Does that sound like a familiar phrase? Perhaps you’ve used it yourself once or twice?
A few weeks ago I was having a throughly amusing conversation on Twitter about spot colouring. It all started with an early morning confession that I felt I needed to make.

If you’ve read my article Trends I’d be happy to see the back of then you’d already know my feelings about Schindlering and you certainly won’t see any examples of this technique on my website and yet people keep asking for it.

Who’s to blame for this?

Where do I start….. Flickr, smart phone and iPad apps, Steven Spielberg, the 90′s, unimaginative photographers with pirate copies of Photoshop, the Victorians (they started it after all) or perhaps just myself?

The easy answer is me.

I haven’t done enough to educate my clients into what my style is. Somewhere along the way I have let my clients think that their request to ‘make the flowers in colour and the rest black and white’ is a reasonable one to ask such an accomplished photographer as myself (excuse my while I just pull my tongue out of my cheek).

But this is just the start of the problem.

Actually spot colouring and all these other fads aren’t the problem at all. What is causing my worry is succumbing to trends at the request of others.

What we are really saying is that the products we are willing to create aren’t the ones we like to sell, show or have on our own walls? 

If you intend to move forward and develop a style which is unique and defines you as a photographer then how can you introduce elements into that which you don’t believe in or even like?
Worse still, how do you intend on selling a product you don’t like?

You might be the best salesperson in the world but cracks will show in your armour eventually. Whether you realise it or not this will affect your sales.

Have you ever gone into a viewing with the attitude of ‘I’m not going to make much money here’?
What happens?
I bet 9 times out of 10 you don’t.
On the flip side, have you ever gone into a viewing loving your work, excited about showing it to a client and expecting to make a good sale and achieved that?
You’re not going to have the success you want every time with this sort of attitude but enthusiasm is infectious and you’re certainly going to put yourself in a better position with work you are proud of and excited by.

So the next time you’re tempted to succumb to the whims for a client who has spent far too much time on Flickr, consider how what might seem a trivial act could affect your business as a whole.

If you’re really into spot colouring you should just go ahead and carry on. After all if you like it then I’m sure you can sell it.