For Photographers: Style

For Photographers

January 27, 2015

Style is something that’s incredibly important for photographers. It defines who we are as artists and sets us apart from other photographers who are similarly talented. You’d think that finding your style would be pretty easy…and maybe it is for some people, but personally, I struggled to find my style in the early days of my business. I got caught up in the idea that my style should be X but the images I was producing were more like Y. I constantly felt like I was trying to push a square peg through a round hole trying to make a certain style “fit”. I think more often than not, your style will find YOU. Style is based on so many elements outside of just editing. I think everything you do as a photographer lends to your style…so much so that I would consider editing only a fraction of it.

 Modern Virginia and Destination Wedding Photographer_002

Because I’ve totally been there, struggling to find myself as a photographer, I wanted to blog about all of the different elements that I feel go into creating a style. Here’s a few of the things I think are key to creating your own!

  • Light. The kind of light you prefer to shoot in directly affects the look of your photographs. I personally love flat, even lighting…overcast days and open shade are my favorite types of light because they’re very clean and flattering. I also prefer a slightly cooler image, which is probably why I choose that kind of light to shoot in. I’m always seeking out open shade or some kind of even lighting on wedding days and at sessions, and this lays the foundation for how my images will look!
  • Consistency. Part of the key to creating a “signature style” that people recognize and say “Oh, that’s a Katie Nesbitt image” is consistency. Really honing in on what you do well and doing that consistently will create brand recognition for you, but it’s also important from a client’s standpoint. Your clients are hiring you based on the types of images they’ve seen you create before. Couples who hire us can pretty much tell the types of images they’ll receive, because our work is very consistent. Keeping our style consistent ensures they’ll be happy with their images since they’ve seen the quality of our work and obviously like what they see.
  • Types of lenses you’re shooting with. I tend to shoot almost everything with one of two different lenses. I just love these two guys (my 50 1.2 and 35 1.4) SO MUCH. My images tend to take on a certain look since I use similar focal lengths for a lot of them. I’ve also noticed that images I’ve taken on some lenses just look SO different because of the optics of the lens, the color and clarity, etc. I prefer the look of my two favorite guys over almost anything else in my bag and I think my images reflect that!
  • Compositions. The way that we compose our photos has a lot to do with creating the look of our style. You might like lots of negative space or prefer closer cropped images. We all have a tendency to prefer certain compositions over others and over time this will lend a pretty consistent look and feel to your work.
  • Posing. The same with how we choose similar compositions, the posing has an effect on the overall style and mood of the photos you create! I personally like to use poses that convey joy and romance. So you don’t see many of those “angry bride” images in my portfolio 🙂
  • Editing. Obviously how you edit has a direct affect on your style, but it’s the last thing you do to your images. I personally think that you can’t start really digging into your style until you’ve mastered both how and why you shoot the way you do. Why is that? Because editing a properly exposed photograph is a lot different from editing something that needs work. I think it’s also important to sit down and learn how each control in Lightroom (or whatever it is you use) directly affects each image so that you can learn to edit consistently.
  • Things that inspire you. I also feel that who you are as a person strongly affects your style as a photographer. Quiet, introverted people take different types of images than extroverts who have punchy personalities. Where you came from and your personal story also affects how you see things and interpret each couple that you work with. I personally draw a lot from my relationship with John as inspiration for my work. Our friendship turned sweet romance definitely colors the way I see things and how I approach photographing weddings! That’s why happiness is such a key theme I feel runs through my images. A feeling of being at peace with the one you love also is something I feel I bring to my photography because I feel like John brings that to my life. You have things that affect how you shoot too! We each have our own little things that affect how we shoot and contribute to our styles. Defining them will help you better understand yourself as an artist.

Lastly, I wanted to end the post by reminding you guys that styles will constantly grow and evolve over time as you change as a person. I feel like I’m in one of those growth spurts right now and instead of feeling kind of scared and apprehensive about it like I did back when I first started out, I feel excited for growth and change! Don’t be too hard on yourself as you discover your own style. Remember that the journey is often as much fun (or more) than the destination itself, and that you’ll get there!!

If you like these posts, check out my workshop and mentoring site here! The 3/8 workshop is sold out, but sign up for the mailing list to get first dibs on a seat at the next one!

 

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  1. Brea says:

    YES x 1,000,000! I feel like I finally found and honed in on ‘my style’ in the last year. And you’re so right. It found ME. I kept looking at the work of photographers that I loved and seeing what I found in common between all of them and trying to replicate that. But that’s not me. It’s totally fine/acceptable to love someone’s work and have it not be your style!

    Such a great post, Katie!

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