I've been analyzing my photos and those of many of you, and I think that many good photographers whom I admire have a definite "style" to their images. I'm wondering, first of all, what do you think "style" is and can one consciously create one's own style?
Here are a few photographers who I think have a certain "style" to the bulk of their photographs:
Don't forget xertion - that's textbook 'style' right there.
I love trying to guess who belongs to which photo. It probably means I'm learning something when I get it right (at least when it's not a familiar model or prop).
Id say style is what sets us all apart as photogrpahers. Once you have the technical fundamentals down on how to make a photograph, thats when style becomes very important. How are you going to take the ordinary and make it special. Personally I like to use vibrant and eyecatching colors and shapes in my photos. Using unusal angles, crops, etc. are what I strive for. I think experimenting and shooting alot is a start for one to help develop their own style. By the way, those were some good examples ( user links ) that you posted, good stuff :)
"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" (I think that's how the quote goes!). And you can't lose copying Scab's style, that's for sure, nor yours either, John!
It is very interesting to see the different styles people have. Some like lots of color and others like soft focus but yet others like black and white.
Id say style is what sets us all apart as photogrpahers. Once you have the technical fundamentals down on how to make a photograph, thats when style becomes very important. How are you going to take the ordinary and make it special. Personally I like to use vibrant and eyecatching colors and shapes in my photos. Using unusal angles, crops, etc. are what I strive for. I think experimenting and shooting alot is a start for one to help develop their own style. By the way, those were some good examples ( user links ) that you posted, good stuff :)
Agreed. Though style may be present in any photographers work, it does tend to surface more as the artist within begins to emerge. I'd argue that EVERYBODY has style, but perhaps have just not gotten comfortable enough with the medium to let it come through :)
Great links, mcmurma! It's fun to see that some folks seem to like bold shapes and lighting, while other tend to enhance the lines or colors or like to have a sense of mystery, or . . . ?
Arnit's style seems very strongly developed to me - I personally find his images I've looked at both here and on photosig to be very inspirational and very much of his style.
I'm not saying I could look at any image he takes and know he took it - that's not what I mean. I just mean that he does have a certain style to his portfolio.
there are tons of great photographers on this site. I think it is important for a person to have style, but not A style. I am more impressed and inspired by profiles that show a lot of experimentation with a wide range of styles.
I think everyone naturally has a style to their photographs. We are all prone to different types of lighting, backgrounds, perspectives, and colors (or lack thereof). Personally I think it's important to recognize what your own style is. Once you see what photographic techniques you most commonly take advantage of you can both capitalize on those techniques, and also make specific efforts to experiment with things that you're not so familiar with in order to expand your capabilities and figure out what you are comfortable with.
I think photography is a lot like music in that you can copy someone else's style and create pretty good work, but you'll never come up with anything great until you can figure out what unique ideas and techniques you have to offer, and then take advantage of your personal strengths to create something no one else could.
I think Ms Rackat have a style of colors. I like it. And i think if you are on a beach it is more hard to make a pictures of the mountains. I think it is why some have a style of what is around them most often.
I also think if I am on a beach every day, i will know of the best places to shoot on a beach. If you come here for only a short time, you will not know the best place to go and the best time to do it. So some might see the beach as more easy for me to do well, and see it as my style. I think the camera will work as well in other places, but i will not.
All the photographers mentioned are great and have unique style. Maybe we should do an annual DPC Awards!! With all sorts of interesting categories!! :-)
Wow! I don't know about you, but this discussion has been rather stimulating! And others are right: there are a lot of really great photographers around here! More than we have mentioned.
Me too! Thank you dsidwell for your mention. I have been thinking about the idea of style, I think that it is so effected by your environment, not only knowing the best places to go, but how you react to where you are. I have been living here in Japan for about six years, and to be honest have a love/hate relationship with the place. I do find it to be a tightly regulated country, where people don't express their feelings freely, and I think that my pictures have been effected by this way of living. The photographers that I most admire express emotions in their pictures, probably one of the hardest things to do, IMO. I wonder how I will feel when I get back to England? Maybe Spain would be a better choice?!
Interesting that you live in a country that does not freely express emotion, yet your photos ooze with it (in appropriate and marvelous ways!). You can even take a shot of some bottles of milk and somehow infuse it with emotion and a kind of mythic quality. Perhaps it's your way of "combating" your environment? I also see an almost theatrical formality to your images that could very well be influenced by Japanese art and architecture (?).
Anyway, I do think that our environments play a large role in how we develop as photographers. That's kind of a cool thought.
Every serious photographer can capitalize on a style of photography that suits his or her interests. One artist uses a butterfly somewhere in her compositions. Another specialized in mirror shots and ended up with a book. The style can be a special light direction, low key dark subjects, pastel colors, creative cropping (just hands, etc.)or eyes that look sideways.
