The biggest secret to success in photography! (Patreon)

Each of us has critics. And the more popular you are, the more people want to speak out about you. Usually their opinion is worthless, because they are unlikely to be more competent than you. However, it can be interesting what they are trying to reproach you with.

For example, I have not been written for a long time that I have bad retouching, composition or colors. Usually they say something like, "Oh, very beautiful, but I'm bored, all the photos are very similar, you need to try something new." 

These people are idiots, unfortunately. They don't understand the most important thing. This is not my weakness, this is my strength.

My photos are recognizable. It's called style. You may like it, you may not like it, it doesn't matter at all. It is important that they are recognizable, this is the greatest success for any photographer (and not only) to find what distinguishes you from everyone else. What makes you noticeable.

Look at the random fragment of my portfolio (second image). There are different photos there, from different locations, but most of them really consist of very similar, my typical photos. I believe that a good portfolio should be about 80-90 percent of those pictures that define and demonstrate your style.

And in the next two pictures you'll see fragments of the portfolio of two random portrait photographers, which I found at 500px. Let's say they are great pros and all the photos individually are excellent. But in general, it's a mix from completely different photos. It is impossible to understand that they have one author. He knows how to do this and that, but it is not possible to recognize the author.

That's why any famous photographer or artist is recognizable, he has a style. From Rembrandt and Vermeer to Rothko. It is the greatest luck to find a style by which you will be recognized. You can shoot family photos like Elena Shumilova and Adrian Murray or black and white dark portraits like Lee Jeffries, but you will be recognizable. And that's the secret of their success.

And the only way to achieve this is to understand what you like, how you like to do it and work, work and work again in this direction. There is no other recipe.

PS Exception if you have access to celebrities or have influential relatives in fashion magazines. Then you can shoot without any style at all, and you will be quite successful. Recognizable? Hardly. For this you need to work.