It’s almost silly to have one niche if I be honest . It works for some yes but it’s not some rule from bible. You do what you want to do. I’ve been a photographer for many many years And I have at least 5 genres that I shoot and clients have contacted me for each.

You’re seventeen, you have a load of time to find your niche.

When I was seventeen I was working as a wedding photographers assistant, getting experience in the field. There was portraits, too, but I wanted to do either music, things or war correspondence. Being allergic to flesh wounds and bullets and bombs, I decided to do music. I worked for small town bands, took their pictures, got some in local papers. I worked with larger bands and then moved to studio and advertising things. I’m still studio based but now the things I shoot are old, rare and ancient fabrics, with a healthy dose of artefacts. It’s been a long career since I started and the worst thing you can do is rush it.

I’d say you can do whatever works, but then it’s not a niche, it’s an ensemble.

I do tons of Sports but there is very little money in Sports around here anyways. Even NCAA level sports have no budget for photography.

If you are trying to make money with photography, essentially what you are doing is creating a product or service as a small business. Part of that is the marketing and promotion side of things. It’s going to be really hard to catch people’s attention if you try to market 15 different aspects of your photography.

It’s sort of like talking in a crowded room. It’s so easy to blend in with the background noise, you need to find a way to really stand out to be successful.

Anyone, YouTuber or otherwise, that says that the photographer must specialize in one specific niche is an idiot. I mean that’s like saying that in order to be a good mechanic you have to only work on one brand of car. I mean just like in that case, specializing in one narrow area might make you a little bit better at all of the subtle nuances involved in that area, but it’s not like having that knowledge mean that you can’t also have knowledge in other areas.

Nothing wrong with it at all. Some very successful photographers shoot a wide range of different niches. Jeff Cable for example shoots weddings/events, portraits and sports including the Olympics. There is nothing wrong with having a wide ranging skill set.

You just can’t decide…yet.

Plus you don’t have to stick to just one, but I find that professionals tend to focus in one and during the free time they explore others.

Look up a guy named John Hedgecoe. He shoots everything you can think of, and does it well.

YouTube is great, and I’ve learned from it, but it can be toxic too. And it’s hard, when you’re young, to separate good from bad. But give yourself time to find out what you like. You don’t have to specialize in anything if you don’t want to.

lol

what a weird question.

And don’t watch youtube.

You think any great artist watched youtube and just copied all sorts of dumb ass random advice?

Stop limiting yourself. Photograph what ever the hell you want. You can choose what you show and to whom.

I used to want to be a gig photographer. Shot a lot of gigs. Then portraits. But literally nothing else.

Now at 39, after a 10 year hiatus, I have decided not to let anything limit myself. I photograph everything I find interesting. Because why the hell not.

My friend… first of all: grammar and formatting. That was a mess to read and if you’re starting a business website, that really matters.

Now in terms of niches… firstly at 17 you are (with respect) young as hell and have plenty of time to go wherever you want with whatever you want. Seriously.

In terms of advertising any services, it does help to show that you do specialise. It helps reassure customers.

Don’t make would-be wedding couples sift through your sick shots of music festivals. Don’t make events companies look through your portraits. Try and compartmentalise so that if you have multiple offerings, you can direct customers to any one of them and they can read up about that.

That way - even if you have no niche right now - you’re showing you can effectively deliver on multiple niches.

No, straight to jail

Obviously with other answers above. This isn’t rocket science and skill in one may translate to skill in another, but you may want to have separate profiles, separate projects, separate shows so you can become known for something. Later when people find out you also do this other thing, it’s a healthy jump. Clients need to see some form of consistency so they know what to expect!! Good luck!

Your focus may narrow over time, but it’s ok to have more than one niche. If you look at Bryan Peterson he can photograph anything. As a photographer, I think we should be able to photograph anything well and let our preferences develop over time. I used to shoot nature, and concerts. Now I am drawn to fine art, abandonment, water, reflections, and underwater photography.

A close relative is a commissioned artist and took ten years of study and training before deciding that her medium is watercolor.