Tag: Photography

Photographic style, something that confuses many people. I did a bit of research this morning on photographic style and even the “talking heads”, or at least people who profess to be “experts” were confused. Most of the articles I found talked about genres of photography rather than “style”. Even more confusing is how to find “your style”. Can you even find “your style”? If you can, can you really find your style if you never go outside your “comfort zone” with techniques, processing, and compositions? If you never, go wild, how do you know that isn’t “your style?” Is “your style” just copying someone else? If so, is that really your style?

So many questions and few answers. Let me hear your thoughts on photographic style.

My intent when I write my blog posts is to, hopefully, prompt thought about our craft. Rarely do I write to provide instructions on how to create better photographs but rather to stimulate our minds to follow a path of creating art. I consider my daily ramble “photography food for thought”. Hopefully you will continue to follow along and we can generate conversation about the “food”. As long as the conversation is stimulating and thought provoking, I welcome comments about my daily ramble. I like to believe that together we can work towards creating more engaging photographic art.

It is easy to just point your camera and push the button however I believe it is also easy to do a bit more and create the vision you want. We all view a scene a bit differently. I typically envision bold saturated color. I also have a tendency to eliminate distractions in my mind. The camera, on the other hand, is ruthlessly accurate. Today’s lenses are ruthlessly sharp. By the same token, photo editing software has become much more powerful and easier to use.

Ansel Adams once said; “You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” If you have ever studied Ansel Adams, he was meticulous at setting up to expose the negative. He was even more meticulous in the darkroom at developing the negative and then the print. Become your version of Ansel Adams, meticulously set up the scene, adjust the focus and camera settings to capture the best image you can to create your vision. Notice I said to capture the best image you can to create your vision. This may mean a different exposure than what your camera suggests. You may want details in highlights and shadows so you work to ensure both can be captured or you may not want details in those areas.

Once you have your starting point then take your image to your darkroom, or lightroom for digital images, and tweak the image to fulfill your vision. Envision what you want and then work to create it.

I see people talk about this all the time but, in my most humble opinion, there is no such thing as “getting it right in the camera”. First of all, what is a “proper exposure”? Many would argue that a proper exposure is where there are no blown highlights or lost detail in the shadows. To that I say have you ever looked at a scene and some of it was too bright and other areas too dark. Secondarily, the image must be processed first, or we cannot see it. Even with film, we must process the film in a solution of chemicals to create a negative, or in the case of slide film a positive. The mere choice of chemicals and processing methods alters what was captured in camera. When we discuss digital images, the image must be processed from the collection of 1’s and 0’s. Finally, there is the vision of the photographer. How one photographer views a scene may be very different than another.