Can we get too repetitive in the styles we shoot?

AnimalRights

I use a normal forum that also has a Photography thread and I had this reply to a photograph I posted today.

"Janer you take a lot of pictures of people who appear to be on the dole and sitting around drinking and smoking during the day

However, nice photos..."

Most of the photographs I post over there are gig photos but yet my street social ones are the ones that have left more of a mark on him (and I suppose others)
He obviously is not from a run down area and has not had to struggle in his life at all (which obviously I don't have a problem with)
It's just interesting and makes my style all the more gratifying and makes me want to shoot it even more.

This is the photo that got his reply...and as my friend commented "[23:22] <rocket-away> And I doubt he thought Dee was anything other than a man. "

Mountainsandh

I don't know if you can get too repetitive, if that's what you like to shoot, then fair enough...
You also shoot baby swans so that makes up for the smoking/drinking shots in my books .

For what it's worth, I'm torn between liking your street photography and hating it.
I'm sick of looking at smoking/drinking sad pics to be honest, I want to see flowers, rainbows, doggies and cats, landscapes, cupcakes... :P

I have a hard job, and after a day's work I want airy fairy dreamy stuff, not a deep looking hard done by man or woman.

But that's just me, and at the same time... I like it. I like pics of real people. Timing, maybe ?

edit : hope you don't mind me being honest.

dazftw

All photographers should develop a style. Use that style in whatever genre of photography your doing.

Most of the time when I go through the random photo thread I can tell who took the photo by looking at the photo. Nothing wrong with that, that's just the way they shoot.

smash

You're not really talking about a shooting style, it's just the subject matter. Some will like it, some won't.

Tallon

If your confortable shooting people then keep doing. The saem goes for landscapes etc.

I agree with steve, I know the poster just from their photograph.

If you see a geeky / toyish photo you can nearly be sure it's me

AnimalRights

Probably Steve06, I don't always convey what I think correctly into words.

Mountain only replying now 'cos I was on iPhone earlier and
I rarely do people begging as I do think that's over done and living in town I have many oppurtunities, what's interesting is a childhood friend turned up on my door last week after a gap of 7-8 years and he is only 41 but is a chronic alcoholic, he didn't feel out of place of what I see everyday, in fact I was already scheming and planning for some photos of my new subject!

I do like to think that I dilute the social photographs with pics of Animals/Gig shots, I'm pretty sure the vast majority of my shots on pixie are gig ones.

Maybe if I lived down the country I'd do more landscapes and Sheep.

AnimalRights

Tallon wrote: »

If your confortable shooting people then keep doing.

Oh most def, as I said in my original post I do want to do it even more when I get comments like that although I do feel very comfy doing the shots anyway.

thebaz

I think its good to move on - creativity and ones unique style can become stale - personally i'm always looking for ways to try out something new - sometimes successfully , sometimes not so - i have plans for a big change next year - whether it comes off i don't know - but stale photography is a pet hate of mine

Thecageyone

Half my shots are of the kids, I at least try to get them into portrait mode. That's more about accessibility and wanting to be shooting all the time than anything else. It gives me something to work on and I often use the better ones.

When i'm out and about I find I'm leaning towards more an urban style of photography, as opposed to landscape or candid street shots, I mean buildings/graffiti/structures/colours etc .. I suppose it's urban art style what I would like to do more of. But I also enjoy the odd times I get to shoot gigs/bands and even family portraits.

I'm a confused photographer who can't pin down one style I'd like to stick to. i say shoot everything. It either grabs attention or not. But I've nothing against anyone who likes to shoot a similar style constantly.

squareballoon

I'm a complete sell out when it comes to photography. I would only ever shoot what I could sell or practice shooting to get better at shooting stuff I can sell.

baby and crumble

I've noticed, and so have other people looking at my photos, that I do an awful lot of converting into B&W. I'm torn a bit, because I don't know if I'm doing that to try salvage a rubbish photo, or because my eye looks for b&w when I'm shooting, so things just look better in it to me, and they way I do it...

But I guess everyone goes through phases but will nearly always come back to a certain style... it's just your own way of seeing the world translated into your photography, I guess.

Thecageyone

I love B&W and Sepia for portrait. I rarely convert landscape or general shots. Unless there's something about the image i think would be more interesting in mono, like an old time feel about it.

I usually know when shooting which images I'll convert in PP, but not always. Sometimes it's just a bit of experimenting and it either works or not.

i think with landscapes or scenics or architecture you need to have it in mind when shooting that it will be converted to a mono tone. You know that while the basic image might not work in colour, you can ramp up contrast and clarity in mono much more and give it some edge.

Mountainsandh

AnimalRights wrote: »

Maybe if I lived down the country I'd do more landscapes and Sheep.

Absolutely . They have problems too, you know...(the sheep)(like they get horrifically sheared and dipped )

At least you don't do cars or sports, yuck :p.

I have to say I find I can still appreciate's someone's style even though I don't necessarily like their subject matter. Maybe I didn't express myself clearly earlier : I enjoy your pics, even though I'm not always in the mood for the subject.
You know, like I can see how good a sports photo is, even though that's really not my cup of tea at all.

I do find people interesting though, all sorts of people, there's always something interesting in a non-fashion portrait. When I try portraits myself (some day !), I'd like to shoot all the old farmers (and their wives too) who live in my area. Their faces and looks tell a story too.

davmigil

If a subject is interesting to you, it is only natural you revisit it. Doesn't matter what the subject is. There is always the feeling, no matter how good the last photo was, that you can do better.

It is always good to think about how we could do things differently to get a better result, rather than doing the same thing over and over. Otherwise I think there is the danger of becoming formulaic, which would hamper creativity. Overall though, if you like photographing a particular subject, go with it.

smelltheglove

I would say it is a style you have, you photograph things that are real, documentary style. If I was to compare the styles, throughout your street/social and music it is very much as it is happening, almost like the viewer is there in that moment compared to say my style which is more formal, portraying a person the way they would like to be seen, in my music I aim to portray a band or a person as bigger than life, shooting from below.

You need a style, you need to keep to your style otherwise you will not be consistent, repetitive maybe, to you but clients will book you based on your style. An example, I take weddings with formal shots but slightly more relaxed than the traditional formal. Often when the couple are receiving their congrats I will take some pics there but will also take pics of the guests chatting. The odd time I will put in a pic where someone is enjoying their smoke outside as that is how it was happening, my clients book me on my style and the most recent wedding where I did include a guest smoking the client hated that picture. The reason beig that was not the style she liked, since then I have not included pictures like that in the final cut.

sheesh

thats great stuff i think. You could shoot stuff like that for the rest of your life and at the end you would have a valuable record portraits from a defined period of time.

Not everyone could do that sort of photography it requires the social skills to get people to accept you and allow you to do it as well as photographic skills.

I suppose you could also try other stuff too.