“You must try everything once to discover what you want to try again” -Unknown
I do not know where there quote comes from, but it holds true in my photography philosophy. As a perpetual photo student I have been deciding what style of photography I want to be strongest in. While I do not want to dedicate myself to one thing, I do want to be good in a few. I have been researching the various styles of photography. I need an adventure: something beyond food, landscape, and street photography. I have attempted a little Photojournalism and Fashion. In this series, I will be delving into the different styles of photography out there.
Street Photography
My favorite photography-training tool is street photography, candid shots of an urban environment. It is great while walking in cities or in your hometown. There is no particular subject or subject matter to keep in mind when doing street photography. Just compose a shot you like and take it. Images are captured as objectively as possible and with as little manipulation as possible.
Street photography can be done with any camera. However, I prefer to use my Nikon D90 with either my 50mm 1.8D, 35mm 1.8G, or my Nikon 28-80 3.3-5.6 lenses. I have taken my Sigma 70-300mm, for distance shots, which afford me truly candid images because I can shoot from a good, distance away so I am not seen.
Food Photography
If you have been following my photography at all, you will notice a lot of food photography, especially coffee. Food photography is professionally producing stylized and attractive images of food for different types of media. It usually takes a team of people from an art director, a photographer, a food stylist, a prop stylist with helpers. It has become more popular on a hobbyist level though with the rise of foodie blogs on the internet.
I have written about it before and probably will go more in-depth into food photography as some point in the future. For food photography, I like to use a DSLR and prime lenses, especially when I am out at a restaurant. But when indoors doing studio work, I like to use controlled lighting: an external flash and reflectors.
Landscape Photography
Landscape Photography, which I have posted about here, is my favorite type of photography. The good stuff takes work and is very rewarding. I have another series of posts, dedicated just to it in the previous link. So I will not get into much here because there are many more styles of photography that I should know about, and even try.
Photojournalism
This form of photography has been rather influential recently. It started not too long ago when I unofficially covered a hearing event for my job. Then I met my co-writers here who have studied the subject in school. Photojournalism crafts images to tell news stories in a timely matter; showing objectivity and helping to form a narrative in conjunction with other pieces of news. Some the best photojournalists out there can tell a story with a single shot.
Photojournalists have to be very particular about their equipment because they have to be ready to go at a moment’s notice. The ones I have seen tend to carry at least DSLR two bodies with either a 24-70mm F/2.8 wide to normal lens as well as a 70-200mm F/2.8 . They carry two bodies so they do not have to switch lenses. We’ve got an entire guide to this much loved and respected profession.
Fashion photography
This is something I did not think I would like, until I tried it. I have friends who are fashion photographers and it is a rather interesting field. Fashion Photography is not just about taking images of pretty girls in nice dresses. It is about making clothes look good in magazines and print ads. There is a lot of detailed work that goes into fashion photography, from color coordination to hair and lighting. The quality of your gear is big factor, too. I’ve shot fashion images with a Canon 7D 17-55mm f/2.8 lens and I really liked the quality of the shots.
In the next part I will delve into the styles of photography I have no experience with, but will like to learn more about.
What type of photographer are you? Let us know in the comments down below.
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