BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

Seth Resnick who teams up with John Paul Caponigro on many workshops would argue forcefully that all successful photographers develop a style of their own. These two are like night and day with their styles (just look at their portfolios) but they agree on the approach to photography.

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

The gamet depending on location, time of years and mood.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

Just sayin'

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Could have left it alone also.



Just sayin'....

b top gun

The fewer people in my photos, the happier I am. The only person I have ever invested a lot of time photographing is my one and only grandchild who turned 18 at the beginning of March. I do not do Nikon holidays to photograph people, there are way too many of them where I live. My mantra since I got my first digital camera has been and still is "Have Nikon; Will Travel". I had my flower phase back in the day; I have not shot any flowers in years, partly because my favorite locations have changed so much. Wildlife and/or birds, I do not have the resources to throw money at the Nikkor lenses necessary to pursue that option. I work at taking fewer images but getting more keepers. Went to Alaska for the first time ever, spent a week there, I bet I did not take 1,000 shots total including cell phone ones. I got pretty picky about my subjects while in Alaska. If the scene or subject did not talk to me, I moved on to the next photo op or repositioned my view. I got the Alaska Range from multiple angles which gave me interesting results.

I am self taught; never took a course in photography, partly because especially in college I challenged a lot of what was being taught as gospel in many of my classes. My style and preferences have definitely evolved since my first digital camera which I used to take shots of everything.

I have taught myself to shoot how it feels rather than what I see. Leaning toward black and white has taught me a lot about composition because color can distract from certain images.

gwilliams6

I was trained and learned photographing in many styles and all subjects. As a working photojournalist for newspapers, magazines, wire services and all types of clients ,I had to be able to do it all to be successful.

Granted, concentrating in one genre often makes good business sense in this specialized world .

However both as a longtime pro with 50 years in the business, shooting all subjects around the world, as well as being a longtime Professor of Photography at a state university, I enjoy photographing , experimenting, teaching and growing in all photographic genre and styles.

Do what floats your creative boat and be happy.

Cheers and best to you all.

PhotoMono123 Loc: Houston, Texas

I think that for many (most?) of us this evolves over time. Eventually we end up having worked with a number of genres with our photography and selecting one or two that become our main focus.

* Birds? Yes. I have my gimbal mount and my 150-500mm lens.

* Landscapes? Sure. I have even designed and built my own programmable panorama head for my tripod.

* Macro? Oh my. Complete with a microprocessor-controlled focus rail.

Over time my work has transmuted to primarily monochrome photography that is concerned with collections or projects primarily of detailed subjects. Certainly not what I was doing in past years.

MJPerini

This is Terrific ! God Bless. Nothing more important.
It is also a great example of how priorities can change with circumstances.

In my view the goal for new photographers is to learn to use your equipment well enough so that the ‘technical side’ mostly disappears as an obstacle. Then turn your full attention toward subjects that interest you.
To try to preplan an area of specialization before you are good enough to shoot whatever you want is a fool’s errand.
If you make technique second nature you can spend all your time on whatever interests you , and your ‘specialty’ will naturally emerge in your work, and over time your interests may change. This is important because if you are not really interested in a subject , it is much more difficult to produce good work.
It is often recommended to students with limited funds to ask themselves “What do you have Access to that others may not” Good work often is helped by repeated access”
In that case access can beget interest.

If you are doing photography as an amateur
You shoot what you love , or what makes you happy , or whatever you find interesting, and enjoy it. That will be different for each of us.

It is different if you aspire to be a professional, then it becomes a business, with all that it entails. ( 80% of which is Not photography)

R.G. Loc: Scotland

I agree. Beginners should be encouraged to experiment with all types of photography. Through time they'll gravitate towards what they find most rewarding and/or most inspiring. The only things a beginner should be encouraged to eliminate are bad results and bad habits.

I would encourage a beginner to be selective about their results, not their genres. If they end up with something they would happily put on one of their walls then that is the sort of result that they should want more of, regardless of its genre. The not-so-good results they can put down to the learning process. Even disasters aren't a waste of time if something was learned from them.

Smitty Blackstone Loc: NY or Jupiter

I haven't settled on what I like best, so I take pictures of whatever is around me.

gwilliams6

gwilliams6

gwilliams6

Dbrow411 Loc: South Daytona, FL

I think it all boils down, for the most part, to a particular photographer's interests and the location where they live.

Wallen Loc: Middle Earth

Why worry about others? If you need to look, have at it only as an education or inspiration.
Otherwise look at and take care of your own lawn. Try everything yourself, even just once, and find first-hand your strenght and weakness...Your sunrise and poison, your tools capabilities and possible improvement.

Forget about style, do what makes you happy or what brings in money. Keep at it and your own style will come on its own.