Your Questions Answered

Time for a “your questions answered” Friday. This week’s question comes from a friend of mine - Garrett D. from Springfield, Mo! I had the honor of shooting his senior photos last year. He’s quite the creative too. You can check out some of his stuff HERE.

The question is, “How do you photograph people?” This is such a great question.

Starting out, your photography may not be at a level you think it should. Then you see someone’s work that you really, really like. So you set out on a quest to shoot just like them. This is a very dangerous venture - for a couple of reasons. First of all, you never get the respect you deserve. Lets say you really admire the style of David Hill. You think his stuff is so sick you cry when you see it. And your work isn’t anything like his. So you decide to put in the effort. You begin to read everything you can about David Hill. You spend hours studying his images trying to gain insight into how he does what he does. You find tons of articles and webisodes explaining the “David Hill” lighting technique. You invest the time to mimic his lighting. After countless months of trial and error, you perfect his post production and photoshop skills. And finally you’ve got it. You have mastered the technique. You are starting to make some respectable images. You’re proud of what you’ve done. You decide to show off the fruits of your labor. You are glowing as you pull out your newly updated portfolio. You’re beaming with a sense of accomplishment. The person viewing your images is obviously awestruck. You couldn’t be happier. When they finish, they look up, and with a huge smile they say “wow, these look like they were shot by David Hill!” And there it is. Instead of your work standing on its own, all that time and effort was spent to simply look like someone else’s work. We would be much better off spending our time and effort developing our own style. One that people will recognize separately from everyone else’s. And a side note, personal style is not developed over weeks or even months. It takes years to develop.

There’s a second reason we shouldn’t aspire to shoot like someone else. Simply put: You have something to offer. We don’t need another David Hill in the world. We need you. You already have a very unique, distinct photographic style (or you’re in the process of developing it). Its easy, natural even, to look at another photographer’s images and want to shoot just like them. Though it may be beneficial to be inspired by and learn from others, we must resist the lure to replicate their work. Stay on that quest long enough, and you find you’ve put a ton of effort into creating images that aren’t yours. And that’s the last thing the world needs. We need what you have to offer. Without your unique contribution to photography, the industry as a whole suffers. So, you’re not at the level of David Hill, Jeremy Cowart, or Drew Gardner? Starting out, they weren’t either. But they put their efforts into their craft. And look what they contribute to the industry. Its not a cookie cutter approach to photography. So embrace where YOU are at, and commit to improving YOUR photography. And don’t worry so much about it. When it comes down to it, Like Zack Arias has said, “its not like we’re curing cancer. The only job that cures cancer is the job that cures cancer.” Take a deep breath, take a look around, and keep shooting. You’ll get there.

So how do you photograph people? My answer to this is actually very simple. You photograph people the way YOU photograph people. Whatever your personal photographic style is, keep doing that, just put a person in the shot. Its as easy as that. Do what you do, and add humans. But for Pete’s sake, don’t start shooting like everyone else. We need what you have to offer. And what you have to offer is worth so much more than cookie-cutter photography.

Now, go out and shoot something!