What Kind of Photography Should I Do

One press picks a kind of photography to try, with what it shoots.

Conservation photographyNature photography with a documentary aim: to argue for protecting nature.

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How it works

Got a camera and no idea what to point it at? Press the button for one of 73 kinds of photography, from portraits and landscapes to macro, street and astrophotography, each with what it shoots.

Read the full guide

Pick by what you like to look at

People: portrait, candid, wedding and event photography. The outdoors: landscape, wildlife and underwater. Towns: street, architectural and travel. Small things on a table: still life, food and macro. The dark: night photography, star trails and light painting.

A subject or a method

Some kinds are named for what they shoot, others for how: long exposure, time-lapse, black and white, infrared, pinhole. A method from the list can be tried on a subject you already like.

Stuck between two? Shoot both this weekend and keep the one you want to do again.

Questions and answers

What are the main kinds of photography?

Kinds are named three ways. By subject: portraits, landscapes, sports, aircraft. By purpose: documentary, photojournalism, fashion and fine art. By method: aerial, panoramic, high-speed and film photography.

What kind of photography can I do at home?

Still life and food photography use small subjects you arrange yourself, and macro photography takes extreme close-ups of small things. A photogram needs no camera at all: objects are laid on light-sensitive paper and exposed to light.

What kind of photography can I do at night?

Night photography is anything shot outdoors between dusk and dawn. Star trails, fireworks and light painting all use long exposures, so the camera has to be held as steady as possible.

What is the difference between street and candid photography?

Both catch people unposed. Street photography looks for chance encounters in public places, though Wikipedia notes it needs neither a street nor a city. Candid photography is used in other settings too, such as portraits and events.

All 73 kinds of photography

People 12

Banquet photography A large group at an event, taken from a high angle so everyone at the tables is in focus.
Candid photography People unposed, in natural moments, often without them noticing the camera.
Environmental portrait A person in their usual surroundings, such as their home or workplace.
Event photography Guests and happenings at an occasion: parties, ceremonies, dances, award nights.
Fashion photography Clothing and other fashion items, typically on a model in a studio or outdoors.
Head shot A portrait focused on the face, as used for profiles and for actors, models and authors.
Lifestyle photography People in real-life situations and milestones, shot artfully to tell the story of their lives.
Old-time photography Novelty portraits in costumes and props of a past period, sometimes printed in sepia.
Portrait photography A person or a group, with lighting, backdrop and pose chosen to show personality.
Self-portrait A portrait you make of yourself.
Snapshot A quick, spontaneous shot of everyday life: family, friends, pets, birthdays, sunsets.
Wedding photography The events of a wedding, mixing portraits of the couple with documentary shots of the day.

Nature and outdoors 8

Aerial photography Views from an aircraft or another airborne platform, such as a drone, a balloon or a kite.
Cloudscape photography Clouds or sky as the subject.
Conservation photography Nature photography with a documentary aim: to argue for protecting nature.
Kite aerial photography A camera lifted by a kite and triggered remotely or automatically.
Landscape photography Outdoor spaces, vast or tiny: mostly nature, sometimes the marks people leave on the land.
Nature photography Natural things outdoors: landscapes, wildlife, plants and close-ups of textures.
Underwater photography Images made beneath the surface of the water, often while scuba diving or snorkeling.
Wildlife photography Animals in their natural habitat; it can take field craft, stalking skills or a hide.

Streets, buildings and travel 8

Architectural photography Buildings and similar structures, shown both accurately and attractively.
Aviation photography Aircraft in flight or on the ground: air-to-air, ground-to-air and ground-static.
Panoramic photography Images with a horizontally elongated field of view, also called wide format.
Rephotography The same site photographed twice with a gap in time: a then-and-now view.
Ruins photography The decay of the built environment as the subject, most of all in declining cities.
Street photography Chance encounters and incidents in public places, framed and timed at the telling moment.
Travel photography A place and its landscape, people, culture and customs: the feeling of a time and place.
VR photography Panoramas that take in a full circle or sphere and are viewed by looking around.

News, sport and stage 7

Concert photography Bands and musicians, and coverage of the concert itself.
Documentary photography A chronicle of events, places and everyday life, as news work or as a personal pursuit.
Photojournalism Images that tell a news story, under a strict demand for honesty and impartiality.
Skate photography Skateboarding and its tricks, documented and shared since the sport began.
Social documentary photography What the world looks like, with a social focus, to draw attention to an ongoing issue.
Sports photography Sports of all kinds; professional work is mostly for newspapers, agencies and magazines.
Theatre photography Performers on stage and the scenery around them: drama, opera, ballet, puppetry.

Objects and ideas 9

Abstract photography Images with no immediate link to the world of objects, made by photographic means.
Conceptual photography Photography that illustrates an idea.
Fine-art photography Work made to the photographer’s own vision, to express an idea, a message or an emotion.
Food photography Appealing still lifes of food, as used in adverts, magazines, menus and cookbooks.
Macro photography Extreme close-ups in which a small subject, often an insect, appears larger than life.
Minimalist photography Austere simplicity: sparse scenes, careful composition, little color or pattern.
Photomicrography Photographs taken through a microscope.
Staged photography Everything arranged in advance, as a director would, so that little is left to chance.
Still life photography Inanimate objects, typically a small group, arranged by the photographer.

Night and sky 8

Astrophotography Astronomical objects, celestial events and areas of the night sky.
Eclipse photography Solar and lunar eclipses; the sun calls for an extremely strong solar filter.
Fireworks photography Fireworks at night by their own light, often with a long exposure and a steady camera.
Light painting A light source moved during a long exposure, to light a subject or to draw with light.
Long-exposure photography A slow shutter keeps still things sharp and blurs moving ones: clouds, water, car lights.
Night photography Outdoor shots between dusk and dawn, when natural light is minimal or absent.
Solarigraphy A pinhole camera and photographic paper record the sun’s path over very long exposures.
Star trail photography Long exposures that show the stars as streaks, drawn by Earth’s rotation.

Techniques and cameras 21

Black-and-white photography Monochrome images, which record how much light there is but not its color.
Cyanotype A slow printing process that gives a blue, single-color print.
Film photography Chemical processes capture the image on film, paper or a plate; also called analog.
Forced perspective An optical illusion that makes an object look nearer, farther, larger or smaller than it is.
High-key photography Even lighting, almost free of dark shadows, now used to suggest an upbeat mood.
High-speed photography Pictures of very fast phenomena.
Infrared photography Film or a sensor sensitive to near-infrared light, used with an infrared-passing filter.
Instant photography A camera with self-developing film gives a print shortly after the picture is taken.
Intentional camera movement The camera is moved during the exposure, leaving streaks, textures and layers.
Lo-fi photography Unconventional methods, such as toy or pinhole cameras, chosen for a low-quality look.
Low-key photography Dark scenes with light on chosen areas of the frame only, for a mysterious mood.
Multiple exposure Two or more exposures laid over one another in a single image.
Photogram An image made without a camera: objects laid on light-sensitive paper and exposed to light.
Pinhole photography A camera with no lens: a light-proof box with a tiny hole in one side.
Slow photography A movement that puts the process and experience of taking photos first, often on film.
Stereoscopy (3D photography) Two flat images, seen one by each eye, that together appear three-dimensional.
Tilt–shift photography Camera movements that tilt or shift the lens in relation to the film or sensor.
Time-lapse photography Frames taken far apart and played back fast, so slow changes can be seen.
Ultraviolet photography Images recorded with ultraviolet radiation only, for scientific, medical or artistic ends.
Virtual photography Images made by taking screenshots inside video games and other virtual worlds.
Zoom burst Zooming the lens while the shutter is open, at a relatively slow shutter speed.