Notes on Style

Style is a very broad term. It can refer to any number of different things. How you dress, your personality, your client interaction, your regularities in photo composition. How you write. (Apparently fragment sentences is part of my style.) What I want to talk about today is your photographic style.

There are a ton of different aspects that affect your style as a photographer. One was is how you compose your images. Do you zoom in tight or prefer the wide angle? Do you use natural light or prefer the control of studio lighting? In reference to posing, do you have a strict set of poses or instead leave your subjects free to interact and just capture them naturally?

Maybe it’s a combination of the above. I know that I love the wide angle but still value my zoom lens and will take a sinking sunset over a of couple alien bees any day. While my style is constantly evolving and redeveloping itself, I feel like I have control over its direction and I know where I want to end up. It wasn’t an easy road by any means but it’s the struggle that makes you stronger and when looking back at where I started to where I am today it’s pretty clear that there was a lot of struggle.

I started out in photography like many have been doing lately. With a Canon rebel and a kit lens. I stayed away from really calling myself a professional before upgrading all of my gear, but it was with that rebel and kit lens that I began developing my style which greatly affected the work that I now  produce.

There is a lot that goes into developing a style, but the most important are time and consistency. No one starts out from the beginning with their “dream” style. It takes a lot of trial and error and thus time.

As you continue on as a photographer you learn new things about your camera and image composition and how to handle certain situations. You adapt to changes in the industry and situations that may arise. You grow in experience and understanding of your limitations (limitations are always only temporary though.) As you learn, adapt, and grow, your style will adapt and grow with you. Your style is never settled and if you ever feel that it has, it’s time to make some changes.

It may seem a little counter-intuitive after my previous point, but consistency also plays a huge role in your style. I do not mean literally doing the same thing over and over again. I mean providing a consistently high quality service to your clients and a consistently positive experience for your clients. Referrals, especially in the photography industry, are an extremely important aspect to your business. If one extremely pleased client refers you to a friend by saying that you were the most relaxed and calm photographer ever, then the friend comes to you and you’re suddenly extremely high energy and intense. How do you think that your new client is going to feel when they chose you based on a referral on your style of client interaction and you deliver the opposite?

Making huge changes – even if the change is for the better in your opinion – may actually hurt your business.

If you feel that you want to make some changes in your business, composition, editing or really anything related to your style, taking a slower approach might be best. It’s seen all too often, especially with newer photographers overwhelmed with all the different things that Photoshop, Lightroom, actions and presets can do. Their post processing techniques are all over the place. There’ll be everything from ultra high contrast grunge looks to extremely faded glowy edits. There’s no consistency in their processing and it makes me take a moment and wonder who they’re trying to market to.

I admit, I was there once. Being an inexperienced and a “shoot first, aim later” photographer, I had no idea how I wanted the photos to turn out in the end. I went out and purchased nearly every action and preset that I could find thinking that there has to a one-click-to-awesome effect somewhere. I was wrong and not only did I pay the price monetarily, but my development as a photographer was also hurt. I rushed in too fast and never stopped to take a breath. Sure, one reason was because I passionate and in love with the art form, but if I had just taken a moment and really looked at where I was at the time and where I wanted to be in the future, I could have saved myself a lot of frustration and time.

Here’s a couple photos that I showed the client from the very first senior session I shot. Notice the extreme inconsistency in their processing. Sure, now I’m embarrassed and kick myself for doing it, but it I’ve learned from that experience.

Some people will argue that it’s in those mistakes that you really learn. Well, I’ll agree with that. I did learn a lot. I also wasted a lot. Mistakes are keenly different from accidents. Formatting a memory card at a wedding then realizing that it contained all of the photos from that morning is an accident. Formatting that memory card knowing that those photos are on there is a mistake. I made many mistakes that could have been avoided had I slowed down and tried to learn from my current situation and grow from it.

With an industry that’s becoming more and more crowded everyday, you have to have something that sets you apart from the competition. It may be how you interact with clients, the way that you maintain contact with clients after their session is over or, probably the most obvious, how you process photos. (Since most people are using the internet and your website to find you, having consistent and great post processing is pretty important.) No matter how you choose to set yourself apart, it’s part of your style – who you are – and that’s what clients come to you for. Stay consistent but never stop growing.

A couple unofficial rules to sign off with: don’t try to set yourself apart with price – that’s what the department stores are for; and never, ever, ever go with selective color. Really.