Once you’ve started going deeper into photography, you might find yourself asking questions about the work you’re making. How do you make them stand out? How do you make them inspire you? How do you make them truly yours? The quick answer lies in finding your own photography style.
Don’t know where to begin? In the video above, fine art photographer Scott French shared three simple steps that helped him find his own photography style. As he mentioned at the start of his video, developing a distinct photography style is one of the ultimate goals of every photographer. However, it also tends to be one of the most difficult things to achieve.
He begins by briefly discussing what style even means in the context of photography. While your personality, character and worldview will eventually come together to contribute to your photography style, the steps he outlined should help you get there much faster.
The first step is to curate what inspires you. It can be another photographer’s work, paintings or movies. Next, study what you curated. Take note of what you find fascinating about them. Find connections or similarities — what do they have in common? Do you see them when you look at your own photos?
Finally, once you have a sense of what you like from the works of other creatives and how your photos compare to them, it’s time to experiment and put everything together in a personal photo project. The goal is not to copy your favorite artists’ work. Instead, use them to better understand what resonates with you and develop ideas on how to translate them into your photos.
