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.

What is a portrait photography fad?  A fad is something that has a short term boost in popularity. To me, a photography “fad” can be a pose, prop or style of photographing or editing that becomes extremely popular for an isolated period of time. While fads tend to be exceptionally popular for a short time, a trend has staying power. Sometimes something starts as a fad but ends up a trend. Occasionally it’s hard to determine whether something is fad or trend.

There are dozens of photo fads coming and going all the time.  Now, with social networking so prevalent, fads can occur fast and be more widespread. Think about photography forums, photography blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr.  When you visit these places, you see images of other photographers.  And chances are, no matter how original try to be, something may catch your eye.  You may get an idea. You may see a prop you like or see a pose that you want to try. You may be inspired to try new techniques, locations, lighting, or editing.  And through this inspiration, if enough are interested and influenced, a fad may evolve.

Many photography fads originate with props. At the moment, faux wood floorings (barnwood mats) are extremely popular. A few years ago, most infant photographers put babies in over-sized teacups. As far as editing and Photoshop, do you remember the popularity of sepia tones, hazy-edited images, over-edited eyes, intense glowing color, selective color, soft glow, heavy vignettes, heavy plastic skin smoothing, deep burning and dodging, and I could go on and on…

This post is NOT meant to make fun of the latest craze or recent fads. In fact, many of the included images are works of art.  As you look through the photos below, I suspect you may think some of the following thoughts:

• “I remember doing that.”
• “I still do that.”
• “I love that prop.”
• “I love that image.”
• “I want to try that.”
• “I cannot wait until my next session to do that.”
• “I wonder where I can find that… or how to do that.”
• “I cannot believe I did that.”
• “How did that become a fad?”
• “Why would anyone want to do that?”

You may look through some of these and realize you still do a certain technique or have a certain prop.  You may remember when you did.  You may feel embarrassed.  Or you may wonder why a photo made the list because you don’t think of it has a fad or trend, but more a staple of photography.  All of these thoughts and feelings are valid.

Photography fads are NOT bad. You may personally think some are, and that is fine too.  In many cases fads inspire. When a fad is done well it can actually result in a timeless heirloom photograph. You may look back and wonder why you every got swept up in a particular fad.  Trust me, I look back at my 80’s big hair, arms full of rubber bracelets, and neon clothing in that way.  But with photography, images create memories and capture a moment in time. You and your customers can still love them, trend, fad or not.

Thanks to all my contributors for sharing their images below.  These represent some of the fads and trends I have seen in the past few years. Some of these images make me want to go try a prop or location, even if they are or were a fad. Others, I may be less fond of.  But remember, for something to become a fad, lots and lots of photographers have to try it.

So when you look through these, what is going through your head? Be honest and add your comments.

Love them? Hate them? Which fads did you try? Are you now inspired?  Did they give you ideas? Which did you like or not like? What other fads have you seen come and go, not listed or shown here (I listed some Photoshop ones but did not have room for examples of these)? I know there are many fads that I did not include, so please share them and feel free to link to an image of yours that represents a fad. Which of these do you see as trends versus fads? Just because something is a fad, it does not make it forbidden. Many of these ideas were overused at one time, but used sparingly, may be a great addition to your work.  All things to consider and think about!

The big, bright lollipop * this may be the biggest one yet:

Photo courtesy of Amanda Andrews Photography