So, you’re pretty good at photography and might consider taking your newfound skill to the next level. Why not get paid for it?
Whether you’ve got an eye for fashion, still life photography or helping people document memorable moments, understanding more about photography as an art and an industry can help you progress.
Photographers express their artistic and creative visions in a wide array of photography styles and genres. From film photography to family portraits and glamour photography, photographers must possess a keen awareness of composition, exposure, focus and technique.
Photography is constantly evolving, and there's so much you can learn if you want to really dig in. Here's just a sampling.
1. Macro photography
Macro photography captures magnified shots of tiny objects, like bugs, raindrops and flowers, mostly in natural light. True photography skills lie in the ability to magnify the subject enough to reveal details and textures that are invisible to the naked eye.
Even though macro photography requires the subject to be as big as the camera sensor, many photographers also use the term abstract photography to describe these extreme close-up shots that focus on shapes, patterns and colors.
2. Nature photography
Whether you’re obsessed with storms, plants, or animals, nature photography captures the natural world’s beauty, diversity and splendor. Nature photographers stop to notice and seek out the incredible things happening in the natural world. Bees pollinating flowers, the incredible patterning on a lichen, or freshly-fallen snow.
Nature shots showcase the wonders of the great outdoors, including wildlife, weather, landscape and underwater photography.
3. Drone and aerial photography
Aerial or drone photography captures images from above, using technology like helicopters, planes and high quality consumer drones. It offers professional photographers and amateurs a fascinating view of structures, landscapes, cityscapes and natural wonders that can’t be seen from the ground and showcases the world from a new angle.
With its high-resolution cameras and advanced technology, drones have revolutionized aerial and landscape photography, and they’re taking architectural photography by storm too.
4. Architectural photography
This is, you guessed it, all about photographing architecture! These photographers are often hired by hotels, building companies, cities or realty firms to represent the homes, lodgings and skyscrapers they have. Because of the unique nature of architecture, this style of photography takes its own special practice and focus.
5. Landscape photography
This type of photography is a bit different from nature photography (even though it often is in/of nature).
If you enjoy observing and capturing the beauty of nature, from rolling hills to snow-topped mountains and sunrises on the beach, landscape photography is perfect for you! The best landscape photography shots usually have a focal point and leading line, like a winding river, which demonstrates the photographer's connection to nature and engages the viewer’s eye.
6. Wildlife photography
If you’ve ever picked up an issue of National Geographic, you know how their incredible photos helped make wildlife photography what it is today. Wildlife photographers capture action shots of mammals, reptiles, rodents and insects in their environment, such as eating, swimming and flying.
It's also used to document species' behavior and to get a closer look at their appearance. Wildlife photography is artistic, scientific and educational, using it to inspire, raise awareness and tell stories about life in their natural habitats.
7. Weather and storm photography
Have you seen the movie Twister? Then you know about the thrills and chills of weather photography and chasing tornados. Weather photographers capture the power, beauty and unpredictability of meteorological events, from dense fog and mist to lightning, snowfall and hurricanes.
A weather photographer must be patient, brave and determined—capturing the perfect shot takes creativity and a bit of luck! Once you master the art, you can get stunning photos of the earth’s atmosphere, no matter the weather conditions.
8. Stock photography
If you love taking pictures of groups or individuals, highlighting specific personalities, expressions and emotions, then stock photography is the genre for you. From surprise and delight to joy and defeat, these photography styles tell the story of everyday people, conveying emotion with every click.
Often, stock photos may be used for commercial and life photography purposes as well.
9. Fashion photography
Fashion photography is storytelling in which fine art, portrait, and product photography join forces to display, promote and sell fashion pieces. This type of editorial photography, which may include street photography and glamour photography, is featured in magazines, catalogs and advertisements. It utilizes various poses and lighting to showcase and highlight the items' features and selling points and to capture the hottest trends and designs.
Armed with a team of models, stylists, fashion designers, set designers, hair stylists and makeup artists, fashion photographers may travel to a warehouse, studio or renowned destination, selling the story or lifestyle and the product.
10. Portrait photography
Portrait photographers capture a person’s personality, expressions and mood. It focuses on the face and uses well-known techniques like lighting, backgrounds and camera angles to convey emotion and tell the subject’s story. Portrait photography combines different styles and elements, contributing to the art of emotional depth, individuality and storytelling.
Types of photography vary but almost always involve people--except for with pet photography. Some of the most popular types of portrait photography include traditional portraits, black and white photography and fine art photography.
11. Documentary photography
Documentary photography is about capturing real-life moments as they occur, whether it’s historical, political or to raise social awareness. It’s raw and authentic, capturing everything from celebrations to struggles and personal moments. The photographer chronicles people’s everyday lives, emotions and experiences, to give viewers more insight into individual stories.
12. Event photography
Enjoy being the life of the party? Event photography is for you!
Event photographers capture personal or professional photos at large public events or smaller intimate gatherings. They navigate and document the ever-changing events, capturing candid moments, emotions and interactions so that viewers can relive the experience or feel like they were in attendance.
Some of the most popular event photography styles include concerts and live music, corporate events and private parties.
13. Sports photography
Sports photography captures high-speed and dynamic live-action shots, celebrations and emotions at sporting events. These photographers are highly reactive and work in very fast-paced environments. They are skilled at snapping quick movements, intensity and peak action at the right second.
Timing, storytelling and composition are some of the key elements of sports photography, which requires fast shutter speeds, wide apertures and high ISO settings.
Whether photographing an athlete, a ball, the coach or a fan, there are many subjects to capture simultaneously, making this type of photography challenging and rewarding. Finding the perfect balance of composition, lighting and timing is crucial.
14. Wedding photography
The wedding day is one of the biggest days of a couple’s life and wedding photographers are hired to capture the fun, family portraits and display of love.
These types of photography styles vary—from editorial to vintage and fine art photography—and every shutterbug can snap different wedding photography genres. Whether they’re shooting the entrance, the vows, or the dance party at the reception, these professionals flex their skills and preserve those once-in-a-lifetime moments.
15. Food photography
Love them or loathe them; food bloggers are everywhere! You’ll catch them at your city’s trendiest new restaurant, snapping pics of their perfectly laid-out dishes using a small LED light and their smartphone.
But foodie photography isn’t limited to bloggers and content creators—it’s a big business in the culinary world with advertisements, magazines, cookbooks and social media.
16. Social media photography
Influencers regularly tempt our taste buds or encourage us to purchase something when they feature their delicious finds on social media.
Whether at the latest hotspot or creating a new dish, they use eye-catching photos and videos to tell stories, promote recipes, or bring attention to new restaurants and bars. With perfect lighting, overhead shots, creative angles, styling props and editing apps, influencers can transport viewers to the foodie destination (or kitchen) of their dreams.
17. Editorial photography
If you’ve ever flipped through a magazine, you already know what editorial photography is about. The photos are cozy, heart-warming and appetizing, featuring dishes that look like they came fresh from the oven or fridge.
The focus is on storytelling, ingredients, and the final product! Editorial photographers use natural light, minimal retouching, and real-life touches like hands holding a dish or an artfully set table with rustic décor.
18. Advertising photography
When you’re hungry, nothing’s more tempting than photos of food!
Commercial photography styles and designs food and dishes to make it look irresistible for ads, menus, promotions and packaging. Using artificial lighting, props and special techniques, photographers and food stylists use tricks to keep food looking fresh and delicious on camera.
19. Technology-enhanced photography
The future of photography is high-tech, driven by advancements like artificial intelligence (AI), smartphones and 360-degree cameras.
As technology evolves, we’ll see drastic improvements in photo quality and the ways we shoot, edit, process and share images./p>
20. AI-powered photography
AI is transforming the photography world with new technology and tools that enhance all stages of the creative process, including post-processing techniques.
AI-powered photography makes it easier to capture, edit and process images, helping create a more professional-looking photo. With these tools, professional and amateur photographers can quickly remove and replace content, fix mistakes and generate a background in just a few steps.
21. Panoramic photography
A panoramic photograph is a wide-angle image that’s created by combining high-resolution, overlapping images.
Landscape photographers and amateurs alike can shoot scenes in expansive views like urban landscapes that may be too wide to fit in a regular-sized photo.
22. 360-degree photography
This type of photography captures a scene or product in all directions, allowing potential customers to zoom, rotate and view the products in a more life-like fashion.
This technology, also used in travel, real estate photography and virtual tours, and is a key feature in augmented reality.
23. Cinemagraph® photography
A cinemagraph is a unique combination of a still image and a short video and can be considered conceptual photography—kind of like film photography. Most of the scene is stationary, while the footage continuously loops.1 It can look mesmerizing.
These loops come in two different formats:
- A repeat loop plays from beginning to end and starts over from the beginning again.
- A bounce loop plays from the beginning to the end of the clip and then plays in reverse.
The artistic technique requires shooting and post-production skills to achieve a cinematic look and feel.
24. 3D photography
We see the world in 3D, but traditional photos are flat and two-dimensional.
3D photography is the process of adding depth to an image. This 3D photography uses images created through created using a process called stereoscopic photography which combines two slightly different photos of the same subject, and anaglyph 3D which combines color-filtered images viewed with 3D glasses.
They are commonly used in virtual reality and augmented reality, film and in science.
25. Fisheye lens
Even though fisheye lenses have been around for decades, this style of photography is still hot.
A fisheye lens is a wide-angle, curvilinear lens that creates a warped hemispherical or panoramic image. Photographers use fisheye lenses to snap playful shots and 360-degree images for commercial photography, real estate, virtual reality and street photography.
What types of photography are right for you?
This list doesn't even come close to detailing all the differences between types of cameras, styles and artistic intention.
Photography is a fun and creative way to express yourself, and it's also a thriving market. After all, if you consider advertisements you've seen, even today so far, you'll probably notice they've been full of images. Photography is everywhere.
And good photography that helps people fulfill an objective (like understanding a house they'd like to buy or getting a good vibe from a website) is much harder to create than people think!
If you're considering a creative career, you have so many interesting choices ahead of you. One of those choices, is a path in the arts or a path in design. Check out Art vs. Design: Determining the Degree for Your Creative Career for more.
Cinemagraph® is a registered trademark of Flixel Photos Inc.
1 What is cinemagraph?, (accessed 3/10/2025), How to make a cinemagraph for beginners | Adobe
