How long did it take you to figure out your style?

Well, my preference in subject matter is still evolving, going on a half century now. Subject matter that is of zero interest to me came much quicker.

old crank

TheNissanMan wrote: From reading this thread it appears that people are talking about area's of photography rather than styles ie People, nature, sports with the exception of Dori who mentioned shallow DOF etc...

I would interpret a style as a type of shot within a Genre, for example when shooting drifting I try and get as slow a shutter as possible whereas others will try and freeze the action.

In terms of style I guess it depends on what you are shooting for.

My style, it depends on what I am shooting and what I have learnt so far, I have a hell of a lot to learn so until I comfortable shooting in all the genre's I would like to shoot there is no way I could apply a style to my shooting...

But I still have no style in particular. Style is a repeating type of shooting where you have a certain look to your work. That I do not have, I only have a perspective that I see that makes the subject appear as I want it. Which varies with the conditions and the subject. Unless I post a photo in here, you would never see one of my photos and say Joves shot that if you were in a gallery.

That is a different question

I bought my camera in Feb 2010 with the aim of shooting motorsport but ended up shooting wildlife, it was only september of last year where I got real access to my first motorsport event and now attend events where ever I can

My preference in subjects is primarily ice hockey , which I shoot most, then american football, baseball, and landscape/cityscape. I don't get enough sunrise/sunset work or portrait work.

How long did it take? - I have no idea. But I think as you go along you're drawn to whatever interests you, and as you learn and try different things you figure out what you're good at.

I had planned to go into journalism til I worked at a summer camp and decided to become a special ed. teacher, but maybe my interest in writing and journalism helped develop a somewhat journalistic style. And my style probably developed because of my way of seeing something to photograph, and capturing it as it happens, and with practice over time getting better at framing and composing pictures pretty quickly.

I don't do wildlife and landscapes because by the time a photographer who's good at that would be still setting up the tripod, viewing the scene, etc. I'd have shot a roll of film and be in the car ready to go. Everybody has their own ways of taking pictures I think, and for you John you're already figuring out you're good at working with people and at capturing a moment, whether it's at an event or during a portrait session - you're seeing it and learning when to release the shutter just at the right time and getting better at capturing the moment consisitently.

And Joves I think you do have a style, look at how many of your photos show some pattern or texture - pattern in clouds or a snow covered creekbed, or equipment and the shadows made, or texture in a stack of wood or a flower. It may not be easy to name or define the style, but there's a recurring use of pattern and texture in your photos that shows what you see in what you're photographing.

Rob I think photos like the one you posted are portraits of a sort, I think of them as in-game or event portraits I guess you could call them - to me they're portraits captured as a moment in time in a real-life setting. Some of your photos may not be considered landscapes but yet a river scene with fireworks is a landscape of sorts, just captured as part of an event.

icepics wrote: How long did it take? - I have no idea. But I think as you go along you're drawn to whatever interests you, and as you learn and try different things you figure out what you're good at.

I had planned to go into journalism til I worked at a summer camp and decided to become a special ed. teacher, but maybe my interest in writing and journalism helped develop a somewhat journalistic style. And my style probably developed because of my way of seeing something to photograph, and capturing it as it happens, and with practice over time getting better at framing and composing pictures pretty quickly.

I don't do wildlife and landscapes because by the time a photographer who's good at that would be still setting up the tripod, viewing the scene, etc. I'd have shot a roll of film and be in the car ready to go. Everybody has their own ways of taking pictures I think, and for you John you're already figuring out you're good at working with people and at capturing a moment, whether it's at an event or during a portrait session - you're seeing it and learning when to release the shutter just at the right time and getting better at capturing the moment consisitently.

And Joves I think you do have a style, look at how many of your photos show some pattern or texture - pattern in clouds or a snow covered creekbed, or equipment and the shadows made, or texture in a stack of wood or a flower. It may not be easy to name or define the style, but there's a recurring use of pattern and texture in your photos that shows what you see in what you're photographing.

Rob I think photos like the one you posted are portraits of a sort, I think of them as in-game or event portraits I guess you could call them - to me they're portraits captured as a moment in time in a real-life setting. Some of your photos may not be considered landscapes but yet a river scene with fireworks is a landscape of sorts, just captured as part of an event.

Do me next.

From the start many years ago I knew I loved shooting nature. I only decided to shoot portraits/weddings/events just to make some money, but I really do not like shooting that field....so I stopped. Nature is what I love, and with some exploring I have found ways to sell my photos and it's working for me. I enjoy shooting all aspects of nature... landscapes, wildlife, flowers/macro. What that style is, I have no idea, I just shoot what I love.

Very cool that it's working out so well for you. I wish I had an eye for nature and landscapes. But in those areas I seem to lose any spark of inspiration I may have. I have the will, but not the imagination to back it up. Perhaps I will develop a better sense for it as I progress.

crystal wrote: From the start many years ago I knew I loved shooting nature. I only decided to shoot portraits/weddings/events just to make some money, but I really do not like shooting that field....so I stopped. Nature is what I love, and with some exploring I have found ways to sell my photos and it's working for me. I enjoy shooting all aspects of nature... landscapes, wildlife, flowers/macro. What that style is, I have no idea, I just shoot what I love.

So where's your shots from your last trip?

I seem to like wildlife best, then landscape. But while doing this, I see people doing interesting things, including taking photos. I still like to experiment with most other subjects except formal portraits and weddings. Tried those a bit and just didn't "feel it".
My interest evolve all the time and recently did some experiment with changing lights, like LEDs and glow sticks. Some fun.

icepics wrote: And Joves I think you do have a style, look at how many of your photos show some pattern or texture - pattern in clouds or a snow covered creekbed, or equipment and the shadows made, or texture in a stack of wood or a flower. It may not be easy to name or define the style, but there's a recurring use of pattern and texture in your photos that shows what you see in what you're photographing.

Well I do not really consider it so much a style some may though but Thank-You for noticing a pattern. Now I feel like Im in a rut.