Your Signature & Your Style

One of the things you have to understand about photography when you are starting out is that your style is unique. If I take a pen and sign my name it is my name in the style that I write. It doesn’t matter if I use a pen, pencil, crayon, it’s my signature and unless you are a world class forger you cannot duplicate it and even then a forensic signature expert will be able to tell that it’s not mine. The same is true for photography, my style and yours is unique and cannot be totally duplicated.

The camera companies don’t want you to know this, they want you to believe that a LEICA will make you shoot like Cartier-Bresson, a Hasselblad, or 4x5” will make you shoot like Ansel Adams or a Nikon will make you shoot like Galen Rowell or Chase Jarvis, because if you think like that, you are more likely to buy their camera.

My style for shooting Forgotten Pieces of Georgia

They don’t want you to know that the it’s you that make the image, not the camera. An image is as unique as your personal signature on a piece of paper, when it comes to photography, your images are your signature.

Cameras don’t know what to do and all cameras do pretty much the same thing when it comes to photography. Except for using filters, camera lenses are clear glass, and except for the Holga “toy” lens, all lenses are sharp when properly used by you. On the other hand, pens come in fine point, medium, heavy, gel tip, and so on, so not all pens will write your name the same way.

If I hand you my pen, will your signature look like mine? Of course not, no more than if I hand you my camera will your images look like mine. A moment ago I mentioned Ansel Adams shooting a 4x5” or a Hasselblad, Adams, used large format, usually 8x10” in the 1930s to the 1950s when he shot his most memorable work. But as he got older and maybe lazier, he usually settled for 2 1/4” Hasselblad after the 1950s, but did this make his images look any less like his own? Of course not, an Ansel Adams is an Ansel Adams. 2 1/4” and view cameras are as different as two cameras can be from each other and yet his work, his style stayed the same, because his style is as unique as his signature.

All photographs are reflections of the photographer who created them and good photographers are artists who have a style all their own. Crappy photographers are crappy because they spend their time trying to copy everyone else’s style or don’t think at all before they press that shutter. Buying the best camera in the world and leveling it on the most stable tripod and spending hours working over that RAW file in Photoshop is the best way to make completely forgettable images, but being yourself and showing the world your way of seeing things is how you make truly remarkable images.

Why are so many images boring? Because they lack a unique style and all look the same. Now get out there with whatever camera you have and make the world see things as you see them!

Comments/Questions

Don't be a Cliché! Editing Trends that are Past their Prime

As an 80s child, I have my share of family portraits shaped into an oval by a white vignette. Why that was the style I'll never understand, but at least it's a thing of the past... right? Well, it seems to pop up now and then in some circles, and it's usually a newcomer to a Facebook group centered on photography that falls victim to such outdated trends. Here, I'd love to share three editing clichés that are past their prime. Please feel free to add to the list in the comments! My subject for this little trip through time is Patrick, an adoptable dog through Peace for Pits in Chicago. I will not be watermarking the edited images since they do not reflect my actual photographic style, but it is an image I took for the rescue. Here's the original for reference:

1. The White Vignette. Is it just me, or does this really never ever look good? It could be that only people who lived in the 80s and early 90s that see this as cheesy, but I can practically hear Bananarama when I see this:

2. Spot Color/Selective Color. Sure, this can add a cool effect to the right image when done well. However, that usually doesn't happen. Spot color for the sake of spot color is not a good idea.

3. Majorly Decreased Clarity. It can be tempting to smooth the skin (or in this case, the fur) of your subject in post-production, but please - don't take it too far! When a photograph looks more like a digital painting without intending to be one, there's a problem.

Of course in photography, as in life, there's always a reason to break a rule after it's been ingrained in your brain. Maybe a white vignette can help you brighten up the natural dark vignette that your 50mm creates in camera. Perhaps the colorful lasers at a high-energy event would make for a unique spot colored capture. If you have an image that you think makes an editing cliché work once again, head on over to the Google+ community and share it, or link to it in a comment below!

-Friday Ambassador

Your Editing Style: What Would You Do?

The settings you choose in camera and the lighting you incorporate make up one part of your photographic style. What you do with the out-of-camera images is another. Have you found your editing style, or are you still trying to figure it out? This week, I want to see what you would do with the straight-out-of-camera image. My edit appears on the left, and you'll see that I love a simple, clean edit with slightly saturated colors. Grab the image on the right and make your tweaks to show your editing style, then share your edited image in the PSPN Google+ group. Make it your own, but please, leave the watermark in tact - you can add an "edited by ____" notation on the image to show your part of the work!

Happy editing,

Friday Ambassador

Sunday Spotlight On: Seeking Out Your Style

Admit it, we all like to think that we have style behind the camera and during postproduction. Some of us do, and some of us are still searching. When looking at your favorite photographers work, you would know their pieces from across the room. Photography is almost like high school; we gradually go on to the next level after we have accomplished all that we need to know on a lower level. Being stuck will not benefit us in this medium because we want and need to go to that next level. As students, we are still learning each time we enter class and when we pick up our camera to apply a new technique.

Sacred. 2014. Quiana P Jackson

It is okay to fail

Failing is not always bad. It teaches us what we have to correct. Failing is something that we all will face because not every style is for us. As we pick out clothing that we purchased and match it up with another clothing item that we purchase, sometimes it does not go together. We start over again, the same as in photography.

Shadow a photographer

If you are just starting out, shadowing someone who is more experienced can be beneficial. You will be able to learn the ropes and begin to see how things are done on a professional working level.

Work with a different subject

Working with different people as we build our portfolio is highly recommended. By having different subjects, it makes it easy to practice with different looks.

Write down your ideas

Create a journal of ideas that you find interesting and begin to create a concept. When you have these ideas written down you can imagine the way that you intend to go about bringing these ideas to life.

Ask and ask away

Ask someone who shoots what you are interested in to give you his or her honest opinion. If you ask for their critique, it can only make you better and you can begin to see what others think of your skills.

Have thick skin

Not everyone is going to like your style or probably not even get it. It is important to be able to take criticism once it is given. There are some harsh critics out there and being able to take their words either good or bad can be turned into motivation to either readjust, keep moving on with your style or to go back to the drawing board. 

Research, research, research

I cannot think of anything in this world that has never been photographed. While doing research, see what others have already done and then shoot it in a different way.

Sometimes it’s okay to break the rules

Who says that you have to play it safe ALL the time? Try different perspectives, angles, editing, crops and scale. It is those photographers who have became successful because they had the courage to go after their own style and bend the rules a bit. Some may not understand at first, but there are new styles popping up all the time!