Popular Types of Photography Every Beginner Should Know

Are you into photography?

If you answered yes, you know nothing beats the feeling of holding a camera and exploring all kinds of photography niches.

Powerful camera specifications and the ability to share photos on social media platforms are driving photography.

People take photos or engage in photography for different professional and personal reasons. You may capture great shots with your camera to share on Instagram with your friends or to earn a living.

If you’re a beginner photographer, figure out the type of photography that matches your interests and talent. It pays to explore all kinds of photography to help you determine which one you like most.

Whether you use a triple camera mobile phone or professional photography equipment, it takes skills and experience to capture great shots.

Some benefits of photography include:

  • Produces immortalized photos
  • Records your journey through life
  • Brings your natural spirituality closer
  • Inspires imagination
  • Boosts self-esteem
  • Relieves stress
  • Makes a rewarding career
  • Captures minute things not easily seen
  • Records memories

Ranging from still to portrait, types of photography vary. Whichever reason you engage in photo shoots, here’re types of photography you need to know:

8 Common Types of Photography for Beginner Photographers

  1. Portrait photography

Beginner and professional photographers mostly explore portrait photography. It involves capturing a subject, including its mood and expressions.

Just like candid photography, moments are spontaneously captured. The images have a relaxing effect because they’re not planned but taken randomly.

Portrait photography captures the personality of a subject. Photographers evoke authentic expressions and capture close-ups and poses to produce great portraits.

If you choose to focus in this niche, you’ll photograph celebrities, famous personalities, supermodels on red carpets and magazine shots. You may also do family portraits, graduation pictures and pro headshots for upcoming actors and models.

Play around with shadows, lighting and distance to capture compelling portraits. Focus on the best features of your subject.

  1. Landscape photography

Also known as nature photography, landscape photography is as natural as it sounds. It involves capturing the planet earth’s beauty. Some common views to capture include:

  • The sky
  • Land
  • Water

Landscape views are picturesque and attractive to view. Use landscape to showcase natural scenery as a beginner photographer.

Invest in a good mirrorless or DSLR camera for landscape photography to get sharp and clear shots of nature.

  1. Street photography

This niche is perfect if you don’t want to focus on just one niche.

Varying in concepts and themes, the streets enable you to explore your artistic talents without restrictions. What’s more, you can use all kinds of cameras for street photography.

Ranging from graffiti artwork to vendors, streets provide different subjects to capture. Use your lens to tell a street story.

  1. Still life photography

Photography of still life involves taking shots of lifeless, immobile objects.

With a good backdrop, perfect lighting, a tripod for angular shots and good composition, you can capture great still life photos. Use a light box to lighten the object you want to capture from all angles and eliminate shadows.

Companies use still life photography to capture their products for advertisement. This is known as product photography. The images are produced for magazines, catalogs and billboards.

  1. Macro photography

Macro photos are mind-blowing. The photography style involves taking shots of compelling, artistic images. Objects captured look bigger than their actual sizes.

For instance, images of dewdrops on leaves would appear larger than in reality.

With the right photography equipment, you can capture up close macro images to catch the eye. If you must use your phone, make sure it has at least 24 megapixels and clip-on macro lens for perfect images.

  1. Food photography

Almost everyone has engaged in food photography even if not a photographer. Most people take photos of food to share on social media with friends and family.

People love to take shots of their beautiful plate of food for sharing. This is attributed to the fact that you don’t need a professional camera to photograph food.

A good mobile phone camera can easily capture your plate of food. Avoid using flash light in food photography. Instead, use natural light for picture-perfect images of food.

  1. Wildlife photography

Taking photos of wildlife is tricky but rewarding.

You require patience, angle and timing to capture great shots. Just like sports photography, you require high-end photography equipment.

Capturing wildlife in their natural habitat isn’t easy.

But…

Your shots will reflect your mastery of the photography skill and art.

  1. Astrophotography

This type of photography involves recording objects in the sky at night. You capture satellites, stars, and planets among other objects in the sky.

Long telescopes can enable you to capture black holes.

Astrophotography involves deep sky exploration of objects located faraway in space using telescopes. It covers star trial or time-lapse and milky way or wide angle photography.

Take a Milky Way Mastery class to engage in astrophotography.

Other types of photography include:

  • Events photography
  • Sports photography
  • Fashion photography
  • Stock photography
  • Documentary photography
  • Weather photography
  • Long exposure photography
  • Architecture photography

Conclusion

You can explore many types of photography as you begin your career in the field. While some types are easy, others require more skill, patience and advanced equipment. Make sure you’re comfortable with yourself and environment, and can use your photography equipment.

Give these photography types a try to help you choose your specific niche.