How to Choose Your Photography Style – Which One is For You?

Are you wondering how to choose your photography style? Just like there are many different photographers from which to choose for your wedding or event, there are also many different editing styles of actual photography. I like to explain it to my clients as a scale that can range from the lightest and airiest where the whites are super bright, little contrast and shadow, towards the middle little tweaking of the image, and to the other end where it’s what many call “dark and moody” where there is a lot of play with shadows and contrast, and the vibe is generally moodier.

So how to choose your photography style, or how do you know what to look for when searching for a photographer? In this blog, I will go over different styles and show you examples of each one. But at the end of the day, art is subjective and all couples should go with what they love!

Light and Airy

Light and airy is soft, romantic, and “airy” in look and feel. These images air on the bright side, have soft shadows and a touch of depth and contrast. This style focuses on making things look like a breath of fresh air and focus on clean, natural skin tones. These images below by Kristen Cloyd Photography all have a beautiful, soft, light, and airy feel to them.

 

Film

In these photos, taken by Tiffaney Childs, you will notice these photos also envoke a soft and romantic feel. More of an editorial style, these images often evoke fine art to the images. The film style can vary depending on the stock of film a photographer will be using, as well as the lighting and location. Many film photographers choose to shoot on this art form for the look of the highlights, shadows, and natural skin tones – which also can vary depending on the film stock. All the photos below were taken on film by Tiffaney.

Clean + Classic

True to life and color, these images are clean and light in their editing. They focus on what it looked like to be there without fussing with any major edits. In these photos (by Christy Tyler Photography), you will notice a real-life feel with a crisp and clean edit.

Light + Clean

I like to define light and clean as if clean and classic, and light and airy had a baby! This style incorporates the soft, light, airy feel of light and airy but with more depth of field and shadow. It has true-to-life color and clean editing, but a little more on the brighter side.

“Dark + Moody”

This style incorporates more play with shadows, blacks, and contrast in their editing process. They are generally warmer in tone than the light editing styles but still just as beautiful. As with all styles, there is also a scale for these as well. These photos also convey a lot of romance in their own way. Ashtyn Brooke Photography created these stunning photos below with her beautiful, soft, and earthy editing.

Where Does Alexandra Lee Photography Fall?

So how would I define my photography style? Alexandra Lee Photography is definitely in the light + clean category – if light and airy and clean and classic, had a baby. I want the colors to be as true to life as they were in person, I want the photos to be clean, I want the editing to be classic, and I love to play with a soft, light, airy, romantic light.

I hope this helps you learn how to choose which photography style is right for you! Which one do you love? Which one stops you in your tracks?

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