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Photographic style

Paul Bestwick

pro member
As I look around my studio I see something which has occurred. I t has been gradual & I had not really been aware that it was taking place. I refer to photographic style or a signature if you like.
In my case, I have been shooting weddings now for 15 years. ( In my city I am at the top of the market with maybe 2 other shooters. I regulary get 4-7K for my weddings & my biggest is 13K)
Out of 15 years of shooting professionally I reckon it probably took me 10 years to really become fully confident that I could come up with the goods to a high standard. I think that now, after 15 years I am approaching a new level that encompasses a feeling of freedom when shooting. No longer encumbered with technical fear I am now free to direct & compose. It is like being a movie director/ artist/ maestro all rolled into one. I never understood that purely by virtue of the fact that I was out there doing it over & over under all sorts of challenging conditions that I would grow & mature as a photographer. Having said that of course, from where I view at the moment I think I am maybe 5 years of reaching my peak & from that point there will be another plateau to reach. Can other shooters here relate to what I am saying.

Cheers

Paul
 

Paul Bestwick

pro member
hmm.....do I take the lack of response as a no then. I thought other shooters would have something to relate regarding their own experience of personal growth over a period of years.

PB
 

Alain Briot

pro member
hmm.....do I take the lack of response as a no then. I thought other shooters would have something to relate regarding their own experience of personal growth over a period of years.
PB

Personally I would be interested in seeing an example of your style now and how it changed over the years.

ALain
 

Paul Bestwick

pro member
well you know how it is....a rolling stone gathers no moss. Similairly, at Studio 58 the mantra is keep growing & chuck the old stuff out. Or these days, delete it.
Use your imagination, or maybe look at your own history. Or perhaps for you, maybe this has not been your experience. I doubt that would be the case though judging by your beautiful images.

PB
 
Evolving style

I think my "photographic style" was mostly formed in school. At school (S. F. Art Institute), most students did what we now call "street" photography, but I found myself unable to see and capture those fleeting instants that create compelling images.

I found however, that I had a decent ability to create an image by focusing on the details of a larger subject, and by removing those details (abstracting them) from their original context. While I shoot many other subjects, I think my most successful pictures are still those abstracted detail shots.

As I have progressed and learned, my ability to see and capture those details has improved, but my basic style has not really changed much in 30+ years.
 

Erik DeBill

New member
For a while I thought I had a style. High contrast, low saturation, natural subjects. (example) Then I discovered that my printing technology didn't work very well for midtones. I changed and suddenly I was able to get images I liked that weren't high contrast and low saturation. I still shoot the same subjects, but most of what I was thinking of as "my style" disappeared when the technological limitation did.

Now I'm back to just making pictures and hoping I start to notice a personal style again.

Also lots of angst about my software.
 
An Extension of the "Id" Called a Camera?

It has been a long time since I was aware of the fact that I am actually holding a device between myself and the subject I am shooting. I think the device is called a camera or a digital capturing device. I can't really recall. When that phenomena happened in my life is hard to define. I really am not aware of this device when I am in the process of capturing my image. In fact I often forget that I am actually holding anything in my hand. I become aware of this "appendage" when I think I have captured what I feel is "That Moment". If I don't feel I have captured the essence of the moment, the vehicle remains glued to my hand and remains the interpreter of the subject's and my soul until "That Moment" happens. Perhaps it happened in the same way as when I realized that I don't need a flash meter. I can feel the blast of light and based on the blast, I only have to choose from a very finite and small group of numbers to set on my device. I am usually on within a 1/3rd of a stop. One day, I will just blink my eye and the image will appear on a three dimensional projection in space. It will be transcribed to a crystal storage device that will be used to produce a hard copy, if need be. I guess after pressing the shutter a couple of million times in my 27 years of capturing images, it has become an extension of my "Id".

Ben
 
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Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
When the chemistry is right I look at the model and she looks back at me and goes directly to my heart. The same with a landscape or architect's creation. The camera is incidental, a thin safety line for manners between us.

Asher
 

Alain Briot

pro member
well you know how it is....a rolling stone gathers no moss. Similairly, at Studio 58 the mantra is keep growing & chuck the old stuff out. Or these days, delete it.
Use your imagination, or maybe look at your own history. Or perhaps for you, maybe this has not been your experience. I doubt that would be the case though judging by your beautiful images.
PB


I wrote an extensive essay on the subject of Personal Style:

http://luminous-landscape.com/columns/aesthetics9.shtml

I am also working on a new series that focuses on Vision, inspiration and what motivates us to create personal images.
 

Paul Bestwick

pro member
Ok........maybe I could demonstrate it simply. Here is a current image:

wedding1.jpg


Ok, seem to not understand how to display the image here.

Cheers,

Paul
 
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Alain Briot

pro member
The image post function apparently does not work with an ftp server. You have to place your images inside an html directory. I place my images inside a folder on my site and named the folder OPF.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Here is the simple test. You should be able to simply drage any postable picture to a new browser page. If the just the image alone appears on the new browser page, the the web address above the page is the address of that picture.

Copy that and place it between


That will then load your image.

If the image in your website is cemented down with a blank transparent cover so it can't be copied and it is programmed so it transfers with the page text too, then you can't use that as a source for your image.

I tried the wedding site and all the images are cemented down!!!

Asher
 

Paul Bestwick

pro member
perserverance.....will it pay off ?

wedding1.jpg


Cheers,

Paul

Apparently yes......... oh & by the way, this is the example of the evolved style
 
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Paul Bestwick

pro member
& this was the last time I took a similair image, 12 years ago !!!
Shot on Hassleblad, where the current image was captured with 1DSMKII. I probably have not demonstrated my point very well but I have learnt about posting images from my website......cool

Cheers

Paul

(well almost....see below)
 

nicolas claris

OPF Co-founder/Administrator
Happy that you found the way to post an image!
I've corrected above links...

Re: your image: at least guys' style have changed, they all have sun glasses on the latter!
 

Paul Bestwick

pro member
Hey Nicolas,

OK so lets hope that your powers of observation are more in use when you are shooting !!!!!!!
Sunglasses dudes are the 12 year old image.....

Cheers,

Paul
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
So Paul,

Are you going to let your style just happen or are you reviewing your work and looking to see what you havew done and woud like to maintain and work on further?

I'm interested in how you are going to approach this!

Asher
 

Paul Bestwick

pro member
Hi Asher,

well, you know, definitely up to now I think that my growth as a photographer has been reactive rather then pro active. Maybe I am a slow adapter but I think it has taken me this long (about 15 years) to establish a foundation to build on. When you look at the work going around by the guys shooting top fashion, commercial that type of thing, I for one realize I am not in the same league or likely to be. However, in my field, weddings, I can clearly see the way to the top, or should I say "a" way to the top or whatever destination.....but isn't there some saying about the journey rather then the destination.
The bottom line is being the best you can be, that is why for example I use a 1DSMKII. Most of my competitors would use a 30D or lately 5D. I want full frame, reduced depth of field, as much dynamic range as possible, etc etc. When I look at the results I am getting now it is eay to say........man this is easy, anyone could do it.........but for reasons I don't understand that is not the case & as I said it has taken me years to get to the level I am at now. The way forward is clearer at least. Hopefully I can look back in 5 years time & see significant progress. In the interem I at least have the satisfaction of knowing that my customers absolutely love the product they are paying me to produce. From my perspective though........that is not enough, I want more, I want to be better then I could possibly ever be.

Cheers,

Paul
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Hi Paul,

To me Photographic Style like the print and the reception by the audience is each a journey that is long and requires effort.

One can meander and pick fruits that happen to appear. Or else we can try to map a way.

I guess we need to do both.

After a while, one should say, O.K., I have this camera and lens and this body of work. Now is this what I like? If not what? At some point taking stock might be a great idea.

You still can meander and pick up whatever happens to be there, changing lenses and cameras and subjects. Eventually however, ask yourself what you like about what you do and list how you can make that better.

Some quiet thinking away from the hustle and bustle of normal committments might help! Take with your best pictures and a few books of those you admire and a sketch book and just make notes and sketch. Then make a goal.

Anyway, that's what I think.

Asher
 
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