Like many business owners, I started my business based on something I loved: photography. I didn’t have a detailed plan. I wasn’t following a five-step strategy or trying to corner a market. I just knew I felt something when I had a camera in my hand, and I wanted more of that.
In the early days, I tried a bit of everything. Different styles, different types of clients and different kinds of shoots. I was just figuring out what felt like me. What worked, what didn’t and somewhere along the way, I did what I think a lot of us do at some point. I fell down the Instagram rabbit hole. I would spend hours scrolling through other photographers’ feeds, comparing my work, my tone, and my entire business to theirs. At first, I didn’t even realise I was doing it. But slowly, I started trying to shape my work to look like what I thought it should look like, instead of what actually felt like me.
I signed up for online courses and mentoring sessions where everyone seemed to be saying the same thing. “You have to niche down.” “Pick a lane or people won’t take you seriously.” And honestly? I found the thought of this quite difficult, because I love the variety in my work. I love meeting different types of people with different types of brands and different stories behind those brands.
For a while, I genuinely believed I would have to choose a specific industry if I wanted to be successful, but here’s what I’ve come to realise. Maybe my niche doesn't have to be what I photograph, but how I photograph.
I find myself drawn to the moments that are often missed. The ones that happen in between poses and prompts. The real stuff. The moment someone relaxes their shoulders. The way they laugh a bit too loudly. That split second when they look away and forget the camera is even there. That is what I love.
I'm not a photographer who constantly directs or over-poses. I'm the one quietly watching and waiting for something real to unfold, because when it does, when you capture that one fleeting moment that feels like them, that is when it becomes a story. For me, that is perfection.
Don’t get me wrong. I love the beautiful, polished headshots that have become the face of modern brand photography. I think they hold a certain kind of power. To help people see themselves in a new light, to feel confident and to feel legitimate in their business. Those images matter, and I am completely here for them. But what I am even more drawn to is the deeper layer. The reason behind the business, the creative process and the inspiration behind an idea. The personal touches you add that no one else can replicate and the parts that people do not always see.
I know what it feels like to build something that means more than just a job title or a revenue goal. I started my photography business after a particularly difficult time in my life, and it has become somewhat of a safe space for me. It is something that is mine. Something I have built from the ground up and poured my heart into. That is why I feel so passionate about showing it in a way that feels true to me and, just as importantly, giving other people the space to present their business in a way that feels authentic to them without having to follow the Instagram rulebook.
There is a lot of buzz on Instagram right now about “storytelling”, and I love it, because it is exactly what I have always been doing. Even before I had the language for it. Not just telling stories through visuals, but helping people reconnect with their story, to really own it and to be proud of it. To share it with confidence, not just for their audience, but for themselves.
Instagram is full of curated, beautiful content. But it can also be a trap, one I have fallen into myself. Trends shift. Colour tones fade. What’s in style on Instagram this month won’t be next. But having something real to say, and saying it with intention through your visuals, that is what lasts. That is what people remember. That is what cuts through the noise. Aesthetic trends come and go; a strong story never goes out of style.
So no, I don’t want to help people curate something perfect. I want to help them connect to their audience, to their clients and most importantly, to their own story.
So, I have decided that my niche is storytelling. I am here to tell stories that feel real, that feel true and that feel like you.
