Defining a Style for your Photography

Your videos are always a pleasure to watch and fill me with a wealth of knowledge. Thankyou.

you inspire me so much sean!

Another great one can’t wait to for a coffee with you one day and maybe why not shoot

You are so me brother!!

Sean this is one of the most intelligent, passionate and thought provoking discussions about photography and the photographer I have ever heard. Freakin’ brilliant. And … your images are stunning! Wow.

The music for the ending seemed a little 'upbeat' for the subject matter. You've learned to edit the images according to the music up-beats which a BBC director once explained to me. That's a great technique for dramatising a montage of still images. I always look forward to your pieces.

This was wonderful! Thank you for your honesty and insight.

I'm averaged. I'm always defining myself 50/50 as an introvert and extravert. Due to what You said I also feel uncomfortable in big cities surrounded by tousands of people. But, on the other hand I'm not a big fan of villages. Small cities/big towns is where I love to be. It is hard to me to define and understand how can use my "Avarageness" in arts like photography. Your video really helped me to understand that I can't force myself to create my own style. Now i know that It have to come up from inside of me and it will appear in most unpredictible moment.

Thank you Sean!

Another wonderful, inspiring pep talk, Sean!

Just one word : excellent.
Photographic cheers from France, Jean

i cant tell you enogh how you are helping me. YOU ARE INSPIRATION!

a truly thank you!

I'm SO glad I found your channel.

Your stylistic devices are kicking me off every single time! 😅

Well buddy, I love your work and your style as you know and I know it takes time to get that feeling of achievement, I’m still working on it after 50 odd years with a camera in hand but slowly slowly to catch that monkey eh and have fun doing it along the way. It’s always a pleasure Sean, thank you.

I love, how you manage to say things so clearly. This is really, what many of us need. Thanks!

Thank you for another wonderfully thoughtful piece of work which resonates with me in so many ways. Like you I have the same type of feelings about getting involved and much prefer to stand on the edges looking in. I work in the city but hate crowds and feel uncomfortable and somewhat conscious of my camera when I go out to try and take photos. I think this is one of the reasons why I love your style. You mentioned Hopper and funnily enough my wife, Natacha, and I have often mentioned how they remind us of Hoppers work. I am thankful to you for igniting her love of this art form because she has now joined me on my journey in photography. Thank you 🙏

Sean, I genuinely believe you are a master of photography – of light and shadow. Your work is breathtaking.

A person trying to copy someone else’s work is denying their own talents within themselves. It is one thing to study photographers to learn styles. Perhaps try to emulate works which is actually a complement to the artist because it shows them someone is interested in their art.

As a photographer I like Ansel Adams, Yosuf Karsh, Annie Leibovitz, Jerry Uelsmann Alfred Stieglitz, William Notman and artists like Degas and Monet. I don’t have the exact tools any of these people have, nor how to use them. Some tools they used aren’t around anymore.

I can look at what they’ve done to study if I like how they’ve used color, light, shadows etc so I can try to understand if there is a feeling or expression the artist is exploring and if I can see what they are trying to show me as a viewer

Each country in this world is unique. Language, fashion, music, art and even on a local scale. I’m Canadian. So I do my best to show that in my work. It could be our national sport,, weather,, fashion, architecture, nature or other.

You can’t beat a glass negative 8×10

I didn’t buy a 10,000 dollar Large format camera and fly to Yellowstone and stand in the exact spot Ansel Adams did to photograph mountains.

I took a photo of a tree at a maple sugar bush knowing it would be great in black and white. I love black and white. I thought to myself, can I get the rich black and white with great highlights, shadows and textures like Ansel Adams? I believe I did. I challenged myself to get the image I wanted and at the same time improve on the talents I have

I really enjoy your channel.

It's very interesting how you find yourself in the theme of separating the individual (no matter how faceless or unidentifiable they might be) from the crowd, or how you find it intriguing to relate these figures to the crossings between light and shadow, and how that might respond to what you mentioned in an earlier video that you had started to use wider angle lenses. To me the theme you mention, and that resonates with many of us, I presume, would translate to some anti-Capa attitude: not to get closer. It would include the seaparation not only in the picture as a theme of light and shadows, but as an agency in composing that frame, in other words, the practice would define the subject. Now it seems you're moving in an interesting direction where you are in fact moving closer while keeping the distance that defines the separation and the depth that is needed to work with so pronounced lights. Food for thought again, Sean, thanks very much for the video.

Sean i have been taking or making Photos for a long time i think your knocking your self to much your photography is your own style street photography
is about style putting your own stamp on it i to have struggled with putting a camera in peoples faces i dont feel comfortable doing that, i prefer to shoot from a distance to see a bigger picture again my style and lots of others i think your work is great love your shadows and shapes keep shooting love your work

Another great vid Sean, thank you. I see a lot of introverts commenting in here and I am absolutely one of them. As usual your views on street photography align perfectly with my own. I see the crowded market and I know if I get in the middle and seek out those unique moments I could create some really good images and I even crave those kinds of shots. But it just isn’t my personality to do that. Even when I do get into the crowds I find myself grabbing a few shots and getting the heck out as quick as I can. So while I like the results that kind of work can generate, I accept that it just isn’t my style and I go find my more comfortable places to shoot. I suppose we should all push ourselves outside that comfort zone at times if only to experience growth, but then the balance is recognizing when you are in a space where your best work is generated and working to understand why and how that works so well for you.

You tell your story with such elegance and literacy and i have much appreciation for the clarity of work and subject you present in your videos.