S
OFAR,WE’VELOOKED
atsomerigidwaysto
honeyourphotographic
effortsintoa uniqueand
recognisablestyleof your
own.But oneof thegreat
appealsof photography– particularly
initsdigitalform– is theimmediacy
it enjoyscomparedto manyof the
otherartsthatrequiremuchlonger
processesto createthefinishedwork.
Thisrelativefreedomaffordsthe
photographermanyopportunities
toshootandre-shootsubjectsandto
le arnimportantlessonsfromthose
imagesthatdon’tturnoutquite
asplanned.
Oneof thestepsin thisprocess
to wardsfindinganddefiningyour
own styleof photographyconcerned
lo okingforinspirationfromsome
ic onicimages.Areallygoodexercise
indiscoveringyourownstyleis to
attemptto recreatesomeof these
images.It’sveryunlikelythatyouwill
actuallyproducean identicalversion
oftheshotthatyouarelookingto
emulate,whilein theareaswhereyou
actuallyfailto producea carboncopy,
you willin factrevealyourownstyle.
Someartistwilltalkabout‘happy
mistakes’,thoseerrorsthatsendthem
offona differenttackandultimately
le adto thediscoveryof newand
excitingwaysof working.Photography,
withitspropensityforexperimentation
and technicalinnovation,hasa history
li tteredwith‘errors’– suchas Man
Ray’ssolarisation
- thathavebecome
mainstreamtechniques.And
whileyoumaynotdiscovera ‘mistake’
thatchangesthefaceof photography,
yourownerrorsarevitalto developing
yourstyleandcreatingyourlook.
Embracingtheerrors
There’sno pointin makingmistakesif
you don’tlearnfromthem.Theability
toinstantlyreviewimageson therear
screen– anddeletethosethatwe do
not like– canresultin artificially
‘p erfect’shoots.
You shouldaimto embracesome
oftheseerrorsandanalysethemfor
theircreativepotential.Technical
excellencehasneverbeeneasier
toachievein photography,but
sometimesit’sthemistakesthat
revealmoreof theartistandcan
le adto a wholenewstyle.
Developinga uniquelookto yourimagesis
anongoingprocess,followingthesetips
wi ll helpyouto stayon target...
THREE STYLE
HONING TIPS
LEARN AND BENEFIT
FROM YOUR MISTAKES
STEP #5
Find Your Style
46 PRACTICAL PHOTOGRAPHY
MASTERTECHNIQUE
Yourcamerashouldbe a helpandnota
hindranceto yourdevelopment,so make
surethatyoufullyunderstandall of its
fu nctionsandcanworkit in fullmanual
mode.Thebasicslikeexposureand
depth-of-fieldshouldbe secondnature.
WORKON YOUREDITS
Neverunderestimatetheimportance
ofpost-processing.Regardlessof the
softwareyouuse,theabilityto getthe
mostoutof yourRAWfilesis a vitalpart
ofdefiningyourstyle.Payparticular
at tentionto colourgradingin orderto
cr eatea morecohesivelookto your
finishedimages.
KEEPEXPERIMENTING
Therereallyis no substitutionforhours
spentbehindthecamerawhenit comes
tofindingandhoningyourstyle.Shoot
asoftenas you can,andwhileyou
shouldhavea planwheneveryoushoot,
makea pointof experimentinga bit,as
it ’s oftena quickwayto findingthose
te chniquesthatwill defineyourstyle.
TIP
KEEPYOUR
‘WRONG’SHOTS
Createa folderon your
desktopandfill it withyour
‘mistakes’so thatyou
cananalysethemat
yourleisure.
IN PHOTOGRAPHY, ‘ERRORS’ HAVE
BECOME MAINSTREAM TECHNIQUES K ATRIN
R AY
SHUMAKO
RIK
REIS
– IKOSTUDIO
