Do you stick to one style of processing?

Merlin5

Merlin5

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Lee
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No
There are obviously photographers who have found their processing identity, their signature style, and that's what runs through all their work.

I see different photographers work and I like the variation of styles. So for me, I've been processing in different ways depending on my mood or what I think will work for the image. Sometimes minimal processing, or quite often very high contrast if in black and white, sometimes more saturated colours, sometimes more muted, and recently I've learned how to use the tone curve and am enjoying the 'matte' look.

Do a lot of you have one style which you think would be recognisable as yours, or do you prefer variety?
 
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If you want to have a theme or produce a body of work as a unit then it's useful to give them a unified style of processing instead of just processing for the image. So as I'm doing more I tend to think about where the image fits with other work and process accordingly, though I may do one-offs as well.

Generally I have several styles of processing, for landscape, for street, industrial, portraits etc. I also do more with mono these days, and where I tone images, I'm trying to reduce the variety of colours used for that so pictures fit together better.

In terms of style, when I started detail was king and the sharper and more detailed a picture could be the better - it looked horrible! Now for many scenes I work at reducing detail, trying to simplify the image down to shapes and lines. I do have a specific approach to processing, but can't say if that's recognisably mine.
 
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Ummmm..... I do tend to at least try to stay with a style. Not throughout my whole photography as such, but certainly with the same subjects. My woodland is tweaked in a certain way, slight crush of blacks. Landscape usually full histogram, bit more colour maybe. Car stuff a bit more of that faded look and less colour work. I very rarely edit in black and white!
 
I don't have a style, as far as I know. Images are processed to please myself and I'm not building a body of work so each one gets its own treatment.

This was also the case when I was a working pro, but I did concentrate more on colour correctness and balance then.
 
You may benefit from a style if you are selling your images in a Gallery say. As an amateur, I do not try to develop a style but aim to produce the images I want mainly for competitions. However, I can recognise a style in many of my competitors and they say they can recognise my images too. I take great pleasure when I produce something that completely fools them.

Dave
 
Tend to go with how I think the photo should look and treat each one individually.

Saying that I have been trying to find out how I can recreate a certain colouring.
Its for art deco type photos, I know what I want, but not sure how to get it.
 
Thanks for the interesting replies chaps.
Stegosaurus said:
In a word, no! I'm always up for trying something new.
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Same here!

ancient_mariner said:
If you want to have a theme or produce a body of work as a unit then it's useful to give them a unified style of processing instead of just processing for the image. So as I'm doing more I tend to think about where the image fits with other work and process accordingly, though I may do one-offs as well.

Generally I have several styles of processing, for landscape, for street, industrial, portraits etc. I also do more with mono these days, and where I tone images, I'm trying to reduce the variety of colours used for that so pictures fit together better.

In terms of style, when I started detail was king and the sharper and more detailed a picture could be the better - it looked horrible! Now for many scenes I work at reducing detail, trying to simplify the image down to shapes and lines. I do have a specific approach to processing, but can't say if that's recognisably mine.
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Yes, I guess I'm still at a stage of wanting everything really sharp but I'm learning that's not always
necessary. But like you, I do enjoy simplicity of lines and geometric shapes. Personally from what I've seen of your work which I really enjoy looking at, I think you've developed quite a unique style. I'm thinking in particular your black and white architecture and the way you process clouds and skies.

LeeRatters said:
Ummmm..... I do tend to at least try to stay with a style. Not throughout my whole photography as such, but certainly with the same subjects. My woodland is tweaked in a certain way, slight crush of blacks. Landscape usually full histogram, bit more colour maybe. Car stuff a bit more of that faded look and less colour work. I very rarely edit in black and white!
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You've definitely got a signature style of your own with woodlands and landscape. You're the king of woodland though!

Bristolian said:
I don't have a style, as far as I know. Images are processed to please myself and I'm not building a body of work so each one gets its own treatment.

This was also the case when I was a working pro, but I did concentrate more on colour correctness and balance then.
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Same here, I'm not building on a theme of any sort and I'm processing per image until it pops for me.

benc98 said:
I dont have a style, but know if I shoot enough then probably one will develop over time
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Yep, I agree, we may naturally develop a style.


Dave Canon said:
You may benefit from a style if you are selling your images in a Gallery say. As an amateur, I do not try to develop a style but aim to produce the images I want mainly for competitions. However, I can recognise a style in many of my competitors and they say they can recognise my images too. I take great pleasure when I produce something that completely fools them.

Dave
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Yes, I'm never going to be trying to sell images or put on gallery exhibitions.


tijuana taxi said:
Tend to go with how I think the photo should look and treat each one individually.

Saying that I have been trying to find out how I can recreate a certain colouring.
Its for art deco type photos, I know what I want, but not sure how to get it.
Click to expand...

Similar. Sometimes I process to how it should look, i.e. how the eye naturally sees the subject in real life, but often I'll process it to try and make it look more dynamic or exciting because for me, sometimes real life looks too ordinary. :D
 
I wouldn't consider that I have a specific style of my own. The most common tweak I do tend to do is a slight increase in contrast on the main object of the photo to increase sharpness. (Don't ask me how that works but it seems to). Apart from that I tend to adjust (or not) according to each photo and my preferences. What perhaps surprises me the most is the big difference a small change can make.
 
People that I interact with regularly on fb, insta, etc. always say that they could tell an image was mine - my problem is that I don't know why :LOL: I teach Photoshop and due to that, I enjoy editing in lots of different styles, but have felt for a while (a long while!!) that I need to finally settle on one of my own for my portrait work - my newborn and family stuff has a set style and that's fine, but I just cannot for the life of me fix on one for my portraits :( It's driving me mad!

I think I'm going to try to book someone to do a website/portfolio review soon and see if they can tell me what to get rid of and what to focus on more to achieve more of a unified look to my work as I'm going to try to push for more commercial clients this year - I love shooting cosplay stuff, but actually making a living from that is another matter entirely!

By way of an answer to your question - I would say that it's important to experiment, to try different styles, different processes, etc in order to set you up for deciding what it is you find yourself doing most with your images - that is what will build a style for you, you don't know if a style will work for you until you're tried it and rules it out/cannibalised it to take elements to incorporate into your own work, etc.

Following this thread and replies with interest :) Apologies if I went off on a tangent there :LOL:
 
Mike, I still believe that there is no need for that. You have your Adobe set of tools/plugins etc. and, if you edit each image to produce what looks right to you then that is all that you need. In making your judgement on editing each individual image you will not use every tool and setting in Adobe but will inevitable use favourites and just choose the adjustments that suit you. If you always focus on the final image you wish to achieve it will inevitably include your style without have to think about it.

Dave
 
Developing colour film, from day 1 I have used a JOBO Processor which has given me consistent results. I started of B&W in the early days hand developing in a Paterson tank then started using the JOBO for that as well. However the results always tended to be overcooked even after the recommended reduction in time was applied.So I have gone back to hand developing B&Wand the results are more consistent
 
Dave Canon said:
Mike, I still believe that there is no need for that. You have your Adobe set of tools/plugins etc. and, if you edit each image to produce what looks right to you then that is all that you need. In making your judgement on editing each individual image you will not use every tool and setting in Adobe but will inevitable use favourites and just choose the adjustments that suit you. If you always focus on the final image you wish to achieve it will inevitably include your style without have to think about it.
Dave
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Not sure if this was a reply meant for me? I assume not, but I think unfortunately that there's a difference in why I would need to choose a unified style over the OP Lee & why just working however I want and doing whatever is right for me, is not always the best way to go - I mean to say that they are my images and will inevitably have "my style", but it needs to be one that a client can see clearly.
Lee states that he would not want to sell images, whereas I do this for a living & in order to attract clients, I believe your images need to have a look that they can imagine the work you do for them reflecting. I feel that my being able to work in all styles has resulted in my inability to settle on one and develop a unified portfolio. That's why I think I need a portfolio review :)

As I mentioned, my newborn images all have a set style and that's why people come to me to photograph their children - my usual studio work does not, I feel, have a unified style, and I feel that it is hampering my attracting new clients (maybe I'm imagining it - it's been a crazy year and maybe my marketing sucks :LOL:)

darkroom12 said:
Developing colour film, from day 1 I have used a JOBO Processor which has given me consistent results. I started of B&W in the early days hand developing in a Paterson tank then started using the JOBO for that as well. However the results always tended to be overcooked even after the recommended reduction in time was applied.So I have gone back to hand developing B&Wand the results are more consistent
Click to expand...

Yep, I use the Paterson tank for all of my b&w stuff too, I like to control the grain more predictably and find that doing it by hand seems to give me more consistent results.
 
The advice I have read suggest that no matter how versatile you are, your portfolio should have a unifying mood/ theme, no matter how good you are. However, there is no reason you can't have different portfolios for different reasons and all working portfolios need updating eventually. As I'm not a professional photographer, and would never wish to ruin my enjoyment of photography by becoming one, I can let rip to my hearts content. There is so much fun to be had experimenting, learning, parodying, copying, and attempting to recreate that marvellous image that only exists in your head, I can't imagine why anyone would want to stick to the same old rut.
 
In short I have a well defined standards for my editing, and as for style or feel, well it depends on the image type... But yes, normally each kind falls within the same style
 
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