Try New Things

I have always found that there is so much to be learned from trying something new, putting myself into new situations, with different topics and subject matter. It’s a great way to discover how you enjoy working and what you enjoy photographing.

Go Exploring!

My other favorite means for taking photographs is to go exploring. Drive somewhere new, park the car, grab my camera and just wander and discover somewhere new. If something catches my eye, I spend time with it and capture it as I see it.

I often find that I express things in a way that other people wouldn’t have thought of. Sometimes to the extent that they have to ask me what it is. In face, it’s sometimes fun to challenge people and ask them what they think it is! But for me that is such an important aspect of my work, confirming to me that I’m expressing my surroundings through my eyes and in my own individual way

What to photograph?

You may well have a set photographic subject matter that you always work with. This is absolutely fine, but I want you to consider whether you are taking photos of what interests you.

It is very difficult to be passionate about capturing something that you have little interest in. What do you enjoy, where are the places that you enjoy being? Once you know the answers to those questions, go out and try to capture it, capture how you feel about it, capture the experience. Use your eyes. Keep them open and exploring. Don’t just think about what you’d like to photograph, respond to what you are seeing

Developing your Style

So now it’s up to you to think about what you want to express and how you want to express it, which isn’t something that anyone else can teach you. Having a personal style doesn’t mean you have to be regarded as a groundbreaking, trend setting, field-altering artist. It’s a case of finding yourself in your chosen format and expressing yourself through that medium.

Remember that your style is a result of a series of choices about equipment, your personal background, how you approach the work, the subject matter and the environment in which you take your photographs. Consider which camera you are happiest working with, what your enthusiasms are, whether you want to capture work, for example, in a documentary style or a free artistic style and what you want the subject matter to be.

It’s up to you to consider this combination of choices in order to give you the best chance of developing a style that represents you as a photographer.

Ignoring the Rules?

So with that in mind, it’s time to tackle how you should practically try to establish your style. Often in photography, we are directed to meet certain guidelines for specific types of work in order to take the perfect shot: simple things like focusing on the eyes of a portrait subject or ensuring you have foreground interest in your landscape work.

Now, I’m not about to tell you to ignore all the guidelines (I prefer not to call them rules as it suggests there is a right and wrong way to take a photograph), but I would encourage you to avoid aspiring for perfection in a photograph. Your work needs to be from your viewpoint, how you approach and ‘see’ a subject will define how you express it.

It’s this which you need to cultivate in order to develop personal style, rather than concentrating on ticking boxes of the rule book, which, if during a shoot you’re trying meet, may well hinder your creativity and vision for the shoot. It’s important that you enjoy the shoot and enjoy what you are producing. If you spend all your time merely adhering to all the rules, your work will just look like everyone else’s! A shot can be technically perfect but aesthetically boring.

Reasons to Photograph

To begin, you need to establish why you’re taking photographs in the first place. Many people start out with intentions of artistic freedom, but end up just falling into types of work that are in demand or pay well. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with that, we all have to make a living, but if you want to express yourself as a photographer, then you need to discover what you are passionate about photographing, rather than fitting the mould of a set type of work.

You can’t force yourself to be different, but it’s a case of understanding that each of us are unique human beings. We all have different ways of thinking, reacting and appreciating the world around us. It is this natural expression that will define your photographic style and set you apart from other photographers.

There’s no right or wrong way to go about this, and it’s not a case of trying to please anybody else through your work, it’s purely a case of establishing what satisfies you as an artist. It’s about freedom of expression, not fitting a mould.

DefineYour Personal Photographic Style

So you’ve spent time developing your camera techniques and skills. You’ve aimed to understand exposure settings and endeavoring to get the perfect shot each time. But sometimes, you’re just not happy with the results and you don’t feel like your work expresses what you want it to. How do you refine your art so you can truly express yourself as a photographer and make your shots recognizable as your work? Well, here are a few tips to help you on your way.