If you hop on Instagram and check out popular landscape photography hashtags or locations, and you will probably notice a lot of the same sort of style of images. As such, a lot of photography advice tells you to develop your own style simply so you can stand out from the crowd. Is that the best approach, though? This excellent video features an experienced landscape photographer discussing why that can actually get you in a bit of trouble.
Coming to you from Alister Benn of Expressive Photography, this great video essay discusses the idea of needing to develop your own personal style in landscape photography. I think Benn makes a really good point here: when you develop a specific, codified personal voice, you are almost obligated to stick to it, and that can lead you to force yourself to shoot and edit in ways that the conditions and subject matter might not be conducive to or to even miss opportunities altogether. Of course, that is not to say you shouldn't figure out your tendencies and preferences, but one should be careful not to be overly prescriptive in their approach. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Benn.
And if you really want to dive into landscape photography, check out "Photographing The World 1: Landscape Photography and Post-Processing with Elia Locardi."
