Photographic genres

Nature Photography refers to a wide range of elements taken outdoors such as landscapes, wildlife, close-ups and plants. It serves a different type of aesthetical purpose than other types of photography like photojournalism and documentary photography because it shows beauty. [moodboard]

Wildlife 

Wildlife photography is probably my favourite type of photography and it is all about capturing images of animals in their natural habitats usually in action; eating, sleeping, fighting, running etc. Wildlife photography includes all types of animals and insects from beetles to lions and everything in between like rats, cats, and dogs. 

The most common and best way of taking pictures of animals in the wild is to use a telephoto lens as this will keep a long focal length from great distances away so that pictures can be taken safely and will avoid disturbing the animals. Many wildlife photographers will be in camouflage to blend in to the animals won’t notice them. Another technique for wildlife photography is wide apertures are used to achieve a fast shutter speed, freeze the subject's motion, and blur the backgrounds.

Landscapes

Landscape photography is a different type of nature photography because it captures the land and picks up a lot of elements such as trees, grass, sky, plants, animals and a lot more depending on what the picture is of, usually landscapes are grassy land like the countryside but they can also be the seaside and cities.  Landscape photographs typically capture the presence of nature but can also focus on man-made features or disturbances of landscapes. Some of the most important and celebrated landscape photographers have been motivated by an appreciation of the beauty of the natural environment and a desire to see it preserved.

Macro

Macro photography is extreme up close photography of very small subjects. It is commonly used to capture images of small bugs, flowers and raindrops along with other natural objects to get the details of things that wouldn’t normally been seen just by looking at it. 

To get such images, a macro lens is what has to be used as it is a lens that can pin point the subject and get great details from it. 

Fashion photography is the exploration of anything that involves the way people dress and present themselves with things such as clothes, shoes, accessories, make-up etc. It is also used to advertise brands and products for companies and magazines. Fashion photography can also be linked to portraiture because pictures are taking of people modelling the items that are fashion. This genre of photography has developed its own aesthetic over time about the styles of clothing. [moodboard]

 Magazine and Advertisement

Fashion magazines are there for people to look at what the latest fashion trends are and some of the time there is celebrities in them to inspire people to think that what they’re wearing is trending. These magazines are for people of all ages but some are aimed at specific age groups and genders like “Seventeen ”  magazine is aimed at females of ages between 10-17. Most fashion magazines are about advertising new styles, brands and companies.

Still life fashion

Still life fashion is a type of photography that is pictures of items of clothing, accessories, make-up and other items of fashion that don’t include the live model. The purpose of still life fashion is to just have the fashion pieces themselves being displayed instead of having the model there. 

Studio and location

Fashion photography can be presented in many different types of locations such as in a photographic studio; to display the main subject without any other distractions, and then there are outdoor locations such as in rural, urban, city and others; to display fashion in a different setting rather than the basic setting of a studio there is other backgrounds to locate the model in fashion to be presented. Studio photography in fashion is mainly used for advertising purposes whereas location photography for fashion is used for modelling. 

Location

Studio

Abstract photography is a type of photography that uses visual to create a composition that is seen as unusual and unrealistic which has its own independence. An abstract photograph may change an idea of a natural scene in order to remove its original context from the viewer, it may be purposely staged to create a seemingly unreal appearance from real objects, or it may involve the use of colour, light, shadow, texture, shape and/or form to convey a feeling, sensation or impression. 

It is very hard to define what abstract photography is because almost every photograph is made up of colours, lines and shapes but there is a few images that I have found that can visualise abstract. [moodboard]

Architecture photography is the photographing of buildings and other structures such as statues, monuments and anything that has been built by man that are both aesthetically pleasing and accurate representations of their subjects.

Architectural photography is typically created from either the exterior views of buildings, or in the interior of buildings. The techniques used in each of these types of photography are similar, but do have some difference and sometimes require different equipment. 

Landscapes are also common in architectural photography but in this case they would usually be called cityscapes as most buildings are in cities rather than on country land. [moodboard]

Exterior

Exterior architectural photography is the display of buildings from the outside. This type of architecture photography takes advantage of available daylight which can create some very interesting and beautiful images because sunlight is natural light that is usually above the building and it creates shadows. If taken at night time, the lighting used can be from a few different sources such as, moon light, street lights, exterior building lights and the flash on the camera. 

The surrounding areas of the building are also important to the overall composition of the photograph. An architectural photographer will often include trees, flowers, fountains, statues and whatever may be around to create a more aesthetically pleasing image.

Interior

Interior architectural photography is mostly for interior designers, real estate, and advertisement purposes or maybe just for the photographers portfolio. 

Interior architectural photography can also be performed with ambient light transmitted through windows and skylights, as well as interior lighting fixtures. Frequently though, architectural photographers will use supplemental lighting to improve the illumination within a building.