What exactly is your 'Photographic Style'?

What is my Photographic Style? I don't really know. That's the simple answer. And just to let you know, I don't really have a complex answer either. Arguably, I have no answer at all. So feel free to stop reading now, and skip the following ramblings...

For the fool-hardy amongst you who are still reading, this post is more about establishing, and then developing and cultivating your own style than defining it. Personally, I'm not that bothered about what its called, whether its this genre or that genre, I just want to improve my photography, and understand it more.

So, there are, as you might imagine, loads of varying definitions as to what constitutes a photographic style. But what is your photographic style?

Although I'm not exactly a seasoned-pro, when I was just starting out, I read as much as I could about photography, and consumed as much high-quality photography as I could (and, I might add, I still do, and recommend you do too). I read about the technical side, the theoretical side, even the philosophical side of things. I specifically read a lot advice for beginners, and one thing that kept cropping-up was 'Style'.

I kept reading advice on 'Establishing your own unique sytle', or as marketers would say, your 'USP' (Unique Selling Point), and how important it was to differentiate yourself from others. But how does one develop one's own style, and what the hell is it? I mean, really, how exactly do I go about creating, defining, and delivering my own style?

Well, while there was plenty to read about the importance of having a style, there was really very little advice on the practicalities of developing or even understanding it. Then, recently, I found a very practical, (and I think very useful) bit of advice on the Internet. I read it, re-read it, then thought about it for a while, and I've come-up with my own adaptation.

[OK, so you don't have to go through every single step of this, but here is an outline, or guide to the process.]

First, I'm going to assume that you have, somewhere, a collection of images that inspire you, or that you would like to re-create. Now, print-off (yes, actually print them off onto paper) around 10 of your favourite images - not too many, but enough that you can see a pattern or connecting theme(s) between them. These may even include images that you have shot yourself, it doesn't matter, as long as they are the kind of images that you like, and would like to be able to shoot more of.

Then, just study them for a few minutes. Take them in, and mentally note what you like about them.

Next, grab a pen (or if pens are too complicated, try a crayon) and physically annotate the images - circling and describing the various aspects of each image that you like. Is it muted tones, low angles, atypical composition, the use of harsh flash, selective focus, whatever.

The next step is optional, but I find it helps really organise my thoughts: write down all the things you like, then tally the number of images that include this element and that element. This way, you end-up with a clear, quantitative picture (pun?) of exactly what it is that you find most appealing throughout your favourite images.

OK, that's the easy part. You now have a clearer unerstanding of what you like in photographs. Now comes the hard part where you have to go out there, put this knowledge into practice, and actually shoot with the intention of specifically incorporating those elements that 'scored the highest points'. This may feel a little uncomfortable at first, but if you get good results from it, keep pushing yourself in the direction you find visually pleasing, and soon it'll become a natural part of your photography. If you don't seem to be getting good results, you may wish to re-consider what it is that you find so appealing in your set of inspirational images.

Finally, as your photographic style, and tastes, evolve over time, it may be worth repeating this exercise periodically, just to remind yourself of what you like, and how you want to shoot. I know it sounds obvious, but physically setting-it-out in front of yourself can really help clarify things.

I usually say that I like to shoot latex, fetish, tattoo, and Alt.portraiture, but for me, the things that scored highly on my list were bright colours, quirky composition, and hard light, on alternative subjects. I suppose its the combination of these things - subject matter + visual themes - that constitutes a style. Maybe. What do you think?

I don't claim to be perfect (well, not out loud...), but I like to think I've done a fairly good job at including these aesthetics into my photography, and people (occasionally) ask to work with me because they are 'looking for something different', and I think I can offer that.

Of course, I still have a long way to go, but I really enjoy the journey...

Hotel Shoot

So, if you read my last post, you'll kow that my first shoot of 2011 used the model's home as the location for the shoot. Perhaps the main advantage of this appraoch, is that the model felt very realxed, and that comfort really came through in the images, and made my job a lot easier. Although there were some challenges, namely shooting in someones home, whilst trying to make sure that it didn't look (too much) like you were shooting in someones home, you know?

I thought I'd like to experiment more along these lines, and so I decided to offer a limited number of TFCD shoots to allow me to experiment in shooting in a small area like a room or house. The location for these shoots would be an hotel in Cardiff. I arranged with the hotel to allow me to use a room for only a few hours, for a reduced fee. The hotel were great, really accomodating, and we organised a deal that we were both happy with.


The purpose of these shoots was to really expand upon what I had learnt from my previous shoot, and hopefully get a couple of good images out of it. My previous shoot had centred around a latex dress, leaning towards a fetish sytle, and so most of the images were kinda edgy, using hard light. For my first shoot in the hotel, I wanted to go to the other end of the scale and shoot something brighter and softer, leaning more towards glamour - not quite my usual cup of tea, but like I said, it was a chance to try-out something different.


I've got a few hotel shoots lined-up, but I've only actually shot one of them so far, and I'm really looking-forward to the rest of them. The first shoot was with Amanita Mascara, a great model, with plenty of ideas, and a load of different outfits / accessories. These were all shot with just a speelight and a shoot-through umbrella: