Photography Style: How to Define Your Look

by Angie Monson of Simplicity Photography

I a so happy to have Angela Monson back on the MCP Blog.  You can check out my Interview with Angela Monson and the Q&A with Angie from last fall.

I think the key point to defining your style is to give yourself TIME to create what you think is perfect for you. So many times photographers start out just doing what everyone else is doing and don’t actually think about what really clicks within them. We all had to start somewhere so I think it is perfectly normal to be inspired by others. This may last a while, but for me it got old really quickly. I really wanted to stand out and set myself apart, not only with the look of my photographs but educationally as well. We will never know it all.

1. Continue to learn as much as you can. This benefits the journey of discovering your style. Then you have the knowledge to make your ideas come to life.
2. Give yourself time to define your style.  This allows you to feel open and free. When it is time and you will find exactly what you want for yourself.
3. Explore aspects of life that aren’t photography related. These will inspire the look of your photographs.
4. Defining your style changes over time. You will redefine your style often to keep fresh, excited, and different. I feel at this point in my career that I am in the middle of totally redefining my style. I am just plain bored of my work and the  things that used to inspire me have changed over the years. I am ready to redefine my style. It is always evolving in my eyes.
5. Shoot monthly just for yourself. I have started to shoot once a month just for me and it really has helped me love my job again. It allows me to be creative on a level that I feel is more difficult with a paid client since they are paying you for what is on your website.
6. Styling shoots on your own and dreaming up shoots in your mind are the building blocks to creating your perspective of beauty/art/etc.
7. I would encourage those that are struggling with their style to stop looking at other photographer’s blogs and just go out into the world and discover what is around you with fresh eyes.
8. Think about what YOU want as a photographer and what you have to offer. I think so many people worry about what they think their clients want instead of what you want as an artist. There is a photographer for everyone. Your style will appeal to someone and if you don’t put it out there they won’t know it is available.

As cheesy as it may sound, don’t live another day living for someone else only live for yourself. You will love what you do.

Angie Monson, of Simplicity Photography, is a child, senior and wedding portrait photographer in the Salt Lake City, Utah area.  She is known for her vibrant colors and crisp photographic style.  She is ever changing her look so she can grow as a photographer.

By Gail Bunning of Gail Anne Photography

Becoming a professional photographer has been one of the most difficult, most challenging and most rewarding paths in my life. I always knew that I wanted to take photos. Even as a child I had this fascination with how film and that little box worked. How it saw images different then my eye but more like my heart.

I blossomed into a “photographer” as an adult really. I can say it was right around when my first child was born. The inexpensive camera given to my husband and I served a great purpose as I snapped a million and one photos of this tiny creature we’d created. I started with the average snap shot and slowly moved to draping fabric across my living room. All a mess at the time, I cherish these photos as if the most professional and well known photographer had taken them.

I saved money, clipped coupons, taking her to Olan Mills and JCPenney’s, hoping for that perfect and beautiful shot of her perfect and beautiful smile and when her brother came along, I started all over again only this time I realized that no one could know them and capture them like I could and that started it off, this journey of photography.

I bought my first DSLR camera with 500.00 that I made designing for a church a million miles away. I met the man with the canvas bag in a coffee shop a half an hour away. I held that camera in my hands and just knew this was my calling. 500.00 opened up this huge, new world for me.

I read and learned and snapped. I joined a photography board. I decided to go pro. Decided. Such a funny word. I was no way ready to charge anyone for anything but I just knew that I needed to get these photos out. I wanted to share and snap. I was so excited. I was a photographer.

I upgraded that camera a year or so later. To something more professional. I’d “shot” families and babies and births. Examining each photo, editing, learning, absorbing. A few years later, another camera, more glass, more classes, more actions and more about the business. But what I forgot is that becoming, being a photographer doesn’t mean you shoot for money. You don’t become a photographer to make a million dollars, you become a photographer to capture moments in time. The income is just a job perk.

While I was capturing everyone else. Each event, each smile, each newborn, I missed photos of my own memories. Constantly worrying about light and marketing, I’d forgotten why I started this journey. To capture my life. The ups and downs of it. I was spending so much time coming up with a brand, an entire year passed by and all I had was portraits, perfect photos and not down and dirty kids in the mud. My oldest is ten and I am not sure there are ten photos of she and I together. I was so busy worrying about the perfect photo that I’d forgotten to hand the camera over and capture the moments with me in them.

I got lost in the photography.

Now I try and remember to capture the bed heads, the smiles and the tears and while there are still experiments in backdrops and lighting, I take their photos in full sun and leave the perfect to my clients. Okay, that’s not all true, sometimes they get imperfect because I want them to remember their families like I remember mine, perfectly imperfect, emotionally focused… a family, plain and simple. There is a time and a place for that perfect pose but I encourage you to remember to take pictures and not just portraits. They’re just as important. It’s the pictures that tell the stories of our lives. When your children have grown and moved out and your spouse’s looks fade into age, you’ll want to look back and see what once was. Photos capture the memories our heads can’t hold onto but I hearts long for. Remember to take pictures, even if they’re not perfect now, someday they will be.

This post was written by Gail Bunning of Gail Anne Photography. Gail is the mom to three plus one naughty beagle. She’s tattooed and changes her hair a lot. She loves her job, a lot. She loves people, and she loves watching families grow. Gail has a minor craft addiction and may or may not be utterly addicted to Facebook. Photography makes her happy, it’s her fire.

Running Photoshop actions inside of Elements is not always easy.  Here are some troubleshooting tips to get your actions up and running inside Adobe Photoshop Elements (PSE).

1. Before installing an action into Photoshop Elements, confirm with the action creator that it is compatible with your version of PSE. If you are purchasing a Photoshop action, remember to research and confirm that it works in Elements, as many do not, and usually actions are non-refundable.

2. Can’t find the folder for installing your actions?  Look back at your installation path – did you select Program DATA or Program FILES?  It’s program DATA that you need. If you need help installing actions for Elements, purchased from MCP Actions, you can contact erin@mcpactions.com for help. There is no charge for MCP Actions customers, but there is a small fee from Texas Chicks Blogs and Pics if you need help getting other actions installed.

3. Do you get messages like this?

• Could not complete your request because the file is not compatible with this version of Photoshop.
• Could not complete your request because there is not enough memory (RAM).
• Your action is not installed correctly.  Review the installation instructions, which are specific to the action, your operating system and your version of PSE.

4. Do you see this error message?

If you get this message, run your actions on a flattened image whose only layer is named background.  To flatten an image, right click on your layers palette and select Flatten Image.  Double click on the layer name to rename it to Background, if it’s not already.

5. The action ran perfectly but nothing happened?  Look for a layer mask that is completely black.  You need to paint in white on the areas of the mask where you want the effect to show through.  Or, with the layer mask active (see #6), go to the Edit Menu and select Fill, choosing white as the color, to reveal the effect over 100% of your image.

6. Nothing changes when you paint on your layer mask?  Make sure the layer mask is active for painting – it should have a white outline around it.

7. Your layer mask is active and still nothing changes when you paint on it?  Check the opacity and blend mode of your brush.  The blend mode usually should be normal.  The opacity of the brush will determine the strength of the effect you are hiding or revealing.

8. Make sure that your foreground color is the one you need.  Remember that white reveals and black conceals.  Press X to switch between black and white.

9. Can’t figure out exactly where you’re painting on a layer mask?  Hit Alt+shift while clicking on the layer mask thumbnail to show the layer mask on your image.

10. Is the effect too strong or not strong enough?  Adjust the layer opacity.

11. Can’t get the edges of your layer mask perfect?  Zoom way in.

12. Remember to read the instructions that came with your download and the messages that pop up while the action runs. These are important to using the actions correctly and to getting great results.

13.  You’re absolutely certain that you’ve done everything right and things just aren’t working like they should?  Reset your Photoshop Elements preferences. Press Ctrl+Alt+Shift immediately after launching the Editor, but before it actually opens.  The timing is tricky here.  You will know you did it correctly because you will receive a message asking you to confirm that you are Deleting the Adobe Photoshop Elements Settings File.

14.  And the number one most important tip for running actions in Photoshop Elements? Never press Stop when you get a message asking you to Continue or Stop!  It will undo the entire action!

Remember if you are using MCP’s products, look for built in instructions as well as watch the Photoshop actions video tutorials. These are available on the product pages and also in the FAQ drop down area of my site.

Erin Peloquin, the guest writer for this article, can be found at Texas Chicks Blogs and Pics, where she documents her photography journey and caters to the Photoshop Elements crowd. Erin also is the MCP Elements Consultant.  If you have issues installing or using MCP’s actions in Elements, you can contact Erin at erin@mcpactions.com.