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Due to recent events I thought this may be an ideal time to start using my camera for basic home and garden photography.

To be clear, I don't want to brand myself as a photographer, but I'd like to have a small place where I can share my photographic journey over the next few weeks (Twitter or a FaceBook page), and would like to brand my work as 'Garden Nature Photography', for example.

This seems like a good specific type of photography that I can concentrate on fully, and hopefully get an audience of people who are interested in the same thing.

But, if all goes well, I'd like to expand beyond the garden - Maybe even splitting things up to 'ground level nature', and 'specifically birds'.

Either way, my question is, even though it seems like a good idea to focus on a very specific topic (garden nature), is it recommended when you are able to see yourself (eventually) covering other areas of the niche?

On the one hand, I very much like the idea of being extremely specific, as it gives me more focus and the ability to explore different areas that I may not think of if I was to just be focused on the broader "Nature" niche, yet at the same time, I feel that I may be being too specific to get a larger audience.

That said, I know that the ratings/numbers aren't the key point.

Any ideas on how to narrow down a Niche, yet not be so specific that moving into other areas may be difficult?

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    I think you're over-thinking it. – Tetsujin Mar 30 '20 at 15:35
  • I have a tendency to do that a lot! – user89268 Mar 30 '20 at 15:36
  • And I get that what I'm talking about here is more of a photographers Project than the basis for a portfolio or business venture, which is fine of you're already a photographer. – user89268 Mar 30 '20 at 15:39
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    If you are going for income, a niche is defined by the market that supports it, namely money. If you are just looking for a photography identity, just take photos of things you like, and process them the way it make sense. The rest will follow – cmason Mar 30 '20 at 15:51
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    Self imposed restrictions or limitations are just that, self imposed. Do what you feel, there’s no need to put a label on it. – Alaska Man Mar 30 '20 at 16:13
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As also mentioned in the comments you are overthinking it.

Either way, my question is, even though it seems like a good idea to focus on a very specific topic (garden nature), is it recomended when you are able to see yourself (eventaully) covering other areas of the niche?

As an artist you should take photos of what appeals to you, as unless you are shooting for stock images that is what is going to produce your best work (unless stock images is what floats your boat!).

With that said what appeals to you will change over time as you develop your craft and viewpoint. So there is no reason why today you can't take pics of flowers in your garden, while next week you decide to take pics of old motorcycles in your garden.

As an extreme example. IMHO Robert Maplethorpe took some of the most amazing photos of flowers towards the end of his career. OTOH during most of his career his focus was the gay S&M scene in NYC. Those photos are .. challenging .. to look at to say the least. But that shows you that you don't have to be limited in what you shoot and that is you who decides your trajectory and not anyone else.

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    Thanks Peter. Your example is helpful, but also raises another point. Adding nature ( in this case flower ) photography to an S&M porfolio ( or your brand name ) seems like something that would be accepted by your fans or audience. However, adding S&M to your nature portfolio may be very much frowned upon. I personally would love to do some other types of shoots, but they wouldn't be for the eyes of the many who follow my "regular" works, and would therefore need to be branded differently - In my opinion. – user89268 Mar 31 '20 at 7:11

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