The Photography That Only You Can Make

Based on the video from Dave Herring ft Mike Chudley a really interesting video about taste and skills.

I love the talking points in this video revolving around the difference between skill and taste, but also how taste builds over time and skill can help feed it.

I've had a camera in my hands for more than 15 years and through that time I feel that in my own photography I have seen my own taste grow though the skills I have developed, and I feel like the interaction between the two can help you grow as a photographer.

I love looking at photo books and collections of work from photographers as each one is a window into how that photographer sees the world. Books with work from Magnum, Steve McCurry, Jesse Marlow, Todd Hido, Vivian Maier and plenty more sit in my collection of photo books.

I think that looking at these collections of work give you a way to identify the common themes and unpack what makes up the photographers taste.

I went to the Todd Hido book signing at the end of August 2025, and it was a great night listening to Todd talk about his process, how he thinks about his compositions and the thought process. This sent me down a rabbit hole of trying to adapt the skill of analysing a composition and trying to develop more of the taste of a 'Todd Hido photograph'.

This is where I think the overlap of my skills as a photographer intersects with the taste I have been developing. Being able to dissect the parts of a photograph and how that translates into taste really furthers your own taste.

I have also found this also brings connection to your own photography and other photographers work. A great example of this in my own work is looking at photographs from Jesse Marlow and getting to spend time on a photo walk with him and seeing how he thinks about the same scene I'm looking at.

I truly think that if you want to get better at the craft of photography one of the best ways to do this is to study photos and photographers who's work you like, this gives you the opportunity to further refine your own skill set and in turn further refine your own taste.

Dave's video is a good reminder that skill and taste are not competing forces, they are connected. The more intentional you are about studying the work you admire, the more your own taste sharpens, and your skills follow. That is what keeps photography exciting no matter how long you have been doing it.

See you next month,

Tom