Understanding our individual style to improve our photography
March 2nd, 2009This is an article I recently wrote for our camera club newsletter.
We all have a photographic style whether we realize it or not, amateurs and professionals alike. Many photographers, however, never give thought to this with the result often being images that are “normal” or lacking the expression viewers are pulled in with. If we want to improve our photography we need to: First, understand we each have a unique style. Second, reflect on this to better understand why we shoot the way we do, and lastly, use this knowledge to move forward with self-confidence to help improve our skills and imagery.
What is Style?
Many of us think of style as a general term such as portrait photography, travel photography, wedding photography or fashion photography. Although these are common terms used to describe photography styles (I prefer to label these Photography Forms), this article refers to our individual style.
Individual style is our trademark or uniqueness and is not only portrayed in the final product or pictures we produce, but it is also characterized in how we go about getting those images. Photography style can be the type of lenses we use, the angle we choose, our subjects or lighting. Style can also be the way we shoot; in a studio, on the street, low profile, high profile, where we go, how long we go for, how we interact with the subject, our personality, and even our post-processing.
Understanding our Style
Although all photographers have a unique style, many never recognize what theirs is and simply continue their work with no clear direction. It’s important for us to take time and regularly reflect on the components that make our individual style. As we begin to understand and reflect on our style we become more comfortable with ourselves, better understand our motives as artists and the message we are trying to convey to our audience. Reflecting on our style can open a challenging and lengthy discussion in our heads, but one I believe we all need to have as photographers. Our style is not something that can be defined overnight. It is something that continues to develop the more we shoot and the more we get inspired by others work.
Some questions to help us reflect on our style.
1. Why did I begin to shoot? What was the motivation?
2. Is the process of taking pictures more important than the final images?
3. Who do you find most interested in the images you shoot? (Demographics)
4. What are you trying to express through your images? A message?
5. What types of subjects are you more frequently drawn too?
6. Are there certain places you feel more comfortable shooting?
7. What other photographers work are you really drawn to?
8. Do I like to carry lots of equipment or use just one lens?
Ultimately, style should represents who you are - YOU. You must challenge yourself to find your personal statement and step away from what is “normal.” Think of the photographers you like… can you define a certain style in their work? I’m sure you can, and I’m sure these photographers have taken the time to reflect and refine their individual style.
Sometimes it may be hard to answer these questions or the answer is not clear. The more we get out and shoot, the better we will be able to answer these questions and others like this. If we don’t often shot, we cannot not expect to find answers and refine our style.
Moving Forward
It’s like anything in life, if we are confident with ourselves and what we are doing it will be reflected in our final output. By being comfortable with our style, knowing our style, and realizing you have a unique style, enables us to focus and improve our photography. Having direction helps us to better deal with the challenges that always arise and gives us some clarity along the way.
Here’s a quick analogy I came up with. Driving down a long road in an old car with our camera in hand. The road represents our own personal style. This road could be windy, straight, narrow, wide, bumpy, smooth, wet, dry, etc. depending on our unique style. The bystanders on the side of the streets are our audience, the people who will see our message through our images. As photographers we are constantly driving down this road we call our style trying to convey a message to the people looking in on us (our audience). Now, as we develop our skills, get inspired by other artists our style improves with time. This is a good thing! We always want to improve our photography, while holding onto our individual style. Improving our style can be represented by the kind of car we are driving in along this road. We started out in an old beaten up car and as we improve and refine our style we get into nicer cars, a Porsche perhaps. Although our car will hopefully get nicer as time passes, our road will stay the same, because that is unique to each one of us.
This article is really just a starting point. I encourage us all to look into this topic further and share any personal insight that may be helpful as well.
