How to Define Your Photography Style
Why is having a consistent photography style important? Because brand identity.
Having a consistent style allows your biggest fans to identify your work anywhere in the world and gives your overall portfolio a unified look. When you can achieve that specific outcome every single time, it gives your clients confidence in the level of quality they can expect when they hire you.
But where do you begin? How does one even start to develop a photography style? Look for inspiration, and ask others for feedback!
Finding your style in photography through Inspiration
When you’re trying to find your photography style, starting with inspiration is a safe place to start.
Check out photographer portfolios you admire. Which images do you strongly resonate with? If you collected all the images that inspired you the most, what common factors link them all together?
Are there certain colors that stand out to you? Do most of the images have a very certain look and appeal to them? What are the people in the photos consistently doing or feeling? Are there specific locations you seem drawn to? What is the overall lighting quality like from photo to photo?
Whatever those common bonds are that tie your favorite images together – those links should represent the ideals you strive to capture with each and every photograph you take.
How to describe photography style by asking others
Although slightly more adventurous, but equally as rewarding – ask your clients for their opinion on your photography style! Don’t have clients? Do a couple of free photo shoots, and ask your friends for their opinions. It might seem a little scary, but the results are worth it!
A major shift happened in our wedding photography branding this past year. In an attempt to put a promo video together for our photography business, we started interviewing our couples for testimonials after working with them on their photo shoots. Then, something magical happened.
We started to learn what our actual clients thought about our brand & what it was like to work with us.
Prior to starting this project, I thought I had a strong idea as to what our brand represented. However, THINKING you know where your brand is vs KNOWING where your brand actually is are two entirely different things.
By interviewing our couples, we realized what we thought we were projecting out into the world was different than how our clients perceived us. We learned where we really shined and where we might have fallen flat. We took what we could, and we ran with it.
When most of our clients told us the same thing over and over again, we realized we’d created a consistent experience across the board. We took the words they used to describe us and infused them into our website & our overall brand. These words acted as a magnifying glass to help us focus on the things our clients loved us for and let us know the direction we should grow in.
In conclusion
Whether you’re a newbie or a veteran photographer, if you find yourself having an identity crises and asking yourself, “what is my photography style?” look for inspiration & ask others around you. 😉
