Finding My Style

   I apologize if this isn't the most organized post, as I am just taking down my thoughts, as they come. Finding your style involves a realm of aspects that have to be considered, and as I address each one, they are not approached in any given order. This has been quite a challenge.
   The hardest part about becoming a professional photographer, for me anyway, has been trying to settle on my "style". Style, when describing a photographer, can refer to a vast array of characteristics. The way a photographer shoots, the way they might edit, how they brand themselves and interact with clients.
   For me, finding my style has placed me at the transition intersection of who I am, and who I want to be. I have spent some time researching the things I enjoy about my craft, the kinds of end-products I want to deliver, and the types of clients I want to service.
   One step in developing a brand is to choose a few power words. Words that describe your mission, your objective, your clients, any aspect of the business that's important to you. One of the most important things I want to do with my photography is to teach people to embrace themselves. I want them to know that they are beautiful, and I want that to translate across all hair and eye colors, income levels, body types, all walks of life. You don't have to work in Hollywood to feel like you do. Even if just for a day. I also want clients who want to share that feeling with their friends, to empower people around them to feel good about themselves, too. So, I have talked about what I want to do, and what I want from my clients. The next area is the photographs themselves. I want my images to evoke emotions in viewers. I know that each genre of photography won't have the same reactions from all sorts of people, but I hope to someday be able to draw emotions from, at the very least, the majority of my viewing audience. In regards to my relationship with clients, and in turn, their relationship with my work, my power words would be embrace, empower, and evoke.
   Now, to consider the way I want to shoot. This has been a long process, because before I can decide whether I even want to shoot something or not, I really have to actually shoot it. And then I have to practice the different ways to portray a subject. Then I have to decide what I want my work to say, to look like. 
   For example, I do not like photographing babies. I love babies, don't get me wrong. I just don't have the skill or the studio setup to do a great job. I have seen some photographers who have done some pretty impressive images with babies. I am just not one of them. And, I wouldn't know that if I hadn't tried, failed, and embarrassed myself miserably.
   I love weddings, and I am discovering my role as a wedding photographer. I prefer to shoot lifestyle portraits during a wedding, as opposed to the family portraits where everybody stands around and waits to get posed. I like the real, true to life moments that just kinda happen. I can see more personality shining through from clients when I shoot like this.
   I really enjoy doing contemporary glamour shots, and try to carry a little bit of this style over into corporate headshots, as well as engagement sessions, at least with the ladies.
   Another aspect I have found to be of interest is that I like to shoot outdoors. Now, I haven't had much experience with a studio setting, so it is hard to make a comparison, but I love the laid back feeling of a shoot that involves a bit of walking. I have a chance to get to know my client better, and form a deeper connection. This connection then visually translates through the images we create.
   So, in describing my work, I guess I want it to be contemporary, to show connection, and to feel like lifestyle portraiture, or have a photojournalistic approach. And I know you can feel the hesitation there, but, while I am very sure of the relationship I want to have with my clients, I have not yet settled entirely into a style of shooting. Presumably, this will most likely change a bit at a time over several years, if not throughout my entire career, as I learn and develop new techniques.
  

What type of music do you like?

  This post is kind of off topic for photography, but is as relevant as genre is to any art. 
  "What type of music do you like?" I love hearing this question. The answer you get is usually along the lines of "Oh, I really like this type and that type. Stuff by so-and-so. Anything except type X." We just watched a movie about this, and it got me thinking. This is what I came up with.
  Music, like any art form, is an expression of the soul. Why would you limit that to a genre? Whether you are the artist, or the one who just enjoys the art, there is a deep emotion there that should never have limits placed on it. Music, photographs, paintings, sculptures, even the written word are all instruments used to convey emotion in the form of something beautiful.
  Many of you are thinking "But, I just hate X type of music!" I realize that there is a style issue at stake here. What is that type of music saying about me when I listen to it? Nothing. It wasn't written about you. It was written for your enjoyment. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that every song written is to be enjoyed by every person out there, but you can't tell me that out of the multitude of choices within a particular genre that not even a handful of songs strike a chord with you.
  When I was a teenager, I had the same mindset. "Oh, I like any kind of music except country." Then I realized that I didn't even know what opera was, or why classical music was so technical, or why country musicians always seemed to have a tear in their beer. Then, as I developed as an adult a little more, I realized that all types of music speak to different parts of me.
  Hip-hop and pop speak to the dancer I never became, country and R&B speak to the romantic in me, Jazz and Classical speak to the educated musician within, 80s hairbands speak to wild child in my closet, lullabies speak to the mother I became, Bluegrass and gospel speak to my roots, and opera, though a tough one, speaks to the Queen Elizabeth that would have been.
  So while most people have a general music category that sums up who they are for the most part, limiting ourselves to just that also limits our opportunities for expression of our souls.