15 Ways Find Photography Style
“Your photography is a record of your living, for anyone who really sees.”
My style for taking a photo has taken me many years to develop and through those years I have taken countless photos to get there. I have looked at other photographers and see what they are doing.
What is Shooting Style
Basically it's the way that you photograph. Once you find your style people will most likely be able to identify that is you. I hope that people can identify my photography.
Shoot Everything to find what fits you
If you don’t know what you like to shoot, I would suggest photographing everything. Even if you know what you love photographing I would suggest still photographing other things. I think you can learn things from different types of photography that you can apply to what you photography normally. While working for Lifetouch and Bella Baby I have learned about how I tend to crop in to close in camera. I’m still working on the tight cropping but doing portraits, which as an introvert I thought I would never do but now I enjoy, as helped when I take photos of animals or landscapes.
Be yourself
Try techniques and types that of photography that you might not normally use but do it your way. Be sure to yourself and your photos will reflect who you are.
““A portrait is not made in the camera but on either side of it.””
How much do I shoot.
As much as you possibly can. Even if you take a few minutes to photography with whatever camera you have on you. Choose something in the room you're sitting in and find different ways to photograph it. I would suggest doing something you see everyday. Taking a photo a day can help break up your rhythm and help you see things in a different way. The more shoot the more you find your style and you will become more comfortable with photographing.
Know the rules
Knowing the rule of thirds, leading lines, fill the frame, don’t cut off limbs, simplify, watch the background, and look for patterns. The more comfortable you are with these basic rules then it will come more naturally to you and won’t even have to think about it.
Break the rules
Once you know and feel like the rules are then you can go ahead and break them. The reason I think you should have some sort of mastery of the rules before you break them is pretty simple. I think having a mastery of there rules helps you understand what makes a great photo and once you have that understanding breaking the rules won’t hurt the story you're trying to tell.
Critic yours and others work.
Looking photos and breaking them down will help with when you go back out to photograph. Being able to look at others photos and see what you don’t like and what you would like to try and try to make your own.
Find your inspiration
I will till you to look at others to see what they are doing but don’t spend too much time in it. See something you want to do but don’t go out to just copy it. You don’t just too have to find inspiration from looking at other photos. You can find inspiration from song lyrics, a movie/show you have watched, from going to festival, talking to a friend or a coke-a-cola bottle. Keep your eyes open to your everyday life and see what there is to photograph.
Limit yourself
If you're photographing with a mirrorless or DSLR, I would suggest when you go out to photograph to just shoot with one lens and see what you can do with that just one lens. Setting limits like only shooting only low angle shots or just shooting one subject like bridges it will bring out your creativity.
Pay attention focus
Make sure you know where your focus is on. I usually use automatic focus and I toggle where I want to go. Toggling on the camera basically switching where you want to the camera focus on. I have taken photos before I like but probably would have ended up loving if it wasn’t for the focus.
Play around with editing
Editing is something that is still fairly new to me and something that I haven’t quite mastered quite yet. It’s something that I’m working on. I haven’t always liked the editing process but I think that is mostly because I was overwhelmed by the prospect of everything I had to learn. Once I took one step towards learning it eased my nerves. I feel like I’m just starting to come into my own when it comes to editing. I tried out some stuff the last couple of months and have found what I think is me.
Do both vertical and horizontal shots
For the longest time I would just take horizontal shots. I didn’t even think about doing vertical shot. I don’t think every shot needs both but I sometimes do it on both just to see what it would be like. I also sometimes do both on one shot just to get myself thinking. It helps me to break the habit of just one of shooting. I sometimes get photos on my computer and wished I had done a shot another way. A horizontal shot can sometimes be made vertical but it doesn’t work vis versa.
Don’t be afraid to Google
Don’t be afraid to admit that you don’t know something. I often find myself googling something or going other photographers help. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any questions you have I would love to help in any way.
Assign yourself something and act like it’s a paid shoot
I have been doing this lately. I did this with a coke-a-cola bottle and with how I make coffee. If you want to check out the coke-a-cola bottle shots click here and if you want to see the coffee one click here. It helps me challenge myself and it helps to think if I have to give them to someone. I have been putting them here on the blog but put them up where you post most. I’ll be putting them up on Instagram once I’m back on social media after lent.
Don’t overthink
I can get in my own head at times and think way too hard about what I’m doing and I don’t end up getting in a flow. Try to avoid this which is easier said than done. One way I stop overthinking is to listen to music or to move in some ways. Sometimes if I’m able I play Taylor Swifts song Shake It Off and dance to it.
