Local photographers lacking creativity and duplicating my shots

Every time I do a shoot I see all these other locals with the same set ups months later. And somehow these clients they have are somewhat linked to my profile so these other photographers have access to seeing my work before the shoot.
coincidental????

"let he who is without sin..." etc

So, you have never seen anyone's work and duplicated it? Ever?

I have used ideas but never right down to the exact location within inches, poses etc. I try to take ideas and mix it up

Flattery and sincerity and all that...

I wouldn't worry about it. I'd rather be concerned with my next shot and not about having to find someone to copy... You have a nice problem, remember that.

Take it as a compliment. Its going to happen.
When selling to clients use it to your advantage. 'I am the first to try new things, and they are pretty much always good ideas because most photogs use my style as an inspiration....Mr and Mrs client...be the first to have this style"!

I get that its frustrating...but as long as your work is better and you have good relationships with your customers, who cares.

Its dumb, but there is nothing you are going to do about it. Every second you spend worrying about it is a second you aren't finding your next location, pose, lighting setup, and client.

Yeah, I see your points. I guess the more fusterating thing is the pople in my netwrok go with someone else instead of me and then somehow in the mix of things my work style, location etc comes up in the other photographers shots. So I get the.."why cant they hire me feeling."

Nickc84 wrote in post #15855054
Yeah, I see your points. I guess the more fusterating thing is the pople in my netwrok go with someone else instead of me and then somehow in the mix of things my work style, location etc comes up in the other photographers shots. So I get the.."why cant they hire me feeling."

So with this response I actually think it's a different issue. The issue is that you are either:
A) not retaining your clients
B) cannot get the clients you want.

This comes down to one of or a mix of:
A) poor image quality
B) poor reputation
C) poor customer service
D) expensive pricing
E) inability to market and communicate effectively.

This is true to anyone, not specific to you. It up to you to figure where the problems lay.

Here is my take. I viewed your Facebook page. You are not interacting with anyone. You have images on there that are not original (a you claim) and do not stand out as excellent. Why are the images on your website not on Facebook??!! Thy are much better.

I see you are also lacking creativity.

...I've just had a look through your website, your flickr, and your facebook: and to be honest I'm not seeing anything so unique that someone taking a similar pose in the same location could be accused of "copying."

If you've seen this video before, don't spoil it. If you haven't: watch it and follow the instructions.

http://www.youtube.com …er_embedded&v=v​JG698U2Mvo

And if you have seen that video before, then watch this one instead:

http://www.youtube.com …er_embedded&v=I​GQmdoK_ZfY

You will always see what you focus on. You are looking at other peoples works and obsessing on the similarities. I'll be up front now and say you need to stop it. It is bad for business.

As a businessman you need to take a step back and look at things objectively: which to be honest can be very hard. I just read your bio and you said " brings a unique and creative style to his art". Well: I'm not seeing anything unique. You do great work. But you see yourself as unique but your body of work, IMHO anyway, looks like most other photographers work that shoots Seniors, Portraits and similar in the States. (Here in NZ if you shot Seniors you would be shooting 60 year olds!)

If you are losing business consider this: I just went to your pricing page and it looks like I can book you for a wedding or an engagement session: and thats it. There are lots of photographers out there. If you want a piece of the pie people need to be able to firstly find you and then book you. You need to stand out and you need to engage.

My normal question at this point is do you have a business and marketing plan? Because I would advise that you develop one. Figure out who your market is and how you intend to capture it. Redevelop your website, pricing, and marketing strategy accordingly. Doing these things will be infinitely more helpful to your business than obsessing over other photographers images.

There's no such thing as true originality.

ktan7 wrote in post #15859468
That's really bad! I believe in looking at other people's work to get inspired but not copy directly! That is brutal what the other local photographers did!

Vancouver wedding photography

How is it copying when everyone and their mother takes the same shots?

It's a compliment.
If you are really that worried about it, take the most horrible poses you can think of, and make sure to put a white vignette and selective coloring. Make a post and block your high end clients from seeing it, let the other photographers see it and get a good laugh at their attempts!

Imitation is the greatest form of flattery.

One thing that I don't understand about photographers is the jealousy and competitiveness in the industry. There is plenty of work for everyone and if you are a good photographer, you will get work and get paid what you are worth regardless what other people are doing.

Sounds like you have some talent and creativity. That is great. Don't worry about the others.