Are you just stepping your feet into the world of photography? Or you've been doing it for a while but hardly decided your niche due to so many genres it has? Or do you just simply want to explore more? If so, you are in the right place. We know that it can be tricky to get started with photography. There are many genres, styles and techniques that you may have heard about or seen, but do not know where to begin. Look no further than this article and you will get an overview of the most common photography genre for beginners and the best ways to learn them.
Let's get started with the basics. What are the genres in photography? Simply put, the genre of photography is the topic of a photograph. Anything that a photograph identifies as a subject matter is a genre. This comes with various categories that are widely adopted by many photographers. For instance, portrait photography is a genre, street photography is a genre and landscape photography is also a genre. With so many genres of photography, you might feel overwhelmed with which genre you should try your hands on.
But here are some notes to keep in mind to kick start your photography journey:
you can start with any of these genres
you don't need to know everything before you start
you will learn more as you go
don't be afraid to try new things
don't be afraid to fail
To be a photographer, you need to be able to think outside the box. Ask yourself questions about what you see and what might make photography more interesting; this would help to figure out how things can be improved or changed—and sometimes completely upended!
The answers may surprise you, but they won't come without practice. Take time every day (or as often as possible) through both digital photography classes or even just messing around with your camera until something clicks!
So let's dive into the exciting part! Let’s have a look at some photography genres that are just perfect for beginners.
Portrait Photography
Credit: Pexels
Portrait Photography is a great way to start your photography journey. It's also one of the most common styles of photography, as it covers a wide variety of subjects and can be expressed in many different ways. Let's break down what portrait photography means:Portrait photography is about people who are captured in their natural environments or a studio settingPerfect for capturing the personality of your subject in a creative and unique wayYou can take portraits at any time during your life, whether they're of friends, family members or even strangers you meet on the streetTo get good results, you’ll need to have a good understanding of lighting, composition, and posing. You’ll also need to be comfortable working with people and have an eye for detail.
Street photography
Street photography is a genre of photography that captures candid moments as they happen in public places. This genre is often associated with documentary, photojournalism, and street art. Street photographers are influenced by the work of social documentary photographers such as Eugene Atget, Walker Evans and Robert Frank.
Credit: Pixabay
In street photography, you're encouraged to capture the mood or feeling of your subjects rather than their faces. Many street photographers see their work as a way to document our lives and preserve them for future generations. The genre also strives to create beautiful images that appeal to viewers' senses: sight, sound, touch, etc. Street shots tend to have an element of surprise because they're taken quickly without warning (like candid photos). There's no time for preparation; you just have to click at the right moment. A good example of this would be a shot taken near an accident site where people are reacting in different ways: some are shocked while others don't seem bothered by it at all!
If you’re an adventurous person who loves exploring hidden corners of the cities and discovering new places, then street photography could be the perfect photography type for you.
Landscape photography
Credit: Unsplash
Landscape photography is a type of outdoor photography that captures the beauty of nature. It can involve taking pictures of mountains, deserts, forests, and other natural scenes. Landscape photographers usually use wide-angle lenses and prefer to stand back from their subject, focusing on the big picture rather than getting a close-up shot.
It’s easy to get confused about landscape photography because there are many ways to practice it: you might take photos from the top of a hill or the deck of a boat to capture an entire scene in your image. Another option is aerial photography, which uses planes, helicopters and drones as platforms for taking photos from above ground level.
Travel Photography
Travel photography is a fun and exciting way to capture the beauty of your experiences while you are exploring new places. These include the landscape (both natural and human-made), the people, the culture, the food, and the history of the place. It’s also a good way to make money, especially if you’re taking photos for agencies like Getty Images or iStock. Anyone can do it with any camera—you don’t need top-of-the-line equipment. The only requirement is being flexible enough to get yourself in front of interesting subjects wherever they may be found and then having the technical knowledge to capture them in an appealing manner. These include the landscape, both natural and human-made, the people, the culture, the food, and, ultimately, the very history of this place.
Credit: Pexels
Travel photography requires you to be flexible because you never know what kind of shots are going to come your way while traveling. Once those opportunities arise, it's important that you're able to quickly react and capture them before they pass by unnoticed or disappear forever. Once they're gone forever there's no telling when another opportunity might arise again!
Pet Photography
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Pet photography is a fun and challenging style of photography that allows you to explore various styles and techniques. It can be done both indoors and outdoors, using natural light or flash. You don't have to be a professional photographer or have expensive equipment or lighting to do it; however, there are some basic tips that will help you get started in pet photography.
First things first: pets make great subjects! They're always ready for action and they don't complain about being tired after long hours of shooting like people do. Shooting animals on location is also more exciting because it adds variety to your portfolio as well as provides some great photo opportunities for practice shots during the shoot itself (you may not want your client's house cat sitting on top of their favorite vase). A benefit of shooting outdoors is that you can capture beautiful natural backgrounds around them. Instead of having them look at plain backgrounds like walls inside homes/studios you can shoot them in the place where there are always objects surrounding them such as trees, branches, grasses etc. These will give depth & dimensionality into your images giving them more life compared to indoor shots where everything looks flat.
Food Photography
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Food photography is a great way to showcase your culinary skills and get creative with colors and textures. It’s relatively simple to set up a food photography studio at home and start experimenting with different angles, lighting, and props. You can use this style of photography to promote your business or simply take pictures of your favorite recipes. If you’re a foodie who loves to cook, then this style of photography may be perfect for you!
Black & White Photography
Black and white photography is a great way to learn about composition. The absence of color forces you to focus on shapes, lines, light, and shadows. Black and white photos are also more timeless than their color counterparts because they won't date as quickly.
Credit: Pexels
If you're trying to create a mood or tell a story with your photo, black and white can be an effective choice for this purpose too. For example: You might want to photograph your subject against a stark background that says something about them or their surroundings; playing up the contrast between dark areas in the image will make it more impactful. Or maybe you want to capture only one specific emotion without distractions from other elements like bright colors or busy backgrounds—in which case black and white may prove useful here as well!
We hope this guide has helped you to narrow down your options for photography genres. If you're still not sure where to begin, don't worry! There's no wrong way to start learning about photography. But if you've read through these lists and thought "that sounds like fun," then we suggest taking the first step by finding out where you can get started with that genre. For example, if landscape is what interests you most right now, then go find a local nature reserve or park near where you live and start exploring there. So why not grab your camera and get started?
Good luck and happy shooting!
AllphotographyCourses.com is a platform that aims to empower people to live out their passion for photography by providing the newest and best photography courses, workshops and tours. Founded by Stèphan Kruger, the platform started its journey in 2018. It has successfully helped numerous students to connect with photographers and enhance their skills. The platform continues to grow with amazing photographers as partners in New Zealand and the UK. Visit https://allphotographycourses.com/ for more information.