What almost everyone agreed on
Whatever else the thread disputed, the same three things came back repeatedly: the low end is under real pressure, live work is protected, and the answer depends entirely on which part of the market you are in.
- Weddings and live events came up again and again as the safest niche, on the reasoning that an event happens once and cannot be regenerated.
- Several replies described the bottom of the market as a race to the bottom that predates AI, with one calling AI "just another step in this process".
- One commenter observed that eighty per cent of photographers are not good enough to stand out, and another added that the eighty per cent is good enough for ninety-five per cent of clients.
- More than one person argued the real change is that clients cannot tell the difference, and that imagery has become disposable as a result.
Where the thread openly disagreed
Product photography split the room. One reply called it "mostly dead for professionals", on the basis that small businesses shoot on a phone and upscale the result. Another said product work is where the real money is, but only for the top twenty per cent, with the rest going the way of Fiverr and in-house teams. A third, describing thirty years of product and video work, said the biggest current demand is short-form vertical lifestyle video for ecommerce rather than stills at all.
What the working photographers said had changed
- A commenter with fifteen years of commercial work said headshots have been hit hardest, with companies no longer paying for staff portraits.
- The same reply described the response as keeping overheads minimal and rebuilding the website around clear search visibility and a stated point of difference.
- Someone with thirty years in the trade noted that a day rate which was entry level twenty years ago is now hard to ask of a consumer whose phone is good enough.
- Several argued the surviving advantage is the human one: the experience of being photographed, which nothing generated can supply.
The strategies people said were working
- Niche down rather than competing on price, and sell an experience rather than a deliverable.
- Treat social media as a storefront rather than as the whole business, and build on referrals and search instead.
- Remove friction: several replies said clients want to know what to expect, how to book, and why it costs what it costs.
- Add adjacent skills. One reply recommended video, editing and web work, having watched photographers improve their prospects by widening what they can deliver.
This is one thread from 2025, weighted towards the United States and Europe, and the people answering are describing their own markets. It is a set of working opinions rather than industry data.