Practical Photography - UK (2019-09)

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T

heultimateendgame

may seemlikequitea strange

st artingpointin thisjourney

to wardsdefiningyourown

photographicstyle.But having

a cl earaimforhowyouwant

yourworkto progresswillreallyhelp

tofocusyoureffortson theprocessof

developingyouruniqueaesthetic.

One of thefirstquestionsthatany

buddingshootershouldaskthemselves

is , “Whatsortof photographerdo i really

wantto be?”.generally,it’slimitingto

pi geon-holeyourselftooearlyon in your

‘c areer’,butit canbe difficultto hone

a definingstyleif youshootanything

and everythingthat’sin frontof you.

Settleon a genre

Whilethere’sno needto limityourselfto

ju sta singletypeof photography,forthe

sakeof thisprogramof developmentit

iseasierif youpicka genrethatyouare

particularlyattractedto andconcentrate

onhoningyourpersonalstylewithin

thatparticularfield.narrowingyour

horizonsa littlewillletyou

concentrateyoureffortsin

a muchmoreproductiveway.

Photography,especiallywhen

pursuedas a hobby,shouldalwaysbe

fun,so by stickingto a genrethatyou

reallyenjoy,ratherthantryingto push

yourselfintoan arenathatyoufindmore

daunting,youwillhopefullyshootmore

and be morecommittedto findingyour

personalstyle.

Havea definedaim

Creatinga definedstylein yourown

phot ographyis mucheasierif youhave

a cl earideaof whereyouwantto go

withit. Youmighthavehopesof turning

professional,or atleastof makingsome

moneyfromyourhobby,in whichcase

commercialconcernswilltendto steer

yourstyletowardscreatingimagesthat

will sellwell,or youmayjustwantto

createa cohesiveportfoliowitha defined

lo ok.Whateveryourultimateaim,keep

it firmlyin yourmindeverytimeyougo

andshoot.

Defineyourstyleandhoneyoureyeby
concentratingon oneof thesepopular
photographicarenas...

mosT popular

phoTo genres

deTermine a goal

s Tep#1

36 PraCtiCalPhOtOgraPhY

landscapes

Thisis probablythemostpopulargenre

in photography,andit’sidealforanyone

in theUK thanksto oureasily-accessible

and diverseenvironments.It does

re quirea big investmentin gear,but

theshootinglocationsandtimespent

can be fittedin easilyby anyoneduring

tri ps,holidaysor daysout.

porTraiTs

The other‘big’genreof photography

doesn’trequiresucha costlyrange

ofequipment,butwill demandmore

dedicationin termsof timeand

or ganisationin orderto findsubjects

toshoot.Developinga portraiture

st ylewill dependa greatdealon how

you interactwithyoursitter.

sTreeT

Possi bly themostegalitarianformof

photography,as anyone– regardlessof

theequipmenttheyhave– cango out

and takestreetphotos.Definedby

candidmomentsandtheuseof available

light,streetphotographyhasa rich

hi storybutstillplentyof potentialfor

developinga uniquestyleof shooting.

Tip

shareyour

images

Onceyou’vesetyourgoal,let

ot hersknowandshareyour

imagesin friendlygroups

tohelptrackyour

progress.