How to Choose a Photography Style (When You Like… Literally Everything)
Photograph by Georgina Morrison ©
If you’ve ever browsed Instagram or Pinterest and thought, ‘I love all of this… so what does that make my style?’—you are not only normal, you’re in spectacular creative company.
Most beginners think they need to choose a style before they start, but the truth is:
Your style isn’t chosen. It’s uncovered.
And you uncover it by creating, experimenting, and learning what feels like you.
So if you’re someone who loves moody shadows and bright whites, warm tones and muted hues, wide landscapes and minimal still life — let’s talk about how to navigate that beautifully.
Step 1: Understand that style is a feeling, not a genre
When beginners think ‘style’, they often think:
dark vs light
film vs digital
colourful vs neutral
portraits vs landscapes
But real style is deeper than categories.
It’s emotional.
It’s instinctive.
It’s the feeling your photos leave behind.
Do your favourite images feel:
calm?
nostalgic?
bold?
warm?
crisp?
dreamy?
Your emotional response becomes your visual compass.
Step 2: Start Collecting What You Love
Style emerges from patterns, and patterns emerge from volume.
Create a folder, Pinterest board, or Instagram ‘Saves’ board called:
📁 Images I Wish I Took
Fill it without judgement, don’t force it into a theme – gather what you love.
Then—after 20, 30, 50 pins or saves—look again.
You’ll start to see consistencies:
Do you prefer soft or sharp contrast?
Warm or cool tones?
Busy compositions or minimal ones?
Natural light or dramatic shadow?
These aren’t random preferences.
They’re clues.
Step 3: Stop Trying to Pick a Style Before You’ve Practised
This is the part no one says out loud:
You can’t know your style before you’ve created your volume of work.
Beginners try to shortcut the process: ‘Should my style be filmic? Documentary-style? Editorial? Earthy? Minimal?’
But style doesn’t come from theory, it comes from doing.
Take photos, and lots of them! Experiment shamelessly, fail joyfully. Repeat what feels good, and leave behind what doesn’t.
This is part of how you build what we call your Creative Signature as a photographer — not by choosing one from a list.
Step 4: Use Editing to Explore Without Commitment
One of the most powerful tools for discovering your style? Editing.
The same image can look:
dreamy
earthy
crisp
bold
warm
muted
nostalgic
… all through different edits.
This is why presets are so helpful for beginners — not as shortcuts, but as style laboratories.
They help you see what you gravitate toward.
Do you love warm beige tones?
Do you love cool blues?
Do you love soft grain or clean detail?
Your editing choices reveal your preferences faster than anything else.
Step 5: Let Yourself Be Multi-Style (Yes, It’s Allowed)
Some photographers LOVE:
soft lifestyle shots
bright product images
dramatic landscapes
editorial-inspired portraits
And guess what? That’s not confusion, it’s range.
Especially as a beginner, you don’t need to lock yourself in.
Your Creative Signature — that consistent ‘you’-ness — will emerge naturally, even through experimentation.
It’s like handwriting, you don’t think about it; it just shows up.
Step 6: Notice What You Keep Returning To
Even when you experiment wildly, you’ll find yourself circling back to certain things:
a particular warmth
a soft kind of shadow
negative space
clean lines
earthy vibes
film-inspired colour
These are the threads of your style, and your job isn’t to force them, just to notice them.
If You Like Everything… You’re Ready
It means you’re observant.
It means you’re engaged.
It means you’re paying attention to beauty in many forms.
Your style won’t appear in one moment. It will emerge, quietly and confidently, as your skills, your eye, and your editing deepen.
Want to refine your creative eye — and learn how to photograph small businesses with confidence and professionalism?
If you’re ready to move beyond casual phone photography and finally learn how to use your DSLR or mirrorless camera properly, this is exactly the course that will take you there. Small Business Photography ✨ Launching 11 January 2026 ✨
Inside, you’ll learn how to:
Understand and confidently use manual settings on DSLR/mirrorless cameras
Photograph products, people, interiors, exteriors, landscapes and small business spaces
Style and compose images that feel elevated and editorial
Build a consistent editing workflow for brand imagery
Create galleries that business owners can use across social, web, and marketing
Develop a creative signature that sets your work apart
Tell visual stories that feel polished, intentional, and commercially usable
Deliver professional-quality work — whether for your own business or your clients’
This course is designed for hobbyists ready for their next level, small business owners wanting better imagery, and aspiring photographers who want real-world, portfolio-ready skills.
If you’re craving practical guidance, hands-on demos, and the confidence to shoot professionally with your DSLR or mirrorless camera — Small Business Photography is your bridge into the world of brand imagery.
Enrolments open soon. This is the course that transforms ‘I like taking photos for fun’ to ‘I capture professional-grade images!’
