How I Found My Style
Not to toot my own horn here, but I've receive multiple compliments on my editing style recently. Actually, people in a photography Facebook group I'm in tend to ask me "which presets I'm using."
Maybe this makes me sound awful, but I feel like using other people's presets is cheating. Do I agree with selling your own custom presets that you've worked hard to make? Absolutely! MAKE THAT MONEY! But if you are a photographer and you are using someone else's presets to edit your photos, I feel like you're just missing the point of being in an artsy industry. Sure, editing can be hard, but it is so rewarding when you finally find your style and can bring your photos to life from start to finish!
I found my style by watching YouTube tutorials and general practice. The tutorials are helpful to see how to achieve certain looks or how to use your favourite photographers as inspiration for your own images! While I found these helpful, I made sure not to directly copy. Instead, I would go into LightRoom and just mess with setting until I liked what I saw!
Being totally transparent, I went through A LOT of different styles. Each time, I would make a new custom preset because this was now the style I would use for future sessions. Of course, I've changed my styles dramatically over the last 2 years, but that's life! It's important to recognize when you are growing and to be proud of your progress! Editing and finding a style is not easy and you should give yourself a huge pat on the back if you're proud of the edits you produce!
If you are going to take anything away from this blog post, I hope it's that you can get to the same level as those photographers who's presets you're buying! It might be a long road and you might not be happy with every edit you do, but you will be so proud of the progress you make along the way.