Style and Vision

I have been working with photography for many years and during that time I have experimented with many styles and techniques along the way.  It seems as frequently as equipment and processes change so does the latest trend of the "in look style" of images we see.  It is easy as a starting photographer to chase all these trends and find yourself creating a group of images that lack a common vision or theme.  I have found myself over the years falling into the trap of wanting to be current in my look and chase after the latest trendy look in photography.   A photographic image should revel something about the subject and very little about the technique that was used to create it.  Many images I view recently have more to say about the process than about the subject.  Our processing tools today can be overwhelming with then numerous choices we have to alter our final image.  It is easy to over work an image and end up with an image that is clearly over processed.  I choose to work in black and white because it is an abstract image form and gives me more creative freedom to fulfill my vision I might have of a particular scene.  When working in color there is much more of a restriction as to how far you can take an image with processing.  The simple fact that we see in color requires that a color photograph must stay within a certain state of believability to be acceptable.  When a color image is over processed and the colors are super saturated we immediately dismiss the image as being Photoshopped and it is not a true representation of the scene.  I see many wonderful landscape locations that appear this way on the internet.  In making this image I was experiencing a sleepless night and decide to step out back and make a photograph of the beautiful night sky.  The milky way is not in this hemisphere at this time of year and the star pattern was not dramatic.  I still liked the scene and in making this image I wanted to express the stillness of the night. Whatever you chose to photograph learn to make images that are about the subject and less about the process you used to create it.  It is how we develop a style and a vision with our photography.