Developing A Personal Style

The Tree
Nearly every photographer I know has the aspiration to possess or develop their personal style - it's a desire I hear frequently expressed on the workshops that I lead. But there are no easy answers to meeting that need. Based on my own experience and talking to other keen photographers I have identified three distinct stages in most photographers developmental journey - I'll label them ‘infant’, ‘adolescent’ and ‘adult’.
Into The Light
The first ('infant') stage I'll characterise as having a simple interest in the basics – what camera should we buy, how does it work, what lenses are available etc. At this stage it’s easy to be seduced by the sexy sleek looks of a black bodied beauty or how many features it’s got (never mind that we can’t understand half of them).
Talisman
Thankfully most of us quickly progress from this stage to a concern with technique and the picture taking process (you know the sort of thing – walking around mumbling to yourself ‘the smaller the number, th...