Do you have problems defining yourself as a photographer? Do other people label you as a certain genre of photographer, but you feel that label is incorrect? If so, or even if you don't care about labels, this is a great video to make you think about what you shoot and why.
Dave Herring offers a frank discussion about the difference between how you see yourself as a photographer and how others may view you. The message is relevant whether you care about or pay attention to a specific genre or label. Watching the video and following Herring's process will help you analyze your body of work and why you do it, and it may help align your vision with reality.
Herring is often labeled a landscape or travel photographer. These labels are easy to understand when looking at his work, but that is not the way he sees himself. He considers himself a documentary photographer, documenting the land and historic sites. The confusion stems from a misunderstanding of the intention of the person behind the viewfinder.
The video offers a four-system process that Herring has used to dial in the "type" of photographer he is versus what he thinks he is. One of my favorite concepts he discusses is what he calls the 3:1 rule. I'm sure others have heard of it before, but it was new to me, and I love it. The 3:1 rule is that for every three minutes you spend taking your "hero" image, you spend one minute playing around the area and experimenting with other shots. His example is a 30-minute shoot at sunrise, followed by 10 minutes spent walking around the area, trying different compositions of the same subject. In his case, his play landed him what I imagine was a significant sale.
By allowing for experimentation, you may discover elements that define your work. It may reveal that your best work occurs when you incorporate foreground elements or forgo a high-key scene in favor of a dark, moody take. Regardless, experimentation is one way to find the photographer you are. If you want to broaden that experimentation across genres, The Well-Rounded Photographer: 8 Instructors Teach 8 Genres of Photography is a good place to start.
The point is not to allow a label to stifle you. Rather, it is to ensure that the way you label yourself, or how others label you, reflects the type of photographer you are. You may want to be Ansel Adams, but in reality, you always incorporate people in your photos and are actually a spectacular portrait photographer. You will do yourself a great disservice if you ignore what you are in favor of what you think you want to be.
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