Had an interesting encounter with a client today. While I was in his home, I noticed a Manfrotto tripod (or light stand) bag propped up against the wall. I curiously asked if he was a photographer - and he responded "as a hobby".
Considering I had to move my car before 11:30 lest I receive a ticket, you would think the focus would have been to finish the job quickly. Nope. Everything work-related stopped after his answer, and we started "talking". He showed me a few of his printed pictures, and I loaded up my Flickr profile for him to peruse. Being a local Brooklyn resident, many of his photographs were from the area, in identifiable locations. But the pictures were all excellent - sharp and well compomposed, with a unique *feeling* to them.
While viewing his pictures I had taken notice of a distinct lack of faces. While he does photograph people, they are almost all from behind, or the side - or even at a distance. And not soon after my internal observation he informed me that that was his "style". I jokingly stated "it's great - you don't need them to sign model releases!", to which he laughed. Photog humor, I guess.
But having only met him, and spending less than 45 minutes with him, he really piqued my interest with that statement. Now, I've read many things about photographer's developing a style... and I've always associated the final product I produce with "my style".
Interestingly enough, it's the post-processing that I felt gave my pictures their style. Now I know that can certainly be true - but I almost feel as if it would be better for me to develop a TTL style. Something immediately visible in looking through my work, versus after I'd had my time with each shot in Lightroom.
Clearly food for thought.
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