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Workshop: Style, Self Analysis and Goal Setting

In this workshop, we discussed style and goal setting, but there are some prompts in the PDF booklet for you to work through to help you analyse your photos and where you’re at, and what you might want to work on going forward.

Unfortunately I recorded the live on my old computer, which then died, and hasn’t turned on again since. 🙁

I recommend setting aside a bit of time to dig into the prompts when you’re not stressed, distracted or multitasking. 

As I say in the workshop, I personally don’t think it’s necessary to “nail down” a style – I certainly didn’t spend any time thinking about or worrying about mine, I just created what I liked, and when I saw things I liked, I tried to create them too. It surprised me when people were like: “Oh I knew this was yours, I can spot your style immediately”. That was the first and last thought I gave to my own style until working on these lessons and courses.

But, since it’s such a “pain point” for many students, and a potential source of stress, if the advice to just create what you love and to continue learning isn’t enough for you, then maybe these tools will help.

But at the end of the day, I truly don’t think having your style defined or labelled is useful. If you create what you love, it will show through in your photos. If you get too locked into creating certain photos or in a certain way, you might find yourself stagnating and getting stuck.

Last point:

with the goal setting exercise, I give you permission to dream big. Seriously. We are often told our goals need to be achievable, or we (especially women!) tend to feel like we’re not allowed to want too much. 

Be audacious. Put down the biggest thing you want, even if it seems like “too much”, or that you aren’t deserving… you are. You’re here, you’re showing up for your craft, you’re investing in your education. You are totally deserving of whatever big dreams you have. Why not? But the only one who can make them happen or at least set the wheels in motion, is you.

And trust me when I say that I know this, better than most, having somehow managed to achieve some massive dreams in my life so far. But nobody else did it for me. If I hadn’t dreamed big, grit my teeth, and made it happen… nothing would have happened. 

As I said in the workshop: I would love for you to share your little galleries, your thoughts on style, and to hear about you taking action steps toward your goals. I want to celebrate your success, and you never know how your small wins could inspire others!

Workshop: Evaluating Our Work, Developing Our Style

This workshop will focus on evaluating our work, discovering our strengths and challenges, and discussing what “style” means to us, and how we can begin to find our own style.

Some things to think about/write down/consider before the workshop:

  • Have ready a few of your most recent images – both your favourites and ones you’ve struggled with.
    • What do you like about your favourites? What was challenging/what aren’t you satisfied with?
    • Have a look at some older images. Has your “style” already changed? Why? How?
  • Do a bit of research of your favourite photographers – write down what they seem to do in their photos that you like. Really dig into what elements of the photos are speaking to you, not only with editing, but with lighting, posing, the mood of the photos, the expression, maybe something about their creativity, or location, or story. Notice as much as you can.
  • Consider your current ideas/perceptions around photography/pet photography. What makes a great photo? How important is editing? What has led you to pick up your camera – what do you want to put out into the world? What is stopping you from doing that right now?
Below, you can download the booklet we look through during the workshop.

Unfortunately because I recorded via screen recording on my OTHER computer, rather than via the zoom meeting record function (I was trying to get higher quality), I didn’t think to save the chat. But I did read out a lot of people’s chat replies, so hopefully you get a sense of some of the answers people were suggesting, and some of the ideas we were coming up with.  I’ll get this all figured out one day.