Photography Types
This page describes many different types of photography such as nature, wildlife, fashion, and everything in between. Several of the descriptions include links to photographic examples for that type of photography.
People / Animals
Event Photography
Event photographers are another bread and butter aspect of the photography industry. These might cover sporting events, parades (http://www.thelensflare.com/artwork/parade), festivals (http://www.thelensflare.com/artwork/festival), and parties (http://www.thelensflare.com/artwork/party), etc.
Fashion Photography
Fashion (http://www.thelensflare.com/artwork/fashion) photographers take pictures of models wearing the latest styles. This is probably the fastest paced aspect of the photography industry.
Forensic Photography
This is probably the most gruesome and morbid careers of photography, but a necessary aspect of the legal system.
Glamour Photography
This is where the photographer will professionally apply makeup and style a person's hair, then photograph them as if they were a movie star. It's a fun thing to participate in.
Pet Photography
To some people, their pets (http://www.thelensflare.com/artwork/pet) are just like their kids. To others, the pets are more important! Pet photographers take pictures of animals. They may share a studio with a pet groomer or are on good terms with the nearby groomers and pet stores.
Photojournalism & Life Photography
This is probably among the more glamorous photography careers out there. This photographer is the one out there getting the 'story' and showing off their work on the front page of the newspaper. Here are some examples of life (http://www.thelensflare.com/artwork/life) photography.
Portraits
Probably the largest aspect of commercial photography is taking pictures of people, their families, and their children. Here are some of the best portraits (http://www.thelensflare.com/artwork/portrait) on The Lens Flare.
Pregnancy Photography
While this tends to be a very private affair, many women like to have their pregnant bellies photographed. Because this isn't generally a public topic, there are only a few examples on TLF of pregnancy (http://www.thelensflare.com/artwork/pregnancy) pictures.
Sports/Action
Sports and action photographers require the fastest shutter speeds available, and lenses that focus quickly and let in a lot of light. There are many examples of action (http://www.thelensflare.com/artwork/action) images on TLF including baseball games, running deer, hummingbirds, etc.
Wedding Photography
To no surprise, weddings represent a significant percentage of the overall commercial photography industry. There are many wedding pictures (http://www.thelensflare.com/artwork/wedding) on The Lens Flare for you to look at.
Places
Architecture and City
City photographers may specialize in photographing the main sites and attractions of a city. They also take architecture (http://www.thelensflare.com/artwork/architecture) pictures and may work for an architect or city government to take pictures of construction sites for buildings (http://www.thelensflare.com/artwork/building), bridges (http://www.thelensflare.com/artwork/bridge), and roads (http://www.thelensflare.com/artwork/road).
Celestial
Certain telescopes come equipped with camera mounts that allow the photographer to take pictures of the stars, planets, and moons (http://www.thelensflare.com/artwork/moon).
Nature and Travel Photography
Nature photography such as taking photos of a landscape (http://www.thelensflare.com/artwork/landscape), beach (http://www.thelensflare.com/artwork/beach), or wildlife (http://www.thelensflare.com/artwork/wildlife) is a great way to share the beauty of the wild. Professionals that specialize in nature and beach photography usually gear their efforts into selling prints and posters of their best work. They may also work for travel agencies or for local governments trying to stimulate vacationers to come, visit, and spend their money in their local towns.
Ghost hunting
Ghost hunters are a fascinating aspect of photography. What tools and techniques are used to prove that life exists beyond death? Ghost (http://www.thelensflare.com/artwork/ghost) hunting was placed under the 'places' section since photos of haunted houses and graveyards are more common than photos of the ghosts themselves.
Landscapes and Panoramas
Taking pictures of scenic mountains, beautiful meadows, reflective lakes and ponds, and ocean paradises is a very popular and rewarding aspect of photography.
Panoramic (http://www.thelensflare.com/artwork/panoramic) photographs are landscapes images taken with a special lens, a landscape that has been cropped with a wider aspect ratio, or one that has been stitched together using various software applications.
Satellite and Aerial Photography
This is probably one of the smaller aspects of the photography industry, but is a pretty interesting one. These photographers might catalog city growth over time using aerial photos (http://www.thelensflare.com/artwork/aerial) to determine differences. They might photograph weather patterns or try to predict earthquakes and volcano eruptions - at least, they might study before and after pictures after an earthquake.
Underwater
With special equipment, underwater (http://www.thelensflare.com/artwork/underwater) photographers can bring to us wonderful seascapes and marine life. This can be as simple as a disposable underwater camera, to expensive waterproof enclosures.
Things
Black and White
The study of lines, shapes, and contrast usually is the order of the day for the black and white photographer. This could go under person, place, or things, but since it's usually a study of form and shape, it was placed under 'things'.
Food Photography
This is related to product photography, but is a bit more specialized in that this photographer focuses on taking pictures of food (http://www.thelensflare.com/artwork/food). Restaurants, Fast-food chains, and food manufacturers are typical clients or employers of food photographers.
Macro
Macro images (http://www.thelensflare.com/artwork/macro) are extreme close-ups of small objects such as flowers, insects, and textures. There are a variety of ways to achieve a good macro image. First, a photography or digital post production specialist can crop out a portion of a larger image if their camera has a sufficiently large image to work with. Second, a photographer can put on a magnification filter, which usually increases the focus by 3x. Third, the photographer can buy a macro lens. This tends to produce the best results, but these lenses tend to be expensive.
Microscopic
Microscopic imagery (http://www.thelensflare.com/artwork/microscopic) requires specialized equipment so that the camera can be attached to a microscope. None the less, it's a fascinating branch of photography.
Product Photography
These photographers photograph products for businesses. The photos are then used for ads in magazines, websites, and billboards. It's also common for this type of image to be included in stock photography catalogs, especially if the image is generic enough. A photography of a juicy apple would be a good example.
Misc
Cinematography & Videography
These photographers specialize in making movies, videos, and production stills.
Large Format Photography
The end result of this photographer's work is a print from a large format printer. Billboards, posters, and signs are this person's career.
Freelance Photography
The freelance photographer may specialize or do a little of everything depending on their individual situation. The most common forms of freelancers are wedding and portrait photographers.
About the Author
Brian Broderick (http://www.brianbroderick.com) is a semi-pro nature photographer and the creator of The Lens Flare. His hobbies include hiking, skiing, and computer graphics, and is currently a web programmer.
This article may be reproduced in its entirety, providing that it is not altered from its original form and that HTML links are not removed or altered. Short quotes are also allowed, provided that a link back to the original article is included.
If you are familiar with any of these types of photography and would like to help expand this section, please contact me (http://www.thelensflare.com/contactus.php)
