In the same way I took a topsy-turvy path to find my love for photography, I also stumbled upon my overall “style”.
I tell you it was difficult.
At first I was just snapping away enjoying the life with no real rhyme or reason. I even did minimal editing because I wanted to keep that candid look. Pff, that sort of candid looked like anyone with a camera and an idea shot it. And there were still remnants of yellow… blech.
I continued to shoot my editorials, but there wasn’t a particular editing style bringing them together. Once I made the decision that photography was more than an additional skill I possessed, I decided to look outwards for advice. I read countless articles on how to find your style and many of them had more or less vague suggestions to “just keep shooting and it will come to you.”
These were not the words I was looking for.
But I went with it, since that’s all I really could do. I still had my beloved Pinterest board to inspire me as well, so it wasn’t the end of the world. I knew what types of shoots I wanted to do, editorial style, a bit fantastical, but with a strong focus on either the outfit or the way accessories complemented it. It wasn’t until my BLACKFOG & subsequent WHITEMIST shoots that I really played around with a specific sort of editing style. I found that I was drawn most to cooler, clean and bright imagery that had a dream-like quality to it. And so I went with it.
But being the designer that I am, I wanted to make sure that my photographs’ style went hand in hand with my overall brand message.
Unfortunately I didn’t even know what my message was.
So I set out on a new project, to define my brand.
During my “rebranding” (In reality it was just separating my design from my photography) I asked as many people that I could think of to describe my work in three words.
This was one of the small tidbits of advice from those articles that I think actually helped me.
I asked friends, professors, acquaintances, basically anyone who may or may not know of my existence. I sent them a link as well to refresh their memory. I had a multitude of answers, which either means my style was indeed all over the place, or it shows the diversity of human perception. Let’s just go with the latter 😉
I received many answers, but the ones that stood out most to me were:
1) Unique
2) Ethereal
3) Authentic
So after much trial and tribulation, I’ve finally found my photography style. It’s interesting to note though, that much like our personal style, our artistic style may morph and change with time and that’s completely ok. Humans are such adaptive creatures that take events that happen around them and incorporate those events into other aspects of their life one way or another.
For the moment though I’m glad I’m finally on the same page.
I’m happy that I (as well as onlookers) see ShekinahShazaamPhotography as Unique, Ethereal, & Authentic.
Here’s to further growth in my style.
May the light be with you.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.