This evening I followed a tweet to an article about discovering your photographic style. After reading the article, I was not convinced because the article didn’t really cover anything about what a style was, which, by definition is just really a way of doing things – perhaps a distinctive way of doing things. I decided to read a few other articles on the same topic. Some were better than others saying that your style had to do with your personality and mood. To this, I kind of took issue because our moods are in a constant state of flux, not staying still so long as to make a style.
Then, some time later, I just decided that it wasn’t important. How can you even find your style? Styles change. Styles are organic, as in they grow on their own not by any effort. I suppose, in my opinion, if you are putting forth effort to create a style then it’s probably not really yours, only a persona, if you will.
If I were to label my photographic style I would say it was “fascinated”, not fascinating because I am fascinated by all that is around me and I don’t think that I frame or convey things the same way all the time or even post process them the same. Therefore, in a line-up of photos, I doubt seriously that someone could pick my photos (my style) out of the line-up either by style or subject matter. I’m all over the place and that feels right.
Further, knowing how people are, if I did have a discernible style, they’d say: He always takes his photos the same way! He needs to branch out, explore, do something original! LOL Just the nature of the beast, I suppose.
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I’m all over the place. I can spell style and that’s about it. I rise out of warm bed to shoot sunrise shots when it;s 10 degrees. I also carry my camera into the mens bathroom. I do have stronger passions in some areas of my photography such as landscapes and, as you say, in six months find another passion to enjoy, such as portraits. I post process all over the place also. Sometimes black and white and sometimes HDR. I’m enjoying life too much to try and create a style. About the only images people would look at and know I shot them would be my self-portraits.
Monte Stevens recently posted..Always take your …..
LOL – Monte, even then, the self-portraits couldn’t be identified unless you specified that they were self-portraits.
People need labels, I suppose.
We all have a personal style, and you are correct that it changes as we grow and learn. A lot of talk is made about “developing” a style, but I think that may be misguided. Except to the extent that things influence us, our true style reflects what we see and feel, and I’m not sure that we have much control over it.
I like the idea of describing your style as “fascinated.” I’d have to say that is accurate!
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Thanks, Tom. Though that is not probably an “acceptable” descriptor to go with style, it works for me!
Exactly, we develop! I’m just about to discover colour; so future styles, here I come. Or not. Let’s see, first, if I manage being more merry. Hahaha
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Ove it will be interesting to see you dip your toe into color and come to an understanding of what that means and how you will use it. Perhaps it will facilitate a change in merriment!
I am more of the Bruce Lee mindset when it comes to style. Just as he described how styles can be limiting, I feel the same way about photography. I suppose if you are trying to create a brand for yourself, or become known for a certain look in the art world, it may be beneficial. Especially now with so many great photographers, I am really hard pressed to confidently say that is so in so’s work with good reliability.
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Exactly, Mark. I think that if you want to be branded, and that sounds painful, then you do that.
However, if you want to allow your development to go where it naturally wants to go, then you have to accept frequent changes of style.
I think a lot of artists develop a style, even to encourage and cultivate it. Some do it unconsciously, but it’s there. I follow a lot of blogs and I can pair a photo with a blogger just by seeing the photo quite often. It changes as we progress for sure and that’s a natural extension of self expression. And the rate of progression is different for everyone. My point is, a style is not necessarily a bad or negative thing and sometimes it helps us realize where we need to change in order to improve. Just the nature of the beast is right.
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Certainly, there is nothing wrong having a style, nor trying to what theirs is, but trying to “find” a style, I don’t know.
I dunno, there’s a few recurring visual elements that pop up in your work rather often, and this post is an excellent example as your fascination with shadows would be one i’d list! You do tend to lean towards contrast and strong compositions, whether you’re shooting in colour or bw, and you’re good at cropping a scene to tell the story – a style can be the focal length and way you frame things as much as the choice of subject or method of processing.
It’s tricky to know when an element of your photography is part of your style, or if it’s a crutch (f1.4 anyone?) and I often worry about following the masses (f1.4 anyone?) instead of taking a chance on something different, but I suppose it’s all part of the journey…
Thanks, Julie. Good eye. I tend to forget that I even do these things.
I know that since day one, I’ve loved contrast and am no stranger to strong contrast papers, back in the day, nor moving that slider to the right to get what I want – unless it’s fog, but that’s about the only time that I won’t move it. I love deep blacks, brilliant whites. I could say that it comes from living in the southern US, where there is plentiful sunshine and lots of shadows and contrasts to be had; however, I shot, developed, and printed that way when I lived in Ohio, which is certainly not a “sunshine state”.
Regarding your humorous mention of f1.4, I see shallow depth of field as a visual style, not a crutch of a particular lens. I know that I like the lower numbered apertures myself, but have taken to shooting in the middle range lately, with smaller sensor cameras, the shallow depth of field is rather difficult to get.
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