The Elements of Style

[johnastovall]

Mike Johnson continues his musings on style with, The Elements of Style.

What's your style? What photographers' style do you respond to? Have you ever thought about 'style?'

[laanba]

I think about style, because I have no idea what my style is. I think it is still developing.

[kenw]

our style is always developing, Laurie, once it stops, it is dead.

As the article states, we often don’t realize we have a style at all until someone points it out. That’s what happened to me, a friend said he could recognize one of my shots instantly without any signature. At first I was a bit taken aback thinking it was a criticism, saying I was in a rut. But later I learned he meant it in the most sincere manner. I had a style that was identifiable, one that I was obviously satisfied with enough to repeat it and tweak it. Again, some will like it, and others definitely won’t but it matters not as long as I like it. Mine tends to be full color, full frame, strong angle shots usually with some significant textural post treatment. It’s certainly not for everyone.

Photography is about passion and you can’t put passion into a photo that wasn’t there in the shooter’s eye to begin with. That passion, allowed to blossom, comes thru as our style.

[Dobick]

There is an interesting question (at least interesting to me) in the discussion on that page:

It seems to me that each photographer has to answer two questions. First, do you want to develop a distinctive style or do you just want to be a really good photographer? To use a musical analogy, do you want to gamble that your distinctive style will catch on with the public and let you achieve fame or do you want to be the consumate professional sidesman, able to adapt to any style of music?

In one sense (at least at the moment) I feel content to "be the consumate professional sidesman", but there is the nagging, pulling, ever present urge to somehow set myself apart.

I easily recognize distinctive styles in music. On electric guitar, I could easily pick out Eddie VanHalen's playing versus someone like Stevie Ray Vaughn, and further someone like Jimi Hendrix. I have a harder time recognizing individual style in photography... which I guess is the biggest challenge that I personally face... If I can't even recognize a very stylized photographer's work on sight, then how in the he77 am I supposed to develop my own?

[jeffkohn]

I think developing a style is probably something to be aware of, but not obsess over. I agree with some of the comments that it should ideally be an organic progress, something that develops over time rather than something that you force by specifically trying to develop a style. I think the key is to shoot a lot, and really analyze the results and set goals or areas to focus on. When I look at my pictures I try to identify the things I like, and can possibly incorporate into my "style", while at the same time also identifying the areas that are lacking where I need to work on improving.

[kenw]

Definitely not something you want to obsess over. Style will come as you develop your own sense of likes and dislikes. After awhile, you may pull out some “favorites”, then you can look to see what the common thread is amongst them. It can be tough to spot and sometimes someone else may need to help you see the trend or style that is presented.

In my case it developed partly as a result of my environment:
1. I didn’t have any sweeping mountain vistas with deep valleys with trains to shoot.
2. Most of the trains in Houston are stopped, allowing close-ups.
3. A steep angle helped hide the ever-present power poles and wires.

This is Houston. We have mountains but they are normally called overpasses…..