 How's it? How's it? Do you want people to look at your photographs and immediately know that it was taken by you? So what's stopping you? What is stopping you creating this this this recognizable style in your photography? You've thrown loads of presets at your images and yet nothing seems to stick. So what is the secret that these photographers whose work you admire know about creating a look and a feeling of style for their images? To answer this question we really need to go back to basics to find out what style is and more importantly what it isn't. So up front style is not a lens choice, it's not a way of cropping and it is certainly not a preset. A preset is look, it's like makeup for your photograph. How often have someone tried to put presets on their images thinking that it will create a style for them and it just doesn't fit? It seems like a mismatch that nothing is quite working out. You kind of go oh well why does it why does it work for the other person and not for me? And that is because those presets the filters and the way those those photographs look were made by somebody else. They have the character of the other person at their heart and you need to have your character your personality at the heart of your photographs and this is getting closer to what style is. This idea about personality in your photography I think is such a wonderful way of looking at it because it was suggested by a viewer called Bobcat1967 who I really hope is Bobcat God's way but probably isn't. Anyway they had suggested in that comment about this concept of personality and saying that you know we we can't really immediately see our own personalities but other people recognize them instantly. I have a personality, you have a personality and everybody who we know recognizes our own unique personalities so the key here is to stop looking for style in your photographs and put in personality. You're inner character, you're inner self. I feel I must take a moment really kind of just to make the distinction between you know professional photographers who need to have a somewhat consistent look and a feel to their images because obviously they're being hired for for their work and for that that type of look but they are also adept, so adept at putting their personality into the photographs and Dan Winters whose work we will be showcasing through this video is a fantastic example of a photographer whose personality shines through all of his work. So what is the benefit to you when you start forgetting about style and a look and a feel to the images and putting your your character into your photos? Well first of all you will find the photography process becomes it becomes so much easier because you are not trying to wear somebody else's clothing right it what you photograph when it comes from from the heart when it comes from here is is truly yours so it fits perfectly. That mismatch that you feel is when you are trying to photograph in the style of somebody else whose work doesn't really resonate with you and how this this process becomes so much easier for you to to engage in we'll talk about in just a minute. When you're not restricted by style I I'm going to have my photographs look a certain way then all of a sudden avenues for creative expression open up to you that were closed off by yourself before because we're oh you know I am a portrait photographer and I only shoot black and white I only do this and I only do certain things there are very negative ways of looking at photography you know looking at Dan's body of imagery it's so diverse you can see that he is excited about the possibility of of many disparate things so you can be too when you chuck off this idea of like style being a look and focusing more about your personality coming through the images I'm going to keep stressing this point throughout this video because it is so important that you allow your personality to shine through and not how your photographs look so how if you can't recognize your own personality do you inject into your photography now this is going to sound slightly counterintuitive but when you copy other photographers work when you try and set out to take a Dan Winters portrait or if you you know you you try somebody else's preset or things of that nature you are actually learning about what doesn't resonate with you what doesn't fit and the more that you do this and the more that you discover your own ways of doing things that do fit that do feel natural to you the second aspect in this whole process that I think is I would say is often overlooked but occasionally you know it can be pushed to one side is mastering the the technical aspects of the basics of taking photographs and I stress the word basics there because you don't need to have complete mastery of every single technical challenge ever in the history of the world you need to have enough experience enough knowledge to be able to take a competently technical photograph without thinking about it too much right without spending too much time trying to address the technicalities of the photograph and when you start doing that then you let your expression come through think about when you started writing you know when you learned writing at school now you may not be a creative writer but you are a lot more fluid in your writing than you were when you were four years old and photography is very much the same as you learn the language of photography as you learn the visual aspects in your world then the photography becomes so much easier in today's modern world there is a lot to be made I think this is why presets are so popular because they think this is a shortcut to developing your visual language as it were and I think it's prudent at the time to turn to Dan Winter's thoughts on this he says that one's visual language is not something that manifests itself overnight it develops organically over a lifetime the shifts can be so subtle as to be virtually imperceptible and at times will come to fruition so rapidly and with such force that the profundity is all consuming that is life's work as you look to develop your personality your character in your photographs remember that it is always an ongoing process there is no goal there is no win in photography you will never reach peak photography as you become fluid with the camera and you combine learning to speak visually and if you are interested in learning to improve the way they speak visually I have linked to a course that I offer in the description box below that will help you do just that but as you become technically proficient as you become better at speaking visually then then the the photograph will become second nature and the more that you pursue this then the more that your personality will start to leach into your photographs without you knowing about it I don't think that my photographs particularly have a personality but somebody once said to me I can tell an alex photograph from from miles off even though they are very disparate in their look and their feel and I'm sure that is the same for you that if somewhere were to spend if I was to spend some time looking at your photographs I would probably start to see elements of your personality in that image which you might not be aware of so it is there your personality is in your photographs already it is just a matter of nurturing of letting it come to the surface to bubble up and you can do that by laying the fertile ground for its development by stop worrying about style stop worrying about how your photographs look focus more on the vibe you know is this photograph really you does it it speaks from with your voice because it when it does then it starts to stand up then it starts to be immediately recognizable as as your image and that's when you will start to be recognized in where you know your camera club or an instagram or wherever because the photographs are not going to look like everybody else's who is just taking that preset and slapping on any old thing like the lipstick on a pig you know it's it's not going to change it right so you are on the right path you are absolutely getting in the right direction with your photography and I know that you're going to be so much happier with the results as well when you're not trying to shoehorn somebody else's approach into your own photography throughout this video we've been looking at the images of Dan Winters I believe he is the modern equivalent of Irvin Penn which is which a really bold statement but when you check out this video here I think you will see the similarities not in terms of a feel but their approach to photography about their personalities coming through thanks ever so much for watching it and I'll see you again soon