These are sample photos of Pittsburgh Photographer Michael Ray and include food photography industrial photography corporate photography, headshot photography, and commercial environmental portrait photography. He can be reached at 412-232-4444 of his website is http://www.michaelray.com

Photographers in Pittsburgh

Photographers in Pittsburgh, especially commercial photographers, need to be generalists. I’m not saying that all photographers need to shoot weddings, but chances are that they need to be able to photograph food, industrial equipment, architectural buildings and interiors, products, and most of all, commercial portraits.  Basically, photographers in Pittsburgh need to be jacks-of-all trades.  Why?  It’s because Pittsburgh is such a small town and the market is so small that it will not sustain too many specialist photographers.  Sure, there may be one or two photographer that are specialists, but if you’re a commercial photographer in Pittsburgh, you’ll stand a much better chance of succeeding if you’re willing and able to shoot anything that comes in your door…

Here are several reasons why photographers in Pittsburgh shot consider being generalists…

1. Being a generalist photographer is more fun.  One of the great things about commercial photography is the variety.  Each week and each day is a little different, and it keeps things interesting.  One day, I’m shooting food in the studio, the next I might be in an operating room photographing an open-heart surgery.  The very next day, I might be in a helicopter or down in a coal mine, or even taking pictures of some well-known celebrity.  To be honest, the variety keeps it all very fun and interesting.

2. There are more potential clients.  I love to shoot food, but Pittsburgh only has so many customers of food photography.  I do market nationally, but it’s always nice to have lots of clients that live in the same city as you do.

3. You’re less likely to ned to work with people that you do not particularly like.  I’m sure you have friends that just hate their jobs.  I know I do, and most of the time it’s not because of the job, but the people they work with.  There are some real jerks out there and if you have to work with a jerk forty hours a week, chances are you’ll be miserable.  I work will occasionally have to work with people I do not care for, but it’s not every day, or even multiple days a week, and if I really don’t like them, I don’t every have to shoot with them.  I just either bid too high for the job or I find a way to be “tied up” the day they need me.  The thing that allows me to get away with that is the large potential client pool of being a generalist.

So there you have it, three god reasons why photographers in Pittsburgh should consider being generalists instead of specialists.