38 PracticalPhotograPhy
W
h atsortof
photographerareyou?
it’ s a commonquestion
toaskof others,buthow
oftendo youthinkabout
the sortof imagesyou
wantto take?there’sfarmoreto thisart
fo rmthanjustlandscapesor portraiture,
and if youwantto standoutfromthe
cr owdthenspecialisingin oneof the
moreobscuregenrescanbe a rewarding
experience,bothin creativetermsandas
a way of turningyourhobbyintoanother
st reamof income.
Definingyourplace
settlingona nichetopursueistheway
thatmostspecialistphotographersfound
theirfeetviathemoreobviousgenres.
if youfavourshootingoutdoorsandhave
al readytriedyourhandatlandscapeor
naturephotography,it isn’ta hugeleap
tomoveintomacroor astrophotography.
theformerwillrequiresomeinvestment
ina specialistlens,whilethelatteris just
a matterof learningnewtechniques.
youwillstillbe outin theopen,butyou
will be competingagainsta muchsmaller
fieldof otherphotographersin termsof
gettingyourworknoticed.
anal ternativeis to combineyour
photographywithanotherof your
interests.ifyou’reinterestedin
motorsport,trygivingtracksideshooting
a go, or a loveformusicmightnaturally
le adyoutowardsgigphotography.
“I ’vebeena skateboarder
foryears,andI firststarted
fil mingwithfriendsthen
progressed to photography,
learning how to shoot with
flash and compose shots
tosh ow off a trick and make it stand out to
sk aters and non-skaters alike. This allowed
meto carve out a niche in skateboard
photography, which made a lot of sense to
me. Print magazines were always my goal,
and I have been lucky enough to grace
the pages of a number of publications.
More r ecently, my c ontent has been used
on websites, Instagram and social media
channels. I a pproach my shoots with an
attitude to get t he best I can out of the skater,
tri ck and location.
“Having worked hard to develop my own
st yle and reputation within the community,I’ve
had the opportunity to shoot with well-known
sk ateboarders and for larger brands. Shooting
wi th friends is just as important to me as itlets
me try different ideas and test my creativity.
My interest in landscape photography has
al so influenced my way of composing a skate
sh ot and to make the best use of light and
lo cation.” instagram.com/oldskoolpaul
find your
cre ative
niche
casestudy
4
Paul scott turned
his skating Passion
into a career
There’s more
To shooT Than
landscapes or
porTraiTure
10 Ways To Improve
