Special Announcement
I’ve added a Photography Basics/Introduction To Photography class starting on Saturdays for the April series of classes.
Special Announcement
————-
Wednesday, March 18, 2026.
The topic of “finding our style” comes up a lot during the Photography Basics/Introduction To Photography class.
One of the things I stress in all the ways I teach, whether in group classes or private lessons, is that there is no need to find our style because we already have it.
Instead of calling it 'style,' I refer to it as our unique visual voice.
And there are a couple of things that’ll stiffle our unique visual voice: working with our camera and automatic
exposure mode, and the rules of photography, especially the rules of composition.
In automatic exposure mode, there’s no room for our unique visual voice because the camera does most of the work for us.
And when it comes to rules of composition, they just create a homogenization that makes our work look like every other photographer's work who follows those rules.
The way I encourage photographers to develop a unique visual voice is by paying attention to their visual awareness.
Visual awareness is the unique way we think about what we see.
When we trust our visual awareness and create photographs that effectively communicate our visual voice, our work automatically stands out. That’s because no one but us could’ve created it.
And no one else could’ve created it because no one thinks about the things they see in the same way.
Our problem usually arises with what I call our visual toolbox.
A visual toolbox includes the equipment we use.
Cameras, supplemental lighting, etc.
The first thing we’ve got to take care of is the camera.
We’ve got to learn to work our camera so we can express
ourselves visually through it.
Our visual expression, of course, is the photograph we create.
But if
we wanna fully express ourselves, nothing beats manual exposure mode.
Nothing beats manual exposure mode because we have control over every part of our composition.
Aperture, shutter speed, ISO, focusing modes, focusing areas, metering patterns, image quality, image size, there’s more, but that’s the main stuff.
If you’re not working
your camera in manual exposure mode now, I’d suggest just taking out your owner's manual and at the very least learn how to change aperture, shutter speed, ISO, find out where your focusing modes and focusing areas are, and also look into metering patterns and metering modes.
When we become familiar with the light recording tool we’re working with (our cameras), we begin to understand the tools available to us in our visual toolbox.
And when we do that, we’re well on
our way to understanding photography and becoming better photographers.
Ready to put this stuff into practice?
Register for an upcoming Photography Basics/Introduction To Photography class, book a series of private lessons, or explore the full lineup of classes designed and taught by me that’ll help you be a more confident, capable, and better photographer.
No matter how you study and practice with me, I’ll help you be a better photographer.
Ways to learn photography with me are listed below.