Get Versatile With Various Types And Flavors Of Photography

Did I say flavors? It is interesting how many kinds or classification of photographs can be. Depending on your experience and  the particular genre that interests you, you can come up with new categories. Here are some of the popular ones. Once you know the major types you can try your hand at some and expand the horizons. This certainly will help when you want to showcase your work, create a portfolio to target news organizations or even just to sell stock photos.

• Aerial Photography – It is basically taking of photographs of the ground from an elevated position or an airborne device, may be an aircraft, helicopter, balloon, parachute, etc. The term usually refers to images in which the camera is not supported by a ground-based structure. Cameras may be hand held or mounted, and photographs may be taken by a photographer, triggered remotely or triggered automatically.
• Adventure/ Action Photography – It is a form of photography where you capture live incidents like adventure sports, daring feats, etc. The main application of sports photography is for editorial purposes; dedicated sports photographers usually work for newspapers, major wire agencies or dedicated sports magazines.
• Amateur Photography – Any type of photography practiced by non-professionals. It’s a bit more than just a hobby. The quality of some amateur work is comparable to that of many professionals but may be highly specialized.
• Wildlife Photography – Wildlife photography deals with capturing wild animals and birds in their natural habitat. One of the toughest to handle but one of the most interesting form.
• Art Photography – It is a photography that is done as a fine art – that is, done to express the artist’s perceptions and emotions and to share them with others. I would keep it same as Fine Art Photography.
• Conceptual Photography – Photography that turns a concept or idea into a photograph. Even though what is depicted in the photographs are real objects, the subject is strictly abstract.
• Macro (Close-Up) – Macro photography where you capture subject very close, like flowers, insects, butterflies, special stones (Diamonds, Ruby0, etc. the lens is typically optimized to focus sharply on a small area approaching the size of the film frame.
• Micro and Scientific – This form of photography is done for research purposes. Most scientific photographers work for governments or in research institutions, universities, or hospitals. A primary role is the production of images for recording, measurement, and interpretation purposes, principally in the fields of science, technology, and medicine, plus the communication of results in the form of audiovisual material and reports.
• Astro-Photography – It is a specialized type of photography that entails making photographs of astronomical objects in the sky such as the Moon, Sun, planets, stars, and deep sky objects such as star clusters and galaxies. Astro photography ranges from simple images of bright objects to very complex exposures designed to reveal objects that are too faint to observe with the naked eye.
• Aura Photography – Its a controversial type of photography which some claim can photograph a person’s aura.
• Black & White – Not simply photography without color, black and white photography explores shapes, tones and textures. Shadows and highlights become much more important. All photography was originally monochrome, most of these photographs were black-and-white. Even after color film was readily available, black-and-white photography continued to dominate for decades, due to its lower cost and its “classic” photographic look. It is important to note that some monochromatic pictures are not always pure blacks and whites, but also contain other hues depending on the process.
• Commercial Photography – Commercial photography is probably best defined as any photography for which the photographer is paid for images rather than works of art. In this light money could be paid for the subject of the photograph or the photograph itself. The commercial photographic world could include:
  • Advertising – photographs made to illustrate and usually sell a service or product. These images are generally done with an advertising agency, design firm or with an in-house corporate design team.
  • Fashion and Glamor – This type of photography usually incorporates models. Fashion emphasizes the clothes or product, glamor emphasizes the model.
  • Crime Scene Photography – This type of photography consists of photographing scenes of crime such as robberies and murders. A black and white camera or an infrared camera may be used to capture specific details. Also known as Forensic photography.
  • Food photography – It can be used for editorial, packaging or advertising use. Food photography is similar to still life photography, but requires some special skills.
  • Editorial photography – photographs made to illustrate a story or idea within the context of a magazine. These are usually assigned by the magazine.
  • Photojournalism – this can be considered a subset of editorial photography. Photographs made in this context do act as an important mode to showcase a news or an event.
  • Portrait and Wedding Photography – photographs of people as individuals or in some event and sold directly to the end user of the images.
  • Architecture/ Real Estate – This is more of a commercial form of photography, an art of making property appear attractive. Architectural photography at its best will convey the experience of being in and around a built environment. Often involves panoramic photography.

Which kind do you shoot the most?