Why Your Photography Has No Style

[@JohnDrummondPhoto]

I see this question of "finding a style" in online forums all the time. I've always said that style will emerge organically, the more you shoot and develop preferences. Adam, you say it all here.

[@rolybaker7770]

I was just going to post the same thing but ....won't bother now, will just give you a like instead 😊

[@valdiskrebs566]

Yup, your style takes time... it eventually emerges... keeping shooting!

[@stuartvh4562]

Thanks Adam. This is a question I ask myself occasionally, and always settle on just continuing to photograph what catches my eye, and occasionally focusing on a particular theme. I have no interest in making money from my photography, instead using it as a way of getting important mindfulness moments, as I walk and focus my attention on things I could easily walk by and miss. Thanks again for the video, very interesting.

[@tomfoord8860]

Thanks, Adam. Your posts are always thought-provoking and helpful. Rather than being the end point of a long period of maturation, an individual's style may be something that varies over a long career in the arts, whether writing, painting, creating music or whatever.

[@johnhare6652]

I was so pleased to hear you say that presets are a starting point. I help out in a Facebook Group for beginners and the subject of presets comes up a lot. All too often they believe it is a "one click" edit especially those who struggle with the editing aspects using Lightroom and/or Photoshop. I tell them presets can be very valuable as long as you already understand editing principles.

[@andrewcroft2570]

Great video, Adam do what you love and love what you do.

[@johnpollock6996]

To me this is a very meaningful video. As a photographic nubie and long in the tooth, I will likely always be, and describe myself as, a hobbyist, although I would like to go farther. Style development is something I have thought about but have not pursued. My photography seems to take more of a rules of the jungle approach; if you like it, shoot it. After viewing plenty of videos on this subject, I am not convinced that style is critical in one's chosen photographic pursuits. My defense (or defence if you prefer) of this opinion is the actor Robert Duvall. He has a very long list of incredibly varied rolls done extremely well. He is as about as far from type cast as I can imagine. I think of style as having an element of type casting in it. It isn't necessarily critical to have or avoid. Perhaps it will emerge, perhaps not.

[@scotty4418]

Great topic Adam and I think you encapsulated it succinctly in a key statement ...."Do what you love". I touched upon this subject in a blog a wrote about when I discussed being drawn to the B&W fine art genre whereby I came to a conclusion I was at risk of emulation rather than following my own creative pathway. Pursuing a style may also stifle your creativity but I think style or consistency will as you said will eventually reveal itself. Thanks for the talk last week too, really enjoyed it and dropped you an email as discussed 👍

[@rajismyfavorite]

I think I’m still developing my style which I hope comes with time (I’m in my fourth year of photography with my DSLR). I do have a tendency to love colors. I attempt to take pictures of things people may not notice or think of as a nuisance (like weeds) and make them interesting or fascinating or even (hopefully) beautiful.

[@nevvanclarke9225]

Mine has signature look but I don't take a pic with it in mind..it organically occurs within the process ...but sometimes I try new things to make sure I'm not becoming lazy in my work..I was a painter and understand colour pallets well and you mentioned this with the two colour mix.

[@TryingtoLearntheuke]

Another great video Adam!

[@Ruscombephotos]

Thanks Adam, I haven’t though much about my style until about six weeks ago when I showed somebody a photograph with an incredibly minimalistic composition I made in April. She said it was not my usual style but it was good to be flexible. She did like it, though. At the time I made the photograph, I was thinking technically about how to compose it. It was the rusting frame of an old steel mesh New York City rubbish bin, lying on its side in a small tidal bay. It was half submerged by the incoming tide. In figuring out how to compose it I had forgotten what caught my eye in the first place: one side was reflecting the warm glow from the sun about half an hour before sunset, emphasizing the rust, which looked great against the blue of the water, reflecting a plain blue sky above; my second thought was ‘here is an opportunity for minimalism.’ I didn’t like the end result at first, but after a week, it grew on me, and it was because of the light, the minimalism was secondary, but placing the subject on the lower right third made the composition work. I have been making a conscientious effort to try a bit of minimalism, but this whole experience made me realize that other people can see my style much more easily than me. Maybe that’s true of all photographers.

[@judithreardon9531]

Thanks Adam for another great video. And just to add your presentation style in your videos is always encouraging.

[@t.g.phelan]

Loved this video Adam. I just finished the Masterclass in the Raw Room and this topic was well covered there but definitely is the aspect I know I am most excited about emerging! Biggest take away was to not be afraid to use famous shots or locations as a starting point to find your style.

[@papotaino]

Fantastic Chanel 5th video back to back very informative,regards from Puerto Rico🌴📸🌞

[@petercollins7848]

Superb instruction and advice Adam. You always have something to say that makes us really think about what we are doing as photographers, even if we are budget led hobbyists!

[@roysecord2095]

I really appreciate your oratory skills. Good, expressive flow. Cheers.

[@pepper6253]

Thank you Adam some very cool insights on finding photo styles. Much appreciated. I would say my style depends on where I am living at any given time love to shoot my local surroundings at all different times of day ..Choatic maybe lazy could be. Love your landscapes beautiful .✌🏽

[@philladbrook7866]

Another great video adam.

[@mikehalsall8026]

Thanks for another thought provoking video. And by the way your book was great well worth buying. Keep at it.

[@AnthonyJGianotti]

I’m one of those don’t really have a style type of photographers. I shoot whatever I find interesting and I journey often into various editing styles. Whenever I have specialized on one specific style I find I get quite bored and quickly loose the desire to shoot and edit my work.

[@matinsfeldmanis]

Thank You. Needed to her this.

[@llIlllllIll]

I seem to use a quite different color grade for every location / holiday. And each time I hate the look of the old photos. But I'll eventually figure it out

[@hunterrogue8591]

Love your channel. I’ve learned tones from you. This video came at the perfect time as I am building my office studio. ❤

[@AmorLucisPhotography]

Honestly, I think of "style" as a tendency to repeat what you've always been doing in the ways you've been doing it. I see it as a potential trap - a way of limiting experimentation and development, and a potential constraint on creativity. Not having a style - at least not in any conscious way - in no way hinders me in being true to myself or expressing myself photographically. Certainly, some aspects of my photography (subject or treatment, say) appears more often than others, and if that is what is meant by "style", then sure. But that's really nothing more than having preferences as far as I can see. In an important respect, I don't actually want my images to look the same. I want each image to express me as I am in that moment in relation to that particular scene. It's why I never use LR styles.

[@petemellows]

Style is certainly an organic process. There was a locally famous photographer here, Peter Dombrovsky, whose work is often emulated and outright copied (even down to composition). I love his work, but feel it would be disingenuous of me to mimic his work. No doubt I am building my own style, but I do try to give an image the style it deserves, to tell the story that I am attempting to capture.

[@JohnDrummondPhoto]

Side note: I'm watching on my Pixel phone. The end cards that Adam pointed to at the end never appeared. Is it my interface or the video that's at fault? I've seen this occasionally on another guy's channel.

[@alangardner8596]

Is it style or a 'comfort zone'? If a photographer finds a type of photo that 'works' and then continues to produce lots of photos in the same style is it style or just the photographers comfort zone. Personally finding a style is the last thing on my mind when taking a photo but constantly trying something new is.

[@antonoat]

Surely any competent photographer should with time and experience be able too apply any style they wish to their photographs, being versatile and having imagination is more important than any particular strict style, different images require different styles in my opinion! Style is not just shooting a particular subject, rather the way you shoot them!

[@MyPhotoStory_23]

I love landscape photography but I enjoy using my camera to take all sorts of photographs.

[@IanSmithFotografi]

We share the same style Adam…. Jeans and tshirt

[@hunterrogue8591]

Yes. First to comment

[@catherinetremerryn]

How could you set my Olympus on fire 😳😱?

[@Brock_in_the_North]

I never buy presets (gives reason why you shouldn't) and then offers own presets in the RAW room...... mmmm 🤔 i found that funny but on that I like presets and I have bought them but I never use them as is, I always tweak and its just to save time because who wants to spend hours on an image. I find editing boring after a while.

[@petercollins7848]

I think he said they were free for just signing up for an also free 7day trial.

[@jaspercaelan4998]

Most of the typical landscape photography we see online all looks the same tbh.. nobody really has a particular style.. same locations, same kind of light, same processing style on the whole.. not that much originality.