When you first became interested in photography, you (hopefully) invested your good money in a camera, intending to create photos that stand out as yours.
To accomplish that, you need to develop a photography style. Many of my students want a unique photography style without knowing what it really is and/or how to start the process.
In this article, I’m unveiling four things you need to know about developing and having a photography style that will inspire and motivate you to start the fun process today.
ONE: A photography style is NOT a particular motif or genre.
Unfortunately, the belief that a photography style is a particular genre/motif leads a lot of new photographers to believe they have to capture one and the same thing forever more and (rightly) fear that this may become restrictive.
I’d love to have a dollar for whenever someone told me their style is “flowers”, or “landscapes”. A photography style is about HOW you capture your photos and not WHAT you capture.
You can decide to pursue a specific genre - or not, but your unique decisions and techniques will set your photos apart from others.
If you ask ten landscape photographers with a photography style to take a pictures of the Grand Canyon, you’ll get ten entirely different photos.
You can ask a photographer who doesn’t pursue a particular genre to take photos of different motifs, and their style will be recognisable in each photo.
TWO: Know exactly which type of photos you want to capture.
You need to analyse which type of photos you like and assess whether you feel connected to them.
Your photography style will be a melange of your favourite photographers’ work, and there are probably already a lot of them whose work you admire.
Still, there are subtle differences between acknowledging that a photo is outstanding and wanting actually to master that type of photography.
For instance, you might thoroughly enjoy looking at close-up bird photography, but you dislike the thought of spending hours in the cold without making sudden movements that may startle the birds when they finally turn up.
Or you may love looking at Ann Geddes Baby photos, but couldn’t imagine yourself finding the patience to wait for five hours until the baby is finally fed and comfortable enough to be captured in photos.
I recommend finding photographers whose photos you love so much that you wish you’d taken them yourself to start this process AND that you imagine enjoying planning, preparing, and capturing.
You’ll notice that you might be drawn to many different photography looks, especially at the beginning of your photography journey. I recommend remaining curious and experimental, and to let old ideas go and embrace new ones. It’s all part of the journey.
Your style will continue to evolve throughout your life. You can start laying the foundations now.
THREE: You have to be able to create the images you envision.
You can’t have a photography style if you’re still photographing in Auto, don’t know how to read light, or aren’t aware of photography mistakes, etc.
You will instantly know how the finished image will look when you have a photography style. You’ll learn how to set up the camera, what to include in the frame and where to place the main subject.
You must also remember what you did so that you know how to replicate the same look in the future.
FOUR: You have to get to the point where you don’t care whether anyone likes them.
Take the musical artist David Bowie, for instance - you either love his music, or it leaves you cold. I very much doubt that he spent more than two seconds of his life wondering how to woo those who were less enthusiastic. He just did his thing and enjoyed it. You need to have this mentality in order to really be authentic.
Photography is an art form like any other. You’ll start presenting your photography style to the world at some point, for instance on Instagram. Post for yourself without regard to pleasing others. You’re not in this world to please the masses by blending in. You were born to shine uniquely.
It’s better to have a following of people who open Instagram hoping you’ve posted something new and who feel deeply connected to your art than thousands of lukewarm followers who quickly scroll past your images in their feeds.