:21 pm

    Very well said. It’s all about finding ones niche that makes them successful. Sometimes focusing on the seemingly small things is what fruits the biggest reward.

  8. Heidi says

    July 3, 2012 at 11:17 pm

    This article is very inspiring. I love the niche mentioned by Rock Langston of ethnicity and gender combined with occupations (the latina mechanic example); my preferred portrait niche so far is occupational portraits, and the more nichy and unusual, the better! My newest niche idea is gay couples. I seek clients one city over, which has a known gay district. Unfortunately I live in a small, very traditional city where amateur photography is huge and niches like those mentioned are difficult to explain to the locals – yet one must niche, at least to get started.

  9. Meranda Caswell says

    January 27, 2014 at 8:46 am

    This is a great story. I live in a super small country town and the closest major city is an hour away. I have been trying to build my business for almost 2 years. It is a struggle everyday. I did find a niche, but it is such a small town with very little out of the norm thinking. I specialize in Boudoir Photography. It is not really heard of around here, but I know the demand is there. I network online through Facebook almost everyday, well or until my fingers fall off! I would advertise everywhere if I could, but with it being such a conservative place and private type of Photography I feel I am at a loss. It is this kind of story that drives me to continue to try.

    • Becky McCray says

      January 27, 2014 at 9:35 am

      Meranda, I’m glad you found it encouraging. If your locals don’t know the term “boudoir photography” start figuring out how women talk about it to each other. Use their own words, if you can! Good luck.

    • Traci says

      June 28, 2014 at 9:57 am

      On the boudoir niche, I have tapped into our Oklahoma conservative traditional market by marketing to married woman and spicing up the marriage. It is done in private and never shared unless the woman shares. Totally word of mouth. There are woman who want to do this for their husband, but don’t want images posted all over social media. You would be shocked how well this goes over. Women trust me. Husbands love me. Ha! My last name is Baker, so I call my boudoir, Cupcakes. I have Cupcake parties and even have a session called Cupcake of the month where the wife can give her husband a Cupcake (picture) each month. Crazy successful!!! I advertise that MY Cupcakes are calorie-free, but made with enough sugar to cause a cavity. :)

      • Becky McCray says

        July 1, 2014 at 1:23 pm

        Traci, what a great way to market in your specific niche without upsetting people’s values!

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