What's Your Style? And, How To Find It.

If you're like me, you love to look through beautiful photographs and wish you could take pictures like that.  I have a few photographers I follow regularly, and I find myself "oohing" and "awwing" over the unique perspectives and the overall feel of the images.

In one of the photography classes I took online, I was given the assignment of pulling pictures from the internet that "spoke" to me and then analyze them to find the common thread.

Here are the pictures I pulled from a quick Google search of "horses" and then selecting "Images":

 Do you see the common thread?  I discovered that my personal photography tastes are drawn toward the vantage point of a child.  (I also really like black and white images, but that's a topic for a later post.)

Pulling the pictures and placing them all in a single folder together gave me the opportunity to see what I'm drawn to and what appeals to me.  Yes, these are all horse photos, but I try to carry that unique perspective that I love so much with me into the rest of my photography life.

Does a child's vantage point work for every shot?  Absolutely not.  However, I always keep it in the back of my mind.

What else do you notice about the pictures?  I noticed that very few of the pictures were "full shots."  Most, in fact, are simply a sliver of the full picture.  Ever single image focuses on a single detail, something that makes it unique, and then amplifies it.  The ribbon, the rider's outside leg, the bend of the horse's neck, the whiskers on the nose... it's what I would discover to be "detail shots."

I'm sure you can pick out a few common features all these pictures have, but the ones I have mentioned are the biggest ones that stood out to me and guided the direction I would go as a photographer.

So, now I ask you to do the same exercise.  Pick a theme that you love.  Mine was horses, but yours may be children, or landscapes, or dogs, or whatever else tickles your fancy.  Set aside an area where you can save all your pictures in one place.  Do a Google search and start saving some images that really speak to your creative side.  What do you love to look at?

Take a few minutes to go back and study the images that you have saved.  What's your common thread?  Is there a color scheme that is repeated?  Do you prefer a certain vantage point?  Is it an unusual balance in the way the photo is cropped that speaks to you?

Visit www.picmonkey.com and drop the pictures you've selected into a collage as I have done with the images above.  It doesn't have to be anything fancy, but give yourself a representation of where you would like to see your photography take you even if your sole purpose is to take better pictures of your kids.  There is absolutely no shame in that!

What you'll wind up with is a collection of images that inspire you.

*TIP*: Put together a collection of pictures that inspire you.  Search for a common theme that runs through the majority of the images.  What photography styles have you discovered that speak to you?

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