MY STYLE - An addon to the @photogames “Who Took It Wednesday” game
Today is Who Took It Wednesday:, and the main game is happening on @photogames, but we can have a little fun here too, and talk about a subject that we often hear about: style. No, not fashion style (I've never been accused of being an expert on that) - I mean artistic style - what makes our photographs unique to us?
THE @PHOTOGAMES MAIN GAME
The game over on @photogames is to match the images with the Photostars who took them. This requires you to get a feel for all of our looks/styles. Some of the other Photostars are doing posts like mine, so go to their accounts to see if they have one, or just look through their images and see if there are any hints.
@caseygrimley
@jarvie
@derekkind
@gabyoraa
@asgarth
@aweber
The prize pool for the main game is 6 Steem
The Who Took It Wednesday post on @photogames is here
IT'S ALL ABOUT THE STYLE
Every photographer has a "style," a subtle fingerprint that can help people identify one's images just by looking at them. A photographer's style tends to solidify with time and experience, as they specialize in only one or a few types of photography and become more consistent with processing. The way the photographer edits their photos is usually the biggest influencer of "style," because it's in post-production where the artistry of the individual has the most effect.
Beginner photographers often talk about how they can develop their own style, but I think it's something that can and should happen naturally rather than by force and intent. You should wake up one day after being a photographer for a few years, look at your photos and think "oh, I have a style!" Your style is a subtle, subconscious manifestation of your artistic preferences, distilled from countless trials and errors, and it's constantly evolving.
Let's play a little game, using myself as the subject. Take a look at my pictures in this post and write a 1-2 sentence description of “MY STYLE” (you can write more if you want). Are my photos recognizable on their own? Can you identify what qualities make them so? I'll give, um, style points to my favourite comments. ;)
P.S. There are no guarantees this will help you in Who Took It Wednesday game - you know I like to have fun and makes things tricksy for you, so I may or may not have submitted a photo for the main game that is representative of my style - can you figure out which is mine? ;)
WELCOME TO A TOUR OF MY STYLE
I love long exposure photography, with lots of color and atmosphere.
And reflections...
The Milky Way is one of my favourite subjects.
As are horses in landscapes...
And I like to photograph "wildlife" when I have the opportunity.
But it always comes back to landscapes. The more dramatic, the better!
...though I have been known to play around and have fun with more creative types of photography! (this was made for a photo contest with the theme "Witch").
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I photograph people now and then, but usually in an "environmental portraiture" style (this is Jessi, a friend from our Stars and Cars group).
This was @jarvie during his Faith In America Tour (where he photographed churches across the US).
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I like to photograph churches too, with long exposure and dramatic skies, and I've been known to monochrome a time or two.
Do you notice any similarities in the feel of my photos, i.e. my "style"? Comment and tell me, I would love to know what you think! Then be sure to head over to the Who Took It Wednesday game!
NEW TO THE PHOTOGAMES??
Introduction to The Photo Games Post.
Want to be a “Photo Star”? …read this post!
Yes! I like that hint and I like that super hero pose of @jarvie
Which hint, @sjarvie5? ;)
Actually two hints...monochrome and wildlife
I won't confirm or deny whether either of those were the real hint, but I can tell you there's at least one good hint and at least one red herring in my post. ;)
Holy moly, that first photograph is glowing. Beautiful work, Derek. In fact, all your work glows. I have a hard time explaining peoples' styles, but yours is holographic. Light penetrating through the depths, like tangible rays of light floating underwater. I like what you have to say about style, but I think I may be an outlier as far as most of my artistry being involved in post-production. :P You rock, my guy!
Wow, this description sounds so sophisticated I don't even know what to say now.
I know, right??? I would still love your input - no pressure to use terms like holographic, though - @johndykstra may say it's hard for him to explain people's styles, but I don't believe it. ;)
"Holographic"! "Light penetrating through the depths"! Wow, I never expected that kind of description of my work! That's awesome! The glow at least is intentional on my part - I put a subtle orton on most of my recent images, but I can't say that the other things are by design. Wonderful comments, thank you! :D
You're totally right, I was off-base when I said that about post-production, and I would have realized it if I'd thought for a moment. I do think it's generally true of a lot of types of photography, and especially early on in a photographer's career, post processing can have a larger influence on their style but obviously it was too broad a statement - style is much deeper than that.
I don't think you were far off base. Yes, there is a lot a photographer can do during shooting to craft their photograph. But post-processing is a huge part of photography, especially in landscape photography! Ansel Adams called the print the performance, and the negative the score.
Yes, it's one of the many elements that together make up the orchestra on which our symphonies can be played! :)
I have a theory. If you look carefully, you can actually know a person through the photos they take. Because at the end, we shoot what we see from our own unique perspective. And everything that surrounds us, is nothing but a mear reflection of what we have inside. So it's in some way a part of our inner self being expressed though our photos. (wow, I promise I'm not high) Ok, so what I wanted to say is that what I liked about your photography since the first day I saw it, was the colors. I love how you perceive the world. You have a personal glow that make your photos unique, and obviously landscape is your thing, and you are one of the best. It's all about the color and the dramatic sky.
P.S: @jarvie got me emotional with his comment on my post
Well, gee, how can I respond to that but to say thank you!!! :)
I personally admire your work, it really resonates with me. Your photos always have soul, I can look at them and they take me on a journey. It's like they're a book and they're telling me their story. They're always beautiful, impeccable even. You use of light and shade is always spot on whether they're dark and moody or light and airy. I'm always drawn to your subject matters and highly respect your creative abilities. The one word that keeps coming back to me though is soul, you breath life into your photos!
And in saying all that... there wasn't one photo that typically stood out in the pack to me that said, yep that's yours!
Well, the one I picked to go in the pack is not necessarily one that represents me. ;)
Lol... clearly... a few curve balls is great I guess. I buggered my entry though. I changed one of mine without realising I was allowed to. It was later I read that I wasn't allowed to. I'm still keen to find out the results though. I still have no idea, lol.
We're forgiving about that - we just don't want to see people edit every time they receive new information. ;)
New information?? Lol, do you mean the stuff you guys write... I'm not listening to any of that! :P
lol, well, you never know what new information you might get! Some of the others, like @asgarth, are giving actual hints on their posts. ;)
And so am I...you just have to figure out which are the real hints.
That would mean everyone should wait near the end of the comp to answer... although I think visuals are easier to decipher than scipt of truth and untruths.
@asgarth was the easiest as he had previously posted on his subject matter... but then again, maybe that was to trick us ; )
lol
Although, I look forward to seeing the answers... it will be interesting to see who said what and what was fake and not! :D
That's about all I can say...
Lol, I'm not sure how to respond to this one... but all I can say is you're welcome!! : )
:) :) :)
you sir are an excellent troll!
the way you posted an image that can relate to any of those in the original post is amazing:))
When you do selfies like this your perhaps more of a Sith lord than a troll !
I prefer to think of myself more as a Jedi ewok - quirky but ultimately good. ;)
I can see the resemblance lol
Bahahaha
These guys walked past my house the other day. And I think they were talking about you !
Hahaha I've seen that before and it's the best Star Wars meme ever!
Hehehe. I like to have fun with games like this. ;)
That's a classic shot of @jarvie! You have some amazing dreamy work; inspiration for me to take it to the next level.
Thank you! Jarvie can always be relied upon for the epic pose, so that makes it easy. Always glad to help inspire and to find inspiration! :D
Love your style!
Why thank you, @snooway! :D
Yeah dude. That middle photo of the trees/road/sunset is just phenomenal. Love it.
Anyways, if I had to characterize your style, I would say your colors are often lively, but different hues than say our pal @jarvie. A lot of your best shots are long exposure landscapes, where you really bring to life certain elements that are gorgeous, but suddenly gorgeous and dynamic. You have a great eye for composition, usually with a little more foreground than I naturally do, but you fill out the picture well. Also, that's some sweet light painting on the sandy milky way shot. Always love seeing your photos on here man.
Thank you so much, man, I appreciate your analysis!!! :D