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Archive 2023 · What is your "look" or style? Do I need one?

ebjerke
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · What is your "look" or style? Do I need one?

I have long been intrigued by the various editing styles among wedding and portrait photographers. I love the look of many photographer's aesthetic (some more than others), but could never bring myself to "own" a look for my own photography. It didn't feel right to do anything other than the basic portrayal of a scene pretty much the way it looked in person. But that is just me; like I said, I love some of the styles I see out there.

My questions are, how did you decide on what look your processed images were going to have?

Do you ever think you will change the direction of that look?

How would you describe it? (In my mind there are two major ones, light, ethereal and dreamy, and kind of dark and moody with warmer tones.)

Oh, BTW, I am not a wedding photographer or even thinking of being one, but I have had four weddings of my kids in recent years and they all have a "look" they were going for.

Thanks!

Sep 03, 2023 at 12:50 AM

ronchau
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · What is your "look" or style? Do I need one?

Interesting question.

I just started shooting weddings this year. Was 2nd shooter on 8 weddings and lead on 1 working for a company. I think look/style is not just the editing, but also lighting, lens selection, aperture, shutter speed, composition, soft focus, blur, etc..

I basically followed the style of the lead photographer and company I was hired by. They were mostly classic traditional, but I did shoot many images towards my style.

Sep 03, 2023 at 03:30 PM

ebjerke
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · What is your "look" or style? Do I need one?

Thanks for chiming in! That's a great point you made about "look" being about more than just post-processing. I also have second shot some weddings and done a couple of my kids' weddings as the main shooter. I love second-shooting, but don't have much desire to be the main photographer; I much prefer to do events and portraits than have the huge responsibility of being "that guy" who screwed up someone's precious memories. I haven't messed up yet, but you never know!

-Eric

Sep 03, 2023 at 05:08 PM

ronchau
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · What is your "look" or style? Do I need one?

What kind of screw ups are you imagining ?

I'd actually like to hear some horror stories or bad experiences to see if any planning can be done to minimize problems.

For style, I like to combine classic traditional posed photos with a candid photojournalism story.

Sep 03, 2023 at 08:54 PM

DannyBostwick
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · What is your "look" or style? Do I need one?

My editing style changes on a daily basis. It changes depending on the light, the the client, the shoot, the weather, the vibes, everything. I literally edit everything differently.

In a moment of weakness I'll admit that I just buy presets from the DVLOP and play around with them. I LOVE the Jose Villa film presets. They're fantastic. I can adapt them to the way that I shoot and they work wonderfully for the natural light portraits and more subdued type of clients. I use some of the TwoMann presets that I've adapted to my personal taste on days with bright blue skies and big personalities. It absolutely depends. I have some presets that I've made that I love on the beach that look terrible in the woods. It's just a shoot dependent thing.

I think there is just a process of finding your voice and your look that takes years of toil to figure out. Just keep playing with it and trying new things you'll figure it out!

Sep 07, 2023 at 07:50 AM

ebjerke
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · What is your "look" or style? Do I need one?

ronchau wrote:
What kind of screw ups are you imagining ?

I'd actually like to hear some horror stories or bad experiences to see if any planning can be done to minimize problems.

For style, I like to combine classic traditional posed photos with a candid photojournalism story.

Oh, any kind. MIssing key moments, I don't know. I haven't had anything bad happen as a second shooter.

Sep 07, 2023 at 09:50 AM

ebjerke
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · What is your "look" or style? Do I need one?

Well, that's interesting. Thanks for the reply. I will have to check out those specific presets. I don't really use them for my portraits or anything, but it is alway nice to see what folks do.

Sep 07, 2023 at 09:52 AM

Ziffl3
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · What is your "look" or style? Do I need one?

My editing style has been a journey.
At first I thought I needed to be hyper accurate portrayal of the day.

Then I learned we are setting memories for multiple generations to come. Even with divorces.
Therefore... be creative and set your vision/style.
Add in the a secret sauce called consistency.
Meaning be consistent through out the day (multi-day if you cover such weddings.) with your editing: skin tones, color pallet, white balance, etc.

Consistency will trump everything but how you actual capture the image.

I always wanted more rich colors, good blacks as a basis.
Clean skin tones - but natural regardless of ethnicity.
Think the ability to look at images years later and the processing does not give it away.
Meaning you can tell from some preset that was all the rage... like the blown out pastel green crap.

I learned from this site 10-15 years ago from working pros.
Find your look.... and let it roll.

I have tried several different presets.... the DVLOP are solid.
But I end up creating my style which will fluctuate a little from wedding to wedding.
This because of changing lighting and color cast for location/season, etc.

While at first pass saying a shooter like a classic look sounds boring.
Lets be clear: we are not talking about the actual photo and how it was taken - solid must have to creative images.
We are just talking about the editing - color or B&W. ...and everything in-between.

At the end of the day: find your color look.
Find your B&W look.
Add some creative styles ... and let these fluctuate as you work though your career.

Side note: When I revisit a wedding from just a year or 2 back.(or more)... I find myself working to get back in the same frame of mind when I first edited the wedding.

the joys of being a creative.

2nd side note: video is such a larger beast when it comes to color grading. It is a challenge and interesting.

-Mark

Sep 07, 2023 at 11:16 PM

ebjerke
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · What is your "look" or style? Do I need one?

Thanks for weighing in, Mark! I appreciate the time you took to answer my question. It is an interesting subject to me! I took a look at your Instagram and you have some great stuff there, so clearly you know what you are talking about!

Sep 07, 2023 at 11:53 PM

LeeSimms
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · What is your "look" or style? Do I need one?

For individual photos, it's fun to mix up looks but for a photo essay like a wedding then consistancy is key.

The safe play is film emulation as it's a color palette / tonality most viewers are used to. We anchor off the Mastin Labs versions of Fuji 400H and Kodak Tri-X for our looks. After a half-million images, our A.I. profile is pretty dialed in and can give us that Fuji look in seconds.

https://lovelens.pixieset.com/kellymickey/

https://lovelens.pixieset.com/allizach/

https://lovelens.pixieset.com/andreakavan/

Not terribly sexy, but the Fuji look won't be embarrassing in 10-20 years. It's the safe play. No weird trendy greens (that look dishwater brown), and no oddly lifted shadows.

Sep 08, 2023 at 03:05 AM

VailJohnson
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · What is your "look" or style? Do I need one?

The only “style” I’ve seen that works is an unposed candid documentary style. Otherwise just do good generic stuff like Benj Haisch the guy on YouTube. Generic but nice.

I think the photographer should probably talk to the couple and ask questions. Every wedding has a theme or colors they’re going for and edit accordingly.

I heard someone just gave everyone a disposable camera. All the guests took photos and then the couple chose the ones they liked later. I like that idea more. Rather than spending money on a wedding photographer.

Sep 16, 2023 at 06:28 PM

johnld
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · What is your "look" or style? Do I need one?

Having a style or look is subjective imo, as many photographers tend to follow trends. From the light and airy low contrast minty greens to the oddly orange, muddy brown hues that seem popular now. Apparently, no one uses a histogram! Being creative and artistic, one can be inspired by the looks of Jose Villa, but using his or other presets, is simply just adopting their style or look and not very original. As mentioned, the choice of aperture, composition and lighting can set you apart from other photographers and most couples choose from your portfolio, so be creative, but also adapt if needed, but make it your own, original adaptation. Film wedding shooters like Jonathan Canlas only shoot film, so his style is that of whichever film stock he's using, plus a few tweaks. I've contemplated shooting just film for weddings as the expectations to deliverables is not as demanding as digital and film shooters are popular with today's social media trends too. Who knows maybe your style can be the next trend!

Sep 18, 2023 at 08:31 AM

TeddytheFinger
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · What is your "look" or style? Do I need one?

It took me several years to get my style down. Now, I can apply the preset as a base and adjust it as needed. As long as my lighting is consistent, it'll be mostly a one click edit. I don't have any photos on my phone but I do have some before and after videos I'll post. Consistency is very important and key to referrals. Clients hire you for your style.
To answer your questions though:

1.how did you decide on what look your processed images were going to have? I had a vision of what "I" liked and wanted. I like the matte look so I went with that. I really don't care about trends. I edit how I like.

2. Do you ever think you will change the direction of that look? Nah, I love my style and it gets me work. I'm happy with it!

3. How would you describe it?
Matte with warm tones if that makes sense??

https://youtu.be/KP_Ht3AMesw?si=4ogF_y9UgvQP-IVg

https://youtu.be/0AjYoh6qhhU?si=Xfk26tHG1RYRo5EU

Oct 14, 2023 at 10:27 AM

sufferingdad
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · What is your "look" or style? Do I need one?

What a great question. I think I go for realistic color based on a Portra 160 preset I made and Scala 200 for black and white.

Oct 20, 2023 at 11:08 PM

dhp_sf
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · What is your "look" or style? Do I need one?

My "look" I guess is natural tones with a little punch. But it has evolved over the years. It used to be way more punch, crushing shadows with a ultra high contrast aesthetic. That allowed me to sometimes ignore what was in the backgrounds bc i could just edit those into a dark oblivion. Nowadays, I have to pay more attention to everything in the frame because it'll likely show up, even in some of the shadows, but I prefer the more natural look at this point.

Do you "need" a style? If you're (royal "you," since the OP isn't actually looking to get into it) serious about booking work, yeah probably. People want to have a sense of what they're going to get if they hire you. If you're all over the map, it's harder to sell. The good news is, we all mostly develop style organically over time as long as you pay attention to your own patterns and aesthetic draws. Style is just a manifestation of our aesthetic preferences + execution. I feel like people who are in the industry for like 5+ years end up settling on a style pretty naturally... whether it's super intentional or just a sort of momentum that drives it I guess differs for everyone.

Oct 21, 2023 at 01:51 PM

docsham
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · What is your "look" or style? Do I need one?

Here's a few things you should think about

Influence of Trends: How much do current trends in photography influence individual styles, and is it essential to have a unique style that stands apart from prevalent trends?

Adaptability vs. Consistency: Is it more beneficial to have a consistent style, or should a photographer's style be adaptable based on various factors like the subject and environment?

Natural Evolution of Style: How does a photographer’s style naturally evolve over time, and what factors contribute most to this evolution?

Hope this help! hit me up! my style is more moody and contrasty, give it a look https://www.fearlesselopement.com

Oct 31, 2023 at 02:54 PM


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