What About Technical Style?

[johnastovall]

A thought provoking essay by Mike Johnson on digital photographers using post processing to develop a technical style.

What About Technical Style?

[barP]

"....a junky, demented hodgepodge."

i feel that way sometimes. it's almost as if digital processing gives you too much freedom to explore. i hear the advice of veterans saying "develop a style" but unfortunately, i feel like my style has become "photographic a.d.d.!"

wp.

[Gordon]

In some ways I've been trying to explore this with the portraits I've been taking. I picked one lens and stuck with it for a year. As a result, I think the pictures all hang together much more than if I jumped around all over the place. The fact that it was a prime lens and shot at mostly the same aperture and working distance each time also helps give a consistent style.

I think Mike is further bemoaning the fact that people can use digital to create 'style' in post procesing, but it is essentially fake (the wood grain in plastic argument) Digital can be anything you like in post processing, so is it actually anything significant at all, or just a cheap copy ?

I like doing things like 50% desaturation on my photos, because it gives a look that isn't particularly copied from anywhere else. I'm not trying to add grain to make my B&Ws look like Tri-X or that sort of thing,

Speaking of that - I'm torn. I'm off for a 10 day trip to Yosemite, Death Valley and Vegas. Half of me is packing a bag with 17-40, 70-200, 24-85, the other half is thinking hmm, maybe I can just take an 85 and make it work