Photography Style

What defines Photography Style?

Most of the best photographers nowadays have their own unique styles as the unique style will help them to stand out. A photography style is not involving your photo taking and editing style only. It can be defined by various type of things like your choice of subject, shooting angle, the way of posting subject, lighting, decision, and so on (Ivanova, n.d.; Quist, n.d.).

How to Find Your Photography Style?

1. Narrow Down The Photography Genre

There are many types of photography, try to expose yourself to a different genre of photography like macro, portrait, landscape, architecture, street, and so on. Besides, there are subcategories in them too. For instance, portrait photography included self-portrait photography, fashion photography, fine art photography and others. So choose the one that can represent you and you like the most(Ivanova, n.d.).

2. Find Inspiration

You can find inspiration by looking at different photographs. Choose the genre that you love and search for in on the internet. Save the photos that stand out, use it as a reference. Remember to use it as a reference only, try to make a difference between the reference photos (Cardelucci, n.d.; Ivanova, n.d.).

Besides, few social platforms are useful in finding inspiration like Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr (Ivanova, n.d.).

Start with 20 – 50 inspiration photos, ask yourself why you are choosing them, and what makes the photos stand out. The better understanding of your photography taste, the closer you will get to find out your own photography style. Lastly, always do your research (Cardelucci, n.d.; Ivanova, n.d.)!

3. Find Critics

Share your photos to your friends in order to receive criticism. Your friends need not be professional photographers. The reason for sharing your photos to them is to ask them to point out the things that you are unable to find out. Among the things your friends pointed out will help you understand to find out which genre of photographer you are (Ivanova, n.d.).

Other than that, you yourself can critic your own photos too. Take a step back analysing your works. Choose around 10 – 20 photos, find their similarities like tone, colours, composition, depth of field, and elements that captured your attention (Cardelucci, n.d.).

4. Limit Your Tools

Limit the equipment that you are using can help you to understand your strength and enhance your creativity. This is because when you always expose yourself to the technical stuff and gear, you might not be able to find your style. So use what you have instead of getting advanced equipment like using a smartphone to take photos. You will find it easier to understand your unique photography style upon using the less advanced equipment or gear (Ivanova, n.d.).

5. Set The Rules

Setting a guideline for yourself. Jot down what makes your photos stand out and unique to your brand, and the way of improving them (Cardelucci, n.d.).

References:

Cardelucci, J. (2016). 5 essential steps to defining your photography style. Retrieved from https://www.creativelive.com/blog/define-photography-style/

Ivanova, T. (n.d.). Photography style: What is it and how can you find your own. Retrieved from https://expertphotography.com/photography-styles-find-your-own/

Quist, K. (n.d.). How to find your personal photographic style. Retrieved from https://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-find-your-personal-photographic-style/