Photography Style Examples 88 Responses

Last post: 10 months, 1 week ago | Thread started: Jul 19, 12, 9:32 a.m.

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• CuriousGeorge

  Where do you guys go to research photography styles when working on a new brand and determining the photographic tone of the brand? I'm creating a moodboard and Designspiration thus fas has been great. Any other sources?

  Jul 19, 12, 9:32 a.m. – Permalink

• BaskerviIle

  Have a think about what the brand stands for. What kind of photographic style would suit them?
  Are they friendly and warm (eg photography with lots of people, warm tones etc).
  Do they stand for a seeing things differently (eg odd perspectives and angles in their photography).

  It's better to think about what suits them first, then look for similar examples, rather than simply finding things to inspire you.

  Sometimes it might be the way you crop a photo, or a specific image treatment that creates an ownable photographic style.
  So you might not find that when looking for images, you might have to treat images yourself.

  

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  Dog-earJul 19, 12, 9:42 a.m. – Permalink

• Morning_star

  What Baskerville says is right. Try to understanding the nature of the organisation and how it communicates before you start looking for a style. Also look at it's competitors and the market in general, these can be a great source of guidance.

  

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  Dog-earJul 19, 12, 9:47 a.m. – Permalink

• CuriousGeorge

  I probably should have explained more. We've created an extensive strategy for this brand already. Determined the brands tone and attributes, what they stand for, etc, etc. So with that in mind I'm looking for places to search for photographic styles that fit the brands strategy. We will be doing an extensive shoot for them, just need to get the client to buy into style and treatment.

  

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  Dog-earJul 19, 12, 9:51 a.m. – Permalink

• vaxorcist

  you're doing an extensive shoot... then I'd consider going beyond the usual flickr/gettty/google images,etc....

  I'm curious what designers may say... but as a photographer... I'd try some higher end photographer portals....

  http://www.workbook.com/photogra…
  http://asmp.org/find-a-photograp…
  http://altpick.com/ can be interesting

  http://photographersblackbook.co…
  (a bit old-school)

  and many others....

  

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  Dog-earJul 19, 12, 10:25 a.m. – Permalink

• vaxorcist

  add the "original" black book, not the one above...
  http://www.blackbook.com/

  

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  Dog-earJul 19, 12, 10:26 a.m. – Permalink

• CuriousGeorge

  Thanks vax! Exactly the kind of sites I'm looking for. It's one of those situations where we have a style in mind of how we'd like everything shot. Now it's just a matter of finding examples that somewhat match so that the client can wrap their heads around our direction and ultimately sign-off on it.

  • good– vaxorcist

  

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  Dog-earJul 19, 12, 10:32 a.m. – Permalink

• UKV

  Stay away from stock at all possible costs. I would rather go shoot something on the dirty quick than recycle someone else's idea to get consensus.

  Style can be a very elastic endeavor. I think its a bit of a pitfall to define it too narrowly in pursuit of a cohesive aesthetic. Things get precious quick and they needn't be.

  I prefer to take a library approach, define appropriate styles based on use cases, and give guidelines according to message and tone. So a brand may have some instances where a lifestyle scenario comes into play, and then others where the product photography dictates another approach. Ideally, at the top level of the brand, there is an organizing idea that influences each vein of communication, but still allows for contextual interpretation (vs. taking the old school "matched luggage" approach).

  • (appologies if this isn't what you had in mind, and realizing you have strategy in place).– UKV

  

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  Dog-earJul 19, 12, 12:15 p.m. – Permalink

• UKV

  Forgot to mention that tumblr, flickr and pinterest can be handy when thinking about trends.

  

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  Dog-earJul 19, 12, 12:18 p.m. – Permalink