ASLU 060: Creative Canadian Women - Dance Photographer Rachael Dyer on Niching Down
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This week’s episode features Halifax based dance photographer Rachael Dyer of Movita Beaucoup Dance Photography. In this chat with Melissa, Rachael talks about switching in creative fields in her 40s and going from classically trained ballet instructor to full time dance photographer.
An important part of Rachael’s business strategy has been to niche down, allowing her to focus on a core client group, develop a photography style, get crystal clear on who she's marketing to and stay one step ahead in her industry - all while forming healthy relationships with other dance photographers in her local market.
Rachael started with ballet at a young age partly because her parents were hoping that it would help with her inherent shyness. She credits an incredible ballet teacher for encouraging her as she grew as a dancer. As she grew older, rather than pursing a career as a performer, she headed to Toronto after being accepted into Canada’s National Ballet School’s teacher training program. From there she taught for a few years in Toronto, absorbing more knowledge, before heading back to Nova Scotia to continue teaching there.
In the background, she started a blog under the name of Movita Beaucoup where she made the most of her healthy sense of humour and relished in the maritime tradition of storytelling. The blog shared recipes, funny, (and often embarrassing) stories of her life, hosted creative “competitions” for gingerbread house creations from talented (and not so talented) bakers and gave her a place to share her hand painted ballerina cake toppers. Hoping to make her recipes more visually appealing, she picked up a camera and started to teach herself the basics of photography.
One thing led to another and Rachael found herself with her camera at the studio more and more often, with her students asking if she could take their pictures. It was something that clicked and Rachael knew this was something she wanted to continue doing and she started her dance photography business on the side. Her classical teacher training meant that she had the skillset to correct her subjects’ technique, to position them and to coax great poses out of them, ensuring that their photos showcased their absolute best.
Enter a global pandemic and being laid off! Seeing that dance photography was becoming more and more popular among dance students and professionals, and having dealt with some injuries Rachael decided it was time to retire from teaching and take Movita Beacoup Dance Photography to the next level! In this episode we talk about Rachael’s journey and how niching down has been critical to her business and how it can work for your creative business as well!
If you just want the links to the resources mentioned in this episode, scroll down to the bottom.
Listen To the Episode
Here’s a direct link to Episode 60 . You can also listen via the player below or on your favourite podcast app (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, and more). Just search for And She Looked Up!
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In this episode we talk about:
how learning fundamentals may not be creative but, that structure can help unleash creativity
how social media has transformed the niche of dance photography
offering free shoots to build her skills and her portfolio
the importance of building trust when photographing people
some of the challenges and safety concerns to be aware of when working with children and young adults in any field
how skills and expertise in one field can be transferred to another
how niching down the type of photography she does and the age groups she shoots has made it easier for potential clients to recognize she’s the photographer they want to work with
the importance of collaborating with her clients to add significance and meaning to their finished photos
some of the mindset issues around being self-taught as a photographer and how crippling imposter syndrome can be - especially when as a dance teacher formal training was so important
recognizing that sometimes what we say is imposter syndrome is actually jealousy and how that’s not something we like to acknowledge in ourselves
jealousy is uncomfortable and we don’t like to talk about it - it implies we’re flawed and perhaps not a good person
how helping others in your field can help you work through jealous feelings
supporting other women through action and not just words
you can be generous with your peers and colleagues - there is enough work for everyone (there really is!) and they can provide support to you as well
pricing your work - especially in a niche
how tiered pricing can make you more accessible to different segments of your market
how niching down helps her to market her business and hone in on her ideal clients
the importance of making her clients, who may never have a professional dance career, feel like they are a principal dancer for the National Ballet of Canada - the small little extra touches that create return clients
the importance of establishing yourself withing your client’s community - whether it’s dance, a sport, a past-time
niching down makes you the go to expert and opens up doors that being a generalist may not do
restrictions can help creativity bloom
when you niche down, it’s easier to become the leader - the one others follow. You become the envelope pusher.
dealing with the copying or theft of your work
Mentioned In This Episode
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