Photographers - Who is your audience?

Something I've seen a lot recently is photographers blogging seemingly for the attention of other photographers. Whilst this would be fine on a photography news site or a photographic training site, I'd say that really it's not ideal on a wedding or portrait website where non-photographer paying clients are looking.

An industry where debates are always had

Photography is no doubt an industry full of debates: Jpeg vs RAW, Full Frame vs ASPC, Canon vs Nikon and on and on the list goes. Because of this we all tend to choose sides and have opinions and that's great. If everyone thought the same thing it'd be a very dull world indeed.

However, I just question whether the websites we've painstakingly taken the time to put together for the benefit and purpose of obtaining clients are the best places to voice our opinion on all things photographic?

It sometimes feels a little bit like publically airing your dirty laundry to me.

There are plenty of photographers out there now who have successfully transitioned into making a living from almost exclusively (sometimes completely exclusively) from teaching photography. So, it sometimes does happen that a photography teacher will have a balance opposite to most of us whereby they make most of their income from teaching, but still occasionally shoot for a client, so you may see a site hosting content for everyone. But what works for those photographers in those situations may not be right for you.

Take it elsewhere

Personally, I set up a completely separate site to allow me to talk about photography. It allows me to talk about gear, write reviews, share personal work and my thoughts on photography. It allows me to write posts just like this one; that are designed to make you consider for a moment whether your blog, where your potential paying clients may be looking, is the right place to add your own proverbial fuel to a particular photography-fire.

You can of course write about what you like. This is, after all The Internet and your blog is of course your domain. I can't tell you what you should and should not be writing about. I'm purely trying to get you thinking about whether your blog is the right place for some of these discussions.

Not everyone will agree, but my advice is this: stick to private groups and communities or start a separate website for that sort of chat. In short: your clients don't need to see all of that. Put your best foot forward - that being your wonderful photographs, testimonials from previous clients and blog posts advising, helping and guiding your next clients. Show off what you can do for a client and do everything to get them to book you, not what you think about a particular camera or another photographer's work. More often than not your opinion on cameras, tech specs or another photographers work is not why your clients are going to book you.

What do you think?

What are you thoughts? Should we be keeping this side of the world of photography away from our clients, or, should our clients be made aware of what is happening in the photography industry? Post your comments here