35 Different Types of Photography You Need to Know

VD September 09 2021

Are you curious about the types of photography you can pursue as an aspiring photographer? Well, we will help you learn about the various types of photography in a blink of an eye. It doesn’t matter if you want to get acquainted with the tricks and types of photography because it’s your passion, hobby, part-time job, profession, or that you received a high-profile DSLR as a gift and want to put it to use in the best way possible, this article will boost your knowledge. 

Commercial Photography 

Commercial photography is advantageous if you want to earn a livelihood through shooting product snaps. You are supposed to represent the brands and their services through pictures in this type of snap-making. Advertising agencies are always in need of exceptional photographers who can create images for adverts, leaflets, billboards, brochures, newspapers. If you want to do product photography, you will be focusing on a product that a business wants to promote and sell. 

Black and White Photography 

Black and white photography refers to colorless images which remain a classic. These days, several variations in the black and white tones exist, that you can choose the one you prefer during the editing process. You can play with monochrome shades to get highly aesthetic images.

Abstract Photography 

Abstract photography allows you to fully use your creativity and artistic abilities. You can bring your imagination and unique concepts to life by using several techniques and camera angles. With a modern lens and advanced equipment, you can materialize any of your brave ideas which will look great in your portfolio.

Candid Photography

Some photographers love candid photography because they appreciate capturing real, honest, raw, and genuine moments. In this type of photography, you do not have to worry about people posing as you'd want every gesture and facial expression to be natural. Candid pictures mostly look far more aesthetically appealing than posed pictures. 

Adventure Photography 

It’s a fact: adventure photography can be a bit difficult to perfect as you’d need accurate shots of people right in the middle of doing something adventurous like bungee jumping and water skiing. You would need to avoid taking blurred photos and learn new angles to capture unique shots with beautiful scenery of the landscape in the background.

Event Photography

Event photography requires you to cover a function or an occasion like weddings, birthday parties, live concerts, ceremonies, and other private parties. You can apply your skill of taking candid shots here as event photography sometimes demands natural poses or shots captured without people knowing. You would also need to focus on guests to snap their solo and group photos during the event.

Fashion Photography 

In fashion photography, you take pictures of designer clothes, bags, or other items in the studio or you will be shooting runway shows as the models wear the latest fashion trends. While the models demonstrate these products, your job is to take shots that enhance the beautiful clothing and makeup, later to sell the images to magazines and designers. 

Food Photography 

Food photography is another category that comes under the wing of commercial shooting. These still photos are easier to capture if you are creative enough to place the food items in a way that enhances their colors, also provoking appetite when people look at these images. Your shot angles would matter a lot in this niche because these photos would appear in magazines, online, or in advertisements.

Family Photography 

Family photography requires you to be skilled enough to capture the emotions of the family members as you photograph them. Families often visit studios or invite a photographer to their homes to make portraits and take annual family photos. These images are significant for people as they become a part of their memories, so you are expected to do your best in this genre. 

Forced Perspective Photography 

This type of photography is unique and very modern. It allows you to shot fun scenes that unveil distinctive angles forcing you to perceive an eccentric interpretation of an image. Forced Perspective showcases your imagination and individualism in the artistic world of photography. 

Wildlife Photography 

Wildlife photography demands you to capture animals in their natural habitat. You would have to visit forests and other landscapes to make the catalog of animals. Also, you would need a telephoto lens to snap long-distance shots. 

Urban exploratory photography 

In this category, you mainly photograph the abandoned urban complexes and buildings. Anybody who loves to explore unique architectural interiors would enjoy this niche and discover new facts about various places while photographing them. 

Street photography

Street photography incorporates other types of photography like candid, urban, event, and architecture. You capture scenes you find interesting on the streets. Anything that captivates you, such as wall arts, street music performances, small public events, street busking, buildings, or overall city view, comes under this niche. In short, street photography gives you the chance to capture realistic city life scenes. 

Still-life photography 

In still-life photography, you photograph non-living things. You use inanimate items to create an aesthetic view. This type includes product, food, and floral photography. Such images are frequently published in lifestyle magazines.

Sports photography

You would need several types of advanced equipment, gear, and lens to handle sports photography. Some famous sports that could use you comprise car racing, boxing, football, and more. 

Real-estate photography 

Real-estate photography is advantageous for advertising editorials and magazines. You photograph a house or office focusing on the interior and exterior of the property, ensuring that the features stand out. 

Portrait photography 

Portrait photography requires you to capture people’s facial expressions and features. Family photography and wedding photography also comes under this niche. 

Night photography 

Like its name, you wait for the night to fall before taking out your camera to take aesthetically captivating images. You would need special gear and camera angles, polished techniques, and proper settings to carry out this style of photography. 

Mobile photography 

In mobile photography, you can use your mobile phone to capture anything you like. Photographers often their mobile phones to take photos for social media platforms. 

Minimalist photography 

This photography allows you to focus on a single detail. There are not many elements in view so you can capture textures, lines, or colors.

Macro photography 

Macro photography is all about shooting micro-objects beyond their 1:1 ratio. Photographers usually find joy in capturing tiny rain droplets on leaves, morning dew on the grass, petite insects, flower buds, and plants.  

Documentary photography 

This photography focuses on documenting everyday life events and is suitable to record history. 

Fine Art Photography 

Fine art photography allows the artistic value to shine in the photos. It displays strong concepts and messages that the artist might want to convey through the photograph. 

Crystal ball photography 

In this niche, you use a crystal ball and hold it close to the lens to get a unique upside-down scenery image. You can also experiment with many angles and get more creative.

Cityscape photography 

Cityscape photography generally includes night view shots, where you can capture the beautiful lights shining from the skyscrapers. A drone camera can help you get better angles and shots of such urban areas. You can do photoshoots during the day.

Editorial photography 

Editorial photography is a form of advertising photography, where the snaps of various items or events you take get to publish in magazines and newspapers.

Stock photography 

In stock photography, you can take random photos of any object, living or non-living. You like to sell them online to websites for personal or commercial use. 

Fish-eye photography 

You must own an ultra-wide-angle lens to pursue fish-eye photography. It demands a focal point between 8mm to 16mm. Such images give a blurry and distorted side view while focusing in the center.

Golden hour photography 

In this category, the timing must be precise to capture the scenic view created by the sunlight. An hour after sunrise and before sunset gives a warm tone to the sky that looks breathtakingly appealing. 

Indoor photography 

Indoor photography demands you to take unique indoor shots by creating a certain ambiance in the room after experimenting with the light. These images are not taken for commercial purposes.

Landscape photography 

This genre is extremely broad and includes all outdoor images of natural and artificial landscapes. You can capture photos of mountains, beaches, desserts, and resorts, etc. 

Milky Way photography 

You must use a camera that perfectly captures the night view with little light so that you can take beautiful shots of the breathtaking Milky Way. 

Multiple exposure photography 

This genre allows the photographer to shoot pictures and then combine them in a single photo by editing software. You can layer images by enhancing details of one while blurring the other. 

Pet photography 

In pet photography, you take photos of pets such as birds, cats, puppies, kittens, and other cuties in a portrait style. 

Seascape photography 

You take pictures of the open sea because even though seascape is a sub-genre of landscape photography, it mainly focuses on elements present on the sea like cliffs, rocks, islands or boats, etc. 

Conclusion 

Hopefully, you will gain information about the types of photography from this article and receive inspiration to pursue a specific niche in photography.