I’ve recently updated my Developing your Style PDF where I go through what I truly believe is the way to develop your own unique and recognisable style.
As photographers, or indeed any form of art, I think it’s fair to say that we all want to have a style that is uniquely us, rather than a body of work that looks no different to the next person; but how?
I’ve always been fascinated by style and even interviewed well known photographers about it when I first started out? How do you develop your own style? How do you decide on a style? What’s the secret?
I think the answer comes from looking at other peoples’ work that you like and admire and trying to replicate it. I’m not talking here about passing it off as something you came up with, but rather looking at a particular picture and reverse engineering it. How did they light it? What post processing did they do to achieve that final look?
By trying to recreate an image there is so much that can be learned. But, get this…even if you try to copy something, regardless of your skill level, you never will be able to copy it exactly. There is something within us that will make us do something slightly different and that is where our likes, dislikes, taste, upbringing, life experiences and so on, all come together to influence and ultimately reveal our style.
I think back to when I’ve done ‘in person’ training events and maybe I would have say 12 people sat at a desk with their computers on and Photoshop open. They’d each have the same file open that I’d given them and I would show some retouching steps…
“Do this, do that, take this slider to the right and then open this filter and drag the slider to +10”
Some would follow each step to the letter, but others, in fact most, would do the steps but instead of taking the slider +10, would take it +5 or +15. Not because they were being awkward but because something in them said “I prefer this setting” , and that’s the likes, dislikes, taste, upbringing, life experiences and all that stuff kicking in.
Every single photographer I interviewed when I first started out eluded to this exact same thing PLUS consistency and hard work, and this is why personal projects are so important.
Personal Projects have so many benefits; they give us focus, they keep us learning, they keep us excited and constantly remind us why we picked up a camera in the first place.
However there is a hidden benefit, perhaps the biggest of all, and that is how they help to develop our style.
We most likely will not even see it happening, but others will. It’s exactly the same as when people go on diets to lose weight or when they start going to the gym to build muscle and get fit. The person doing it (unless they’re constantly weighing themselves) won’t see the differences that each day makes, but it is making a difference. Other people see it happening.
By working on a personal project and being consistent adding new images, I guarantee one day soon people will start saying how much they like your images and how they remind them of the work by (insert a photographer’s name here) but they’re a bit different. This will happen; I guarantee it, but ONLY through being consistent.
“Creativity is like a muscle; we need to keep exercising it”
I put a video together a few months back about this kind of stuff and how important it is to be consistent; something that has been even more important considering the last 18 months or so that we’ve all lived through…
Anyway, I go into this in more detail in my Developing your Style PDF / eBook. If you’ve joined my Email Group / Community then you should now have your copy otherwise just add your details below and I’ll get the link to you.
Cheers,
Glyn