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Your Style - my 2 cents...
How many photographers on MM KNOW their style and don't fret about competition. Of this group can you sincerely recognize the work of another photographer and admire the image without any hint of jealousy? And, I do believe that once you reach that point, you can fully create some tremendous work without constantly comparing yourself to others. -Marek Jul 02 06 12:04 am Link I think I know my styles. Depending on the market I switch it up. But overall I have a clean style that uses limited elements effectively to communicate what I need. I don't fret about others. I just strive to make my work better and better. I do look at others to see what is going on. But overall I am comfortable and confident in what I do and how I do it. I guess because I don't use photoshop and do most everything in the camera and on the set. -S Jul 02 06 12:11 am Link Well, I'm still a relative newb and maybe I'm not the best one to chime in here. But I'd say I'm halfway there. I've reached the point where I can make the kind of pictures I want without feeling like I need to somehow "measure up" to the kinds of pictures being taken by other local people. There are still many people whom I greatly respect and would love to have better technical skills, but by this point I'm taking the pictures I want to take and people still want to work with me, so hey, it's a start. Jul 02 06 12:14 am Link McMadCow wrote: All the rest comes with time. You'll get better technically. That's the easy part. Jul 02 06 12:20 am Link I am slowly gaining a sense of what my style is. Took some experimenting, lots of introspection, and a hard look at the photos I like the best by other photographers. The newer, ultra-polished look with over-the-top colors and high-tech styling is not my thing, I've come to find out; I really like some of those pix but don't have too much of an interest in making them. (For the record, by "polished" I am not referring to the plastic skin found in many men's interest mags. I hate that look.) I prefer a clean, classic style that conveys more of an emotion or a personality and creates a mood that makes people want to look at the photo, so that is what I am working towards. Incidentally, I just updated my profile a short while ago to reflect this new realization. As an aside, I have noticed that consistency, not an instantly identifiable style, is what keeps most of the local pros in business. They produce some great images shoot after shoot, but their stuff does not look so unique as to make it possible to point to one of their images and say, "This is xxxx's work." The combination of a unique style and consistency is fairly rare - there are only a few down here that can combine both traits. In regards to my own consistency, I never come out of a shoot with nothing that's useable, though the average frame count per shoot has risen since I've been shooting digital - it's that false economy about digital that makes one think every extra shot is "free." Now I will be shooting film again (medium format), and I'm sure that that inflated frame count will dwindle once more. Jul 02 06 12:29 am Link Marek Mezyk wrote: I shoot when I feel the image is right. I don't know if that's a "style", but I have other photographers, whose accomplishments and images blowing my mind complementing and commenting me on "my" style. Jul 02 06 12:32 am Link Hello Marek, Thereâs no originality if you allow the influence of others into your work, why do you think the planet is so saturated with banal shallow visual noise? Photographs that all look alike, lifeless without aura of presence? As nutritious & interesting as wonder bread. Once one is secure & comfortable within their own flesh, doing what they love you cease giving a damn, or worrying about the perceived âcompetitionâ These days Iâm fortunate, grateful & thankful for the luxury of creating what ever I choose to. Most of the photographers I admire or rather whoâve inspired me are long gone & dead . Most likely documenting & exploring some emotional landscapes across the universe. Like my friend the Jazz Musician Paul Bley, I inspire myself. So to answer your question I never worry about it, why should I? As if ideas & originality were somehow a limited commodity or from a limited source? The only scarcity is those who dare to be original. Jul 02 06 12:32 am Link I shoot mundane tripe, so I try not to compare myself to others, for fear of insulting them in the comparison. Jul 02 06 12:40 am Link My style is what pleases me, although "lonely and depressed" doesn't seem to be all that pleasing, which is what a number of my shots seem to be. But I like to catch happier things and lighthearted things - I just capture the serious stuff better. If I don't distribute my pictures and if I don't make any money at this, then if I do have competition, it's off the radar, and I don't worry about it. Jul 02 06 12:41 am Link |
