Rongnongno Loc: FL

I was looking at a couple of professional photographers websites.

All but one are in a rut. They have a formula, follow it and never deviate. The result is utterly boring. Clients of course have no idea, as they get what they pay for, whatever that maybe.

There is nothing wrong on the client side, but on the photographer's?

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I suppose it depends on how diverse the photographer may want to be, or not.

Some people don't have to keep creating "new".

BebuLamar

If the photographer has enough business then why should he cares? He does it for the money not for the creative arts. It's the clients that dictate what the photographers have to do. If the clients are not happy then they have to change.

johngault007 Loc: Florida Panhandle

I don't know who specifically you are talking about, but the few that I follow on YouTube, Insta, etc.... have a specific style yes. But I would hardly call that a rut as they have defined their style and remain consistent in their delivery. Of course all of them have mentioned that they have, at times, fallen into a lull of sorts, but they go back to their older film cameras, change up their video content and other things to re-invigorate them.

I think it's important to see some of our inspirational personalities go through these periods in honest dialogue, because as a hobbyist I certainly have those feelings as well at times.

Soul Dr. Loc: Beautiful Shenandoah Valley

You know the old saying: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

will

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I take landscapes 90% of the time.
I rarely do birds, flowers, and other things, no interest.

So I might delve into those subjects that don't interest me? Why? To what avail?
Just because I can? I don't think so.
However I may experiment at times, just for kicks & giggles.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

In 1989, in Washington DC, I was working in a successful studio. The owner, Sam, was constantly going to seminars to learn more about anything touching his business. He did not need to, his business was thriving and rolling in the $$$.

I benefited from him as he shared what he learned.

His bread and butter was weddings and church fundraisings. On the side of that it was portraits, individual, seniors or family as well as boudoir.

As to the clients dictating anything, when it comes to portraits, my experience is that they do not care as long as the image offered flatters them; few think long term. Wedding is another story, since most folks look at cost first in the lower market and quality (as well as 'cachet') in the upper one. Church fundraising is a factory that does not need much more than a background. Senior photography is also 'factory like'. Boudoir photography is extremely complex, due to many variables that do not exist elsewhere.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

When I hire someone to do a job for me, I have no interest in their surprising me with something "innovative and different." I expect them to do the job we agreed on in the way that we agreed that they would do it. This is in contrast to the home decorating shows on television where the professional surprises the client with something that the owner never imagined. That's quite a bogus way to do business and a really good way to find oneself without any clients.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

No one mention 'surprises' that make no sense. But an elevated professionalism in capturing a scene. If you learn a better way to do something, why should you not use it?

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

I recently went on a landscape photography tour with a photographer fairly well-known in my area as a landscape photographer. He had with him someone who was a co-leader, I'm still a bit unclear about her position with his company, but she appeared to be mainly a portrait photographer. She was earning money by putting her people-landscape shots, her, on an online site. All of a sudden on the second day shoot (on the first day shoot she went away from the group to do her "thing") she changed into a sort of billowy dress, I think like something a female character in a video game would wear, and pushed through the small group of photographers, mostly male, so they could take a photo of her in the barren desert landscape. She did this for every shoot! I was mostly annoyed and spoke up which did not end well for me. I don't like surprises like this, I went on a landscape shoot and that was what I expected. I like to know what I am dealing with and that they are what they say they are...no surprises.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Nothing wrong there, either...

Professional photography is, first and foremost, a business. The photographer may have started as a creative enthusiast, but to sustain status as a photographer, and to eat, one must profit from the work. Competence counts more than creativity.

Consider these scenarios:

A commercial photo illustrator works for ad agencies and art directors in them. The work has to satisfy the art director first. The photographer might have a very creative portfolio and got hired because the art director liked it, but once hired, the photographer has to satisfy the art director. Smart ones collaborate, but they all have very specific objectives for their ads, all of which must be met.

A portrait and wedding photographer works for families, couples, students, prominent business people and politicians, or anyone who will hire a portrait photographer. The "look" of samples is crucial to getting a job. But again, the client has specific objectives.

Yes, weddings have become formulaic. Wedding ceremonies are rituals, and parents of the bride want the usual parade of ritual images. There can be some creative illustration thrown in, but certain groups of people must be photographed together, because Aunt Jo and Uncle Marty have to have their portrait with the bride.

Graduating high school and college seniors also tend to buy formula images. The school usually wants a formal photo with a very specific look to it. Beyond that, sessions can become somewhat creative, but for a given grad year, an independent senior portrait boutique photographer serving the "carriage trade" (school "royalty") usually creates several themes, or packages of themes from which to choose. Maybe there is a list of locations. Maybe there is a studio with half a dozen setups (backgrounds, foregrounds, recommended clothing styles, etc.). Certainly there is a formula that works, carefully honed year after year, by business people who happen to be photographers. PPA and WPPI will see to that.

A contract school portrait photographer working for a national or regional chain has formulas for everything. Creativity is the province of product development staff at headquarters. They create the "sets" (backgrounds, lights, props, poses, options...). They often package and sell or rent the equipment setups. Since they sell the same "looks" regionally or nationally, the finished product has to look like the advertising poster, flyer, and prepay order envelope.

It's a marketplace that is a lot like commercial radio. Most people want to hear familiar program genres, such as rap, hip-hop, top 40, album oriented rock, middle of the road, news-talk, sports-talk, etc. They don't want to hear the "free form" sound of college radio, and few want to hear classical, jazz, blues jams, cross-genre, or other complex music. They want two to three simple songs in a row, punctuated with news, weather, and commercials. The long version or disco version of a '70s hit seldom makes it (or made it) on the air.

Buying photos is a lot like buying most products. You can go to the local chain and get soft drinks, or you can go to the farmers' market and buy fruits and veggies to make your own smoothies. It costs a lot more and is a lot more trouble to be creative. Creativity is not a recognizable product, so it is riskier, harder to define, harder to sell.

My point? If photographers want to sell something, it needs to be pre-definable. If they want to be creative, they should have a separate category of that on display, with defined boundaries and expectations.

If a photographer wants to be an artist and sell works (prints as products rather than services), then there is always the art show, the museum exhibit, or the online gallery. For most, that is an opportunity to starve.

Earnest Botello Loc: Hockley, Texas

It reminds of when Picasso was a great artist, but starving, then he started putting out garbage and got rich.

BebuLamar

He also made a lot of paintings and have his family kept them until after he died as he knew they were much more valuable then.

BebuLamar

So "When one stops being creative one is doing his/her job"

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Define creative.
Or are we using the generic definition.