Hey,
So I've been shooting portraits for about 5 years now and while I feel like I've some great shots, they all feel really detached from another.
There's a gallery of my work here: www.deadly.ie/portraits/ which I feel illustrate my point.
I think that the other portrait gallery I have on the site is fine (the studio stuff), but the location stuff here, is all over the place. I use natural light and strobes and while I think I'd be fairly decent in both respects without being great, I don't feel that there's an instant connection between them that someone would say 'Oh, that's one of Seans' if they were to see them. I'm not sure what it is though - a framing issue or a colour one or what.
Is it just a case of editing them more similarly? Working within certain colour ranges? I don't know where to start, but I'm looking to carve this problem out this year and I'd really appreciate any input that'd help me out here.
Hey Sean, i see what you mean by that, sometimes i feel the same because i always go from one branch to another doing different kinds of photography, making taking some product shots today and going for fashion tomorrow. also i often change my retouching workflow which makes my work look different after a while.
i don't know if i can say something useful or not, but i feel i can share whats in my mind, maybe you can make it work somehow. atleast thats what I'm trying to do recently.
if you want to stick to one specific genre like portrait or fashion or anything else you can write down a rule for your self like:
1. if you are doing studio shot you will only use this particular background with your own base setup for lighting, so every image will have similar lighting. (this would work for outdoor as well)
2. for your studio or outdoor photography make sure you use specific set of lenses for each, so you don't need to do a close up one day, then go for a wide angel next time. this way you can also keep your composition or angle the same and recognizable. [like Georgy Chernyadyev]
3. the most important thing i feel will help us to separate ourselves from each other is the color grading techniques, if you can make a couple of your own actions or LUT, then you don't need to color grade your photos differently each time, and they will look the same every time. [like Dan Hecho]
4. try to think of one story to tell your models every time, give them similar emotions to act if you are going for moody shots.
5. if you do many different styles like me that i do advertisement, macro, portrait, fashion & everything i feel like doing at that moment, you can keep doing it, try to upload one specific genre of your work over the internet. for example just upload the portraits you take, or just upload macros. this way people will see your work as one single style, and remember it like that.
*6. 6th is a cheat, upload over and over again, force people to see your work, make them get used to it, so they recognize you instantly after a while. (but i personally don't feel like doing it, however i know many people do that and worked for them)
these are the rules i wrote for my self so far, there are some other things which are too detailed like colors or formats, but you can come up with your own set of rules and information for your workflow.
what do you think ? if you have something else to add that would help us, let me and others know, lets find out the golden rule =D
Hi Farbod!
Thanks for replying - there was some good stuff in there. The piece about Dan Hencho and a stylistic approach is probably the thing I struggle with most (or at least recognise that I struggle with most!). I might just have to sit down and dedicate some time to creating a visual style that I enjoy and could apply to my photos. Makes sense that they'd all have a similar feel based on the grading when you hear it though!
Uploading mightn't be a bad option either. I tend to be a one from a set and done kinda guy, but can't see the harm in a little bit more sharing!
good o hear that...
yes grading plays a huge role in making solid visual style, i love color grading... i usually tell my students who attend the workshops or normal private classes to think of editing as like cooking, you bring in the raw material, and start cooking by adding different ingredients and doing stuff with different tools necessary for each task. foods taste will be different for each chef and depends on the amount and quality of ingredients he/she used. colors are one of the important things that will change the taste easily.
inorder to come up with your own style, you can go through your photos and read comments or check which one had more views/like to see among your work, which kind was more interesting for people, then continue to build on that. or even start fresh and create something new that never existed in your work.
to be honest, i do the same when it comes to uploading, i usually take more than 50 shots, pick around 10 and edit 2-3 and upload one or two. but i try to upload under the same category. time to time i upload other things rather than portrait and conceptual, but mostly portrait. however i see people upload around 10 photos in a week of one shooting day. or even upload a single image again in a month or two.
Morning Sean, I hope that I might be able to provide some insight however valuable it might be. When I was in high school I was an aspiring writer and when I was learning the basics of story structure I remember distinctly the first time that I was told probably the most important thing I've ever learned.
"There's not a story that you can tell that hasn't been told already."
It was from this that I decided that style isn't necessarily exclusive to the look of the photo, but of the overall feel. So while, over time, I found that my visual style gravitated towards vibrant colors, punchy contrast and clean, noise free photos, the most defining aspect I found was the personality that I've been able to inject into my portrait work (which, consequently, is what lead to big job opportunities which fueled my transition from filmmaker to commercial photographer).
To put it in a less long-winded way, I believe from personal experience that we can only distinguish our visual style to a certain degree; what really makes a subject ours is HOW we present it. The 'How', for me, is directing talent in such a way as to draw out their personality as it serves the overall tone of the photo. An example of what I've done- which I've included- is a shot that I got with former world-champion boxer Austin Trout. Hope this helps out in some way.
Thanks for replying MJ!
I think I get what you're saying - but just so I'm clear, I'll play it out a bit!
So essentially we can all take a technically good shot, but it's the emotion that you can pull out of a portrait that's what sets it apart from others' work? I can see how that'd work. I regularly get lots of laughing shots, but cull them because they're not very in keeping with the work I've put out previously. That said, I could look and adding a bit of life to my photos if that's the thing I do that others don't. Yeah?
I love laughing shots but I feel like their viability varies from person to person. The real trick is getting the talent to loosen up and have fun. Throw on some music, be energetic and even doing a bit of posing yourself. What I've found works best for me is to put my own personality out there and to be comfortable myself. In the end my approach to how to inject this kind of life varies from person to person, but the goal remains the same; figure out what you want to communicate with your talent and draw that emotion out and capture it at varying degrees. If you find that it's falling flat then, at the end, tell them to force the expression/pose to its most extreme degree. Though it may feel strange, that over-delivery almost always yields some of the best if not the most lively and engaging photos from a set.
Sean, Don't try to overthinking that. The style is something that you will develop over time and you will change it multiple times as you will mature in photography and life. As soon as you will notice that you don't feel like asking questions how to do something, because you will have your own way, your style will start clarifying.
I'd also say style encompasses the way you work with your subject. Some photographers bend and twist their subject into the image they want while others try to set the stage and aspire to capture magic when it happens. Having a consistent look to your work is nice if folks are hiring you based on what they've seen in your portfolio but I'm going to guess what matters more in the long run is how clients feel about you long after the session or delivery.
Thanks for posting this and being honest. This is something I often struggle with and I really think the simple advice Roman gave was exactly on point! Thanks fellas I needed to hear that! Keep creating! :)
Sean I feel the exact same. I've also been shooting portraits for the last 5 years and feel like I don't have a style that would make people say 'Oh, that's one of Daves.' I'm still experimenting with lighting and different editing techniques. I think Roman hit the nail on the head though. It's something that develops and changes over time. A lot of the photographers that I admired when I was starting out wouldn't appeal to me now.
Hello, late feedback here:
Checked the website (the next and prev buttons were a touch too small/hard to find for this short-attention-span times we live in, hehe).
BTW, it that on the right the loch ness monster? https://deadly.ie/portraits/i7pnbscpteaf3bah4g508z4schfam2
I didn't feel that much separation as I thought I'll do from what you wrote. Maybe its easier to be recognized in a particular way by others that recognizing ourselves (mirrors were an "unnatural invention").
I'm a newbie, but in my case, I think right now I want to work always with color (no bnw) and always horizontal cause its more naturally similar to our vision field (no more vertical shots if possible. Even if the subject is a person and i want to get the body and i'm too close, then I'll just get further. If the surrounding is ugly, let's go somewhere else). Only that can be a little help defining a style.
Then, i think i'm with the rest thinking "just keep doing it". It has to be about what you like. You'll know what you like more and more I guess. I read somewhere "Photograph only what you love". I like that. Same goes for your deiting style. And maybe someday we'll just shot only what we love the most.