A few weeks ago I had the privilege to speak about photography during COVID-19 with Allyson Zajac, the creator of Allyson Latsch Photography. It got me interested in this environment and made realize all the different types of niches behind photography. Since then, many photographers have competed more heavily for clients in the DFW industry and flock to websites like Thumbtack for opportunities. I reached out to Daniel Motta, the creator of Daniel Motta Photography, to comment on what he expects to occur with this profession during COVID-19.
Hello Daniel, what is your main niche category in photography and how has this been effected in the COVID environment?
My main niche category is shooting corporate which includes a list of different genres. I shoot a lot of headshots, portraits, and also commercial advertising photography. I also shoot weddings as well.
When the pandemic first surfaced in the latter part of March, I had a huge drop in sessions due to the shutdown. April was booked solid and just about everything fell off, so I was left with hardly any work. All my wedding clients either rescheduled or cancelled their wedding. My corporate clients just simply rescheduled and wanted to wait until things died down.
However, May was a completely different story, it’s literally been the busiest month of my career. June and July have been the same way. What I did notice is that a lot of my headshot clients wanted to change jobs since they recently were let go or just wanted to move onto new endeavors. In May, I had a lot of individuals looking to get their headshots done, as well as portraits from real estate agents for their branding. Another thing I noticed is that businesses who usually book me for headshots and portraits were less inclined to book during this time, so the majority of my business were individuals.
How have you been staying productive and building on your business during a period where you might have a photography session fall through?
Once everyone rescheduled in March, I decided to take precautionary measures and adapt to the new environment we were all left with. Having all this new found time, I worked on my website SEO (Search Engine Optimization) extensively and managed to develop top page Google rankings for genres of photography I wanted to shoot. I also put out a COVID statement that is still currently on my website to show that I take precautionary measures, like wearing masks, gloves, and social distancing. I offered services like porch portraits even though not a lot of people were into it. I even offered retouching and editing services for people might want their images edited or retouched. Furthermore, once May came around, I feel that people were tired of feeling trapped inside, that’s when work started to book again. Businesses were still reluctant to book, but a few agencies managed to use my services for some commercial work. Additionally, in August I’ve received a lot more inquiries from companies seeking headshot, portrait, and commercial services. So in my opinion, things seem to be picking back up. The SEO work had a strong impact getting my website out there so anyone could find me. I’m unsure as to what other photographers are doing to stay busy but the event industry has definitely taken a turn, I feel very fortunate as my change to push more corporate services definitely paid off. The weddings I have, have just rescheduled for later in the year, and some in 2021. Only a select few have cancelled, or just went with a very small ceremony to adapt to the new COVID rules that were placed on the event industry.
The cancellation of trade shows like CP+, NAB, and the Photography Show is making some photographers question if photography trade shows are on the way out after COVID. Do you still think trade shows have an essential position in the photography community?
Having never done a trade show myself, it’s hard for me to accurately say what is going to happen with trade shows. If the only thing I captured was weddings and events, more than likely I would have a place in the trade show environment. Part of me believes that everything will return to normal, it might take some time. I do know that people are tired of feeling trapped and just want everything back to normal, but that obviously doesn’t change our circumstances right now.
Do you see any photography trends popping up in a climate where businesses are a little more cost-sensitive, clients are more health conscious, and events becoming remote?
Personally, I haven’t seen any trends pop up except porch portraits, but even then you can’t expect to make a living just doing that. With it being August, writing this I’ve already photographed some TED Talks style events, everyone was wearing masks including me, and I captured the event like normal. The audience were socially distanced and sat in every other seat while they watched the presentation. The agencies that hired me, didn’t seem to be phased by COVID either. These companies were still busy and wanted to update a LOT of images on their website, probably taking the same precautionary measures I did to help drive new business. To answer your question, I haven’t seen any new trends pop up, slowly but surely it feels like things are coming back to normal.
