There Are 700,000 Others

There Are 700,000 Others

January 15, 2020  |  Personal

There are 700,000 Others

By Jordan Panzeca

Now I am no mathematician but I know we can all agree that sometimes we feel like we are drowning in an over saturated market. Every where we turn and point our cameras we come face to face with someone new that is branding themselves as a wedding, family, or couples photographer. How in the hell are we supposed to compete? How do we set ourselves apart? Well I’m gonna tell you how.

You’re not. You’re not going to compete. You’re not going to try to one up. You’re going to be your true, raw authentic self and that, right there is what is going to make your future clients fall in love with you. Zach and I are such freaks about making sure our clients know that they are like family to us that they are probably afraid that we are going to invite ourselves to their daughters 1st birthday, but hey that’s just how we roll. If that’s too much for them and they don’t want us to be that involved in their lives guess what? That is 110% okay because I know another photographer who would be a perfect fit for them. And that type of client care is why we decided to provide individuals a service, right? If we sit down with a client and they want these bright, airy, and whimsical images on their wedding day I will tell them open and honestly that we are not the photographers for them but we know someone who is amazing at capturing the stunning images that will fit their style. We lean on the other photographers around us because we each bring something uniquely different to the table and that creates this wave of creativity that never ends.

The harder we try to be better than the next, the more we will forget who we actually are. Because at the end of the day we are losing our authentic selves trying to be more like someone we actually barely know. When we had made the decision to rebrand ourselves into Panzeca & Co. we were so afraid that we would be irrelevant because there were already so many kick ass, well-established, wedding photographers in the Cincinnati area. We didn’t feel adequate enough to survive along side them. What is actually really interesting is that without the support of our so-called “competition” we wouldn’t be the Jordan and Zach you have come to know and hopefully love. Our photography community has uplifted us in a way that I never thought possible. We have been pushed far outside of our individual comfort zones, we have taken our creativity to the edge of many rocky mountainsides, and we have grown into these people that no longer shy away from other creatives. We have actually built a home in this amazing community of likeminded individuals that have inspired us beyond the expectations that we had set for our business, and we are forever grateful for that.

So yes. There are 700,000 others in this industry but I promise you that isn’t what is keeping clients from clicking that “learn more” tab. The only one keeping that from happening is actually… you.

Group photo of Panzecas & friends
Just a handful of the amazing souls we have come to know and love. Each one with a different camera. Each one with a different editing style. But each one with a fire in their heart for making art with an image. @savannahlinnphoto @squidster97 @baremomentsphotography @lexannis_12 @zach_panzeca