Commitment to Consistency
Consistency is a process that naturally takes time. You have to give yourself enough of it to develop a unique and exclusive style while having patience in waiting for the right clients to believe in your worth, or rather, developing the self-worth to believe in yourself and your work.
As artists we are constantly being influenced by things that happen in our lives and this translates heavily into the effort and passion we put into our work. We are given so many choices and decisions to make daily, so commitment and consistency makes our lives easier by reducing the amount of things we have to think about. By trusting yourself, you’re allowing more room and energy to give to your work and to the effort of being consistent.
The initial process of finding your voice is an extremely personal journey and requires the investment of your own artistic expression. Having a consistent standard is how clients will eventually refer business back to you, making it a crucial aspect for any photography business to survive. This, of course, can be said about photography as a business or a hobby and just gaining a bit of a following.
Keep paying attention to what you are naturally drawn to in your own work, and from there, constantly evolve and fine-tune to create a style of your own.
Success as a photographer is when a photographer is able to achieve his or her goals. May it be in the form of earning money, being recognized, or simply just being able to execute a project to its fulfillment. Consistency in your photography is an important piece of establishing your personal style
Here are a few tips to guide you toward consistency:
STICK TO & TRUST YOUR STYLE | Creativity is unique to each individual person, what makes you unique is what will ultimately be your identifier. Trust your instincts here. The first few years as a photographer can be filled with a lot of confusion. You’re NOT alone! Finding your style can be tough. You have to decide on a particular look that reflects your personality and your strengths. It’s okay to be drawn to many different styles and find them all equally beautiful, but the truth is, you have to find what you are drawn to on a regular basis. After a while, people will actually seek you out because of your style.
SHOOT IN RAW | As you’re learning to shoot and edit, you need to understand the information you’re capable of getting and how to handle that in Lightroom or Photoshop. As you learn, you’ll find yourself doing the same things each time you import a photo to edit.
UNDERSTAND LIGHT | Getting consistent images has to do with finding the same elements in your scene, and light is probably the most important one. Understanding light and learning how to control it can really change the game for you.
STUDY YOUR WORK & OTHERS | It’s paramount that you study your own work and the work of those that you admire. When you start noticing patterns of what you DO like, you can start replicating that in future photos. Really go into detail when looking at images that draw you in, and tell a story.
You can start with asking yourself these questions:
What do I love the most about this image?
Where is the light coming from and where/how is it illuminating the image, or subject in the image?
What do I love about the composition?
Is there a consistency in color, layout, or depth that I am drawn to?
What makes this photo interesting?
Where was the photographer standing to capture this image?
Think of three adjectives to describe every photo you love? Do you notice any similarities?
KEEP PRACTICING | Consistency isn’t an overnight thing, it takes time, devotion, and love for what you’re doing. Just like in life, consistency in photography is going to bring you success, but it requires a lot of work. Find a style or edit that you love and that highlight your strengths as an artist. You want to narrow it down because when you’re trying to do everything, you don’t get really consistent with anything.