Jack of all trades style

nerwin

Been spending a lot of time on here!
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So I was reading an article by DIYPhotography and thought it could make for an interesting discussion that could be useful.

3. BEING A JACK OF ALL TRADES (MASTER OF NONE)
There is absolutely nothing wrong with trying different genres of photography, finding your niche, and experimenting. In fact I encourage it! But as you do it, begin honing in on a genre and then a style within that genre that you love. If you’re trying to get your work noticed, your work has to look like YOUR work. Far too often I click on a profile and find a little bit of landscape, a little bit of portraiture, and a little bit of macro (among other things). There’s nothing to latch onto. Better to find a genre or style you love and stick to that, develop it, get GREAT at it, then move on/evolve when you feel like you’ve outgrown it. It takes time to explore and develop your abilities as a particular type of photographer; don’t sell yourself short by jumping around like some crazed grasshopper. Rule of Thumb: Don’t be a jack of all trades when it comes to photography. There are a few photographers I’ve seen who can pull it off, but the vast majority end up a master of none.

Read the full article here: 5 Common Mistakes Beginners Make When They Share Photos Online - DIY Photography

I'm not sure if I agree with this. What's wrong with photographing everything? I don't have one particular genre per se..I just like bringing my camera with me and taking pictures of things I find interesting. I don't have one style. I don't think there is anything wrong with being a "jack of all trades". Isn't that called being a photographer?

I understand what the author is talking about, but I just don't think it's for everyone. I've followed a few photographers on Flickr where I fell in love with their work, but after a while the photos were just the same..sure maybe different subjects, but same genre and editing style and it just made me lose interest. I like a variety. Everyone has different tastes and there isn't anything wrong with that.

He pretty described my photostream perfectly, a little bit of landscape, cars, people, my cat, macro, etc...so what? Thats what I like it. Who knows..maybe that will change someday..but that hasn't happened to Thomas Hawk yet. He photographs everything and I mean everything. Maybe that is my niche.

Everyone is different. I say, photograph whatever you like and whatever makes you happy, afterall you are the photographer.

Happy Friday!
 
So I was reading an article by DIYPhotography and thought it could make for an interesting discussion that could be useful.

3. BEING A JACK OF ALL TRADES (MASTER OF NONE)
There is absolutely nothing wrong with trying different genres of photography, finding your niche, and experimenting. In fact I encourage it! But as you do it, begin honing in on a genre and then a style within that genre that you love. If you’re trying to get your work noticed, your work has to look like YOUR work. Far too often I click on a profile and find a little bit of landscape, a little bit of portraiture, and a little bit of macro (among other things). There’s nothing to latch onto. Better to find a genre or style you love and stick to that, develop it, get GREAT at it, then move on/evolve when you feel like you’ve outgrown it. It takes time to explore and develop your abilities as a particular type of photographer; don’t sell yourself short by jumping around like some crazed grasshopper. Rule of Thumb: Don’t be a jack of all trades when it comes to photography. There are a few photographers I’ve seen who can pull it off, but the vast majority end up a master of none.

Read the full article here: 5 Common Mistakes Beginners Make When They Share Photos Online - DIY Photography

I'm not sure if I agree with this. What's wrong with photographing everything? I don't have one particular genre per se..I just like bringing my camera with me and taking pictures of things I find interesting. I don't have one style. I don't think there is anything wrong with being a "jack of all trades". Isn't that called being a photographer?

I understand what the author is talking about, but I just don't think it's for everyone. I've followed a few photographers on Flickr where I fell in love with their work, but after a while the photos were just the same..sure maybe different subjects, but same genre and editing style and it just made me lose interest. I like a variety. Everyone has different tastes and there isn't anything wrong with that.

He pretty described my photostream perfectly, a little bit of landscape, cars, people, my cat, macro, etc...so what? Thats what I like it. Who knows..maybe that will change someday..but that hasn't happened to Thomas Hawk yet. He photographs everything and I mean everything. Maybe that is my niche.

Everyone is different. I say, photograph whatever you like and whatever makes you happy, afterall you are the photographer.

Happy Friday!
The first time I showed a friend a bunch of my photos (not a group or a collection) she replied with some surprise, "You've got no style!" She did not mean that as a put down, but a description diverse genres she was looking at. I'm glad "I got no style," because I enjoy so many types of photography, even if I sound like the Rodney Dangerfield of pics. By the way, a few of those photos wound up on her walls. It's fine to specialize in birds or portraits or landscapes or street, and I love looking at all those genres on the Forum, but every once in a while I want to stand up and proudly shout, "I ain't got no style!"
 
If you want to do photography as a profession, then I would tend to agree that it is a good thing to specialize in one area, and, by extension, make that specialty more representative of your work.

Make no sense for hobbyist thought, completely irrational in fact. You do a hobby because you enjoy it, because it bring pleasure in your life, so what others think of it is irrelevant. Photograph what you want to, share if you want to and don't if you don't want to, the only value is that it bring you joy.
 
So I was reading an article by DIYPhotography and thought it could make for an interesting discussion that could be useful.

3. BEING A JACK OF ALL TRADES (MASTER OF NONE)
There is absolutely nothing wrong with trying different genres of photography, finding your niche, and experimenting. In fact I encourage it! But as you do it, begin honing in on a genre and then a style within that genre that you love. If you’re trying to get your work noticed, your work has to look like YOUR work. Far too often I click on a profile and find a little bit of landscape, a little bit of portraiture, and a little bit of macro (among other things). There’s nothing to latch onto. Better to find a genre or style you love and stick to that, develop it, get GREAT at it, then move on/evolve when you feel like you’ve outgrown it. It takes time to explore and develop your abilities as a particular type of photographer; don’t sell yourself short by jumping around like some crazed grasshopper. Rule of Thumb: Don’t be a jack of all trades when it comes to photography. There are a few photographers I’ve seen who can pull it off, but the vast majority end up a master of none.

Read the full article here: 5 Common Mistakes Beginners Make When They Share Photos Online - DIY Photography

I'm not sure if I agree with this. What's wrong with photographing everything? I don't have one particular genre per se..I just like bringing my camera with me and taking pictures of things I find interesting. I don't have one style. I don't think there is anything wrong with being a "jack of all trades". Isn't that called being a photographer?

I understand what the author is talking about, but I just don't think it's for everyone. I've followed a few photographers on Flickr where I fell in love with their work, but after a while the photos were just the same..sure maybe different subjects, but same genre and editing style and it just made me lose interest. I like a variety. Everyone has different tastes and there isn't anything wrong with that.

He pretty described my photostream perfectly, a little bit of landscape, cars, people, my cat, macro, etc...so what? Thats what I like it. Who knows..maybe that will change someday..but that hasn't happened to Thomas Hawk yet. He photographs everything and I mean everything. Maybe that is my niche.

Everyone is different. I say, photograph whatever you like and whatever makes you happy, afterall you are the photographer.

Happy Friday!


Did you always do exactly what your mother told you to do?

You know the author of this article even less.
 
The point about making your photography recognizable as yours is a valid point if a photographer wants to do something particular with his/her photographs (whatever that may be, print sales, freelance work, etc.) but not necessarily if it's a hobby or you're a photographer just because you enjoy it.

Then at the end I see that he's an editor at 500px, no wonder. I wish people would read the Terms on sites like that...

Now I see... this article was shared by DIY Photography - from the 500px site. So what he's saying to do is most likely what that website wants people to do, because they want photos that are usable that they can resell and sublicense etc. etc. So, maybe just ignore that 'advice'...
 
You seem to be confounding content with style.
When I see people who shoot a lot of lots of different things, they often seem to have no particular 'style' because they are essentially just pointing at what they see that is interesting at the moment and taking the picture - as it is.
People who go further than that are using their own particular feelings about the situation to be expressed in how they take and edit the picture.
Typically people with such specific ideas develop their own very specific ways of shooting and that often limits the content to that which fits the style.
For example, Chris (Binga) has a very distinct style that probably wouldn't work for landscapes although it might for wildlife. The content is less important than the expression of it.
Sometimes style overwhelms content like much overdone HDR or pointless street photography.

My feeling is that people who shoot 'everything' often shoot nothing specific very, very well.
 
You seem to be confounding content with style.
When I see people who shoot a lot of lots of different things, they often seem to have no particular 'style' because they are essentially just pointing at what they see that is interesting at the moment and taking the picture - as it is.
People who go further than that are using their own particular feelings about the situation to be expressed in how they take and edit the picture.
Typically people with such specific ideas develop their own very specific ways of shooting and that often limits the content to that which fits the style.
For example, Chris (Binga) has a very distinct style that probably wouldn't work for landscapes although it might for wildlife. The content is less important than the expression of it.
Sometimes style overwhelms content like much overdone HDR or pointless street photography.

My feeling is that people who shoot 'everything' often shoot nothing specific very, very well.

If that's the case, then what I'm doing is a waste of time. Maybe photography isn't for me. Hmm, something I'll have to think about.
 
The author is DL Cade, editor in chief of 500px, and he is directly advising the people he hopes will feed his site with tens of thousands of free photos every single week...
I hadn't noticed that, but it makes so much sense now. There were SO MANY references to 500px.
 
The author is DL Cade, editor in chief of 500px, and he is directly advising the people he hopes will feed his site with tens of thousands of free photos every single week...
I hadn't noticed that, but it makes so much sense now. There were SO MANY references to 500px.

Yeah...makes sense now. I don't know much about 500px but now I know how they operate. Doesn't sound like a good place to share photos. (in my opinion).
 
If that's the case, then what I'm doing is a waste of time. Maybe photography isn't for me. Hmm, something I'll have to think about.

A former member here once said that many people like cameras much more than they care about photography.

There's nothing wrong with taking pictures and doing it well - if that's all you want.
Then it's a hobby like fishing or making models; it fills time, gives one something fun to do and fills a need to fiddle around with technology things and conquer obstacles.

There is a group of people who see photography as their mechanism for saying something; they see a camera as a kind of complex pencil or paintbrush. a tool to enable their means of expression.

My son writes.
He doesn't do it for money, he has an excellent high-paying job but the idea of not writing is inconceivable for him. He writes for a couple of sites and writes some long form stuff.
I feel that way about taking pictures. However bad or good I am, the idea of a future without taking pictures for my own sake is frightening.
 
If that's the case, then what I'm doing is a waste of time. Maybe photography isn't for me.
Are you trying to make your photography fit with somebody else's concept? If so, why?
 
If that's the case, then what I'm doing is a waste of time. Maybe photography isn't for me.
Are you trying to make your photography fit with somebody else's concept? If so, why?

no, trying to do my own thing but confused on which direction I should go. I don't think there is a right or wrong way to photography, so I guess I'm just going to shoot what I like and if some people don't like the fact I ain't got no style, then so be it.
 
Fun fact: The whole saying is "Jack of all trades, master of none, though often is better than master of one."

Not as insulting if you say the whole things. I am proud to be able to do all types of photography well.
 
Fun fact: The whole saying is "Jack of all trades, master of none, though often is better than master of one."

Not as insulting if you say the whole things. I am proud to be able to do all types of photography well.

Wow, I haven't heard the whole saying in a long time. Thanks for that.
 

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