Photographic Style

The last twelve months have been more hectic than most, what with moving house and relocating our offices combined with a busy year shooting weddings and commercial work.

I set out at the start of the year to explore some different photographic styles and see were the photographic adventures led me. My background as many people know was in Press Photography and my passion has always been photojournalisim and street photography. These days I don't do any real press work and I have taken a break from shooting on the streets to make way for my photographic experiments.





What prompted me to sit down and evaluate were my photography was going happened to be a combination of a phone call from a national photography organisation, asking me to do a lecture on my photography work and style combined with a study of were wedding photography is going and what direction we as a business need to take in the future.



To cut a long story and a lot of experiments short I am please to say I now know were my photography is going and I'm really pleased to say I am going back to my real passion which is photographing people doing what people do in a reportage style just like I have done for years.



I have experimented with outdoor flash and various methods of post production. I have tried interacting more with clients and I have been photographing more portarits and groups than ever before.

However, in the end I have come to appreciate that I am a reportage photographer. The overly lit fashion style images are not for me They just dont float my boat, the heavily processed images and spot colour images are just not me. What I love to shoot are very simple pictures which capture the emotion and personality of my subjects. I am also pleased to say that our clients seem to like this style as much as I do.......



So what will the future hold for me and our business? Well I will be getting out on the streets working on my own projects and in terms of weddings I will concentrate fully on what I enjoy most and seem to be best at... People, Emotion and Fun!!

The location flash gear we have battled with over the last year can go and instead I will be working with my beloved fast lenses and using available light.

There is a lot of misunderstanding of the term wedding photojournalist and many clients book a photojournalist and then expect them to shoot 20-30 groups and expect a photographer to shoots masses of portraits. So I am going to be working very hard over the next few weeks along with Stephanie to make sure the clients who book us really are looking for the style of photography we do.

You can expect to see much more of my own personal work over the comming months as I hit the streets again and far less fashion based or editorial style photography.

The last year has been fun and the experiments have been interesting. However I am going to enjoy my personal and professional photography so much more in the months to come. I know my style of photography has evolved over the years and I have developed a keen interest in B&W landscapes. This will take me into new areas so I guess the experiments will continue. The good news for me is that I will be working in a style that I love and not just going with market trends in the industry.

So many photographers today are being led by the mass of training courses out there into a style which is simply not them and for me has little place in wedding photography. I am really pleased to have come out of this year understanding were I want my work and my style to go, it been interesting and liberating.

Along with this entry are a few images from last weeks wedding and a few of my street photography images from a trip to Paris. hope you like them.