How many specialties is too many?

drvnbysound wrote in post #16112085
I would think people who would want pics of a sports team, would be looking for a "Sports" section, and a workplace group looking for either People, Headshots, or a Business category.

Maybe a Portraits section would cover those if it had widely diverse examples. Well, so would a People section or a whole People site. I was actually thinking of kids' sports, like a posed group photo of a soccer team.

OhLook wrote in post #16112285
Maybe a Portraits section would cover those if it had widely diverse examples. Well, so would a People section or a whole People site.

A square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not necessarily a square. Likewise, a dog may be a part of a family, but a dog is not a person (hence, People). It was because of this that I initially suggested Family.

That said, I do think the OP has to make a decision whether to include animals as part of Family shots/portfolio, or to display them exclusively in a Pets section. If the later is chosen, the choice between People and Family is more aesthetic.

OhLook wrote in post #16112285
I was actually thinking of kids' sports, like a posed group photo of a soccer team.

I completely understand and assumed this. If I were looking for a photographer to shoot a team, I probably wouldn't look in a Family or People category. As such I stated, "I would think people who would want pics of a sports team, would be looking for a "Sports" section".

drvnbysound wrote in post #16112641
A square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not necessarily a square. Likewise, a dog may be a part of a family, but a dog is not a person (hence, People). It was because of this that I initially suggested Family.

That said, I do think the OP has to make a decision whether to include animals as part of Family shots/portfolio, or to display them exclusively in a Pets section. If the later is chosen, the choice between People and Family is more aesthetic.

I completely understand and assumed this. If I were looking for a photographer to shoot a team, I probably wouldn't look in a Family or People category. As such I stated, "I would think people who would want pics of a sports team, would be looking for a "Sports" section".

On that bolded statement I think my two experiences say that people who include the dog in family photos and/or pay to have pictures taken of just the dog do actually think they are people. My two cents.

depending on how your site is organized, you could highlight your 2-3 primary specialties, but also have in your footer or header something to the effect of "we also shoot other stuff! search here:" with a search box beside it. or "search here to see some of the other cool stuff we've done!"

i'm not sure about zenfolio, hosted-sites, or wix or other templated type sites, but this type of searching is one of the nice things about wordpress-based sites.

abbypanda wrote in post #16109857
What do you think? What do you do?

(my question is not about "what should I specialize in" but around "what is the best way to advertise the few things I want to focus on")

Maybe you could brand yourself as a "Family Photographer", and describe yourself as someone who offers photographic services for every member of the family - every member from the senior, to the newborn, to the dog!

In your site's portfolio, show images of entire families, pets included, as well as parents with babies, baby portraits, senior portraits, prom photos, etc, etc, etc. Just keep reinforcing the concept that they are all "family photos". That way, you can offer an extensive line of people & pet services, but make it look cohesive by putting them all under one umbrella.

abbypanda wrote in post #16109857
What do you do?

When you make less profit specializing in more things than in less things, then it's too many. There's costs for each "next thing", so law of diminishing returns kicks in eventually.