Types of Photography — Styles, Genres & Techniques

Black and white photography refers to a picture that lacks any saturation– it is entirely shades of gray. Black and white photography, like sepia, is an older type of picture taking, due to limitations to the technology in its infancy. But unlike sepia, B&W in photography is less linked to the past.

Desaturated images can still feel modern and urgent. Black and white photography requires a keen attention toward contrast, composition, and lighting– there is no distraction afforded by color. 

Glamour photography is all about capturing the beauty of a human subject. This is typically the type of photography where models make their bread. Glamour photography uses everything at its disposal to make a subject look great.

Of course, this may mean many things. A photographer may employ flattering lighting, a careful lens choice, or a soft filter. But other professionals might be involved as well, like makeup artists and fashion designers. It takes a village to create unrealistic beauty standards.

Want to try to guess what wedding photography refers to? Most people have a very specific conception of the wedding photography profession, often assuming that it requires less creativity on a photographer’s part than in other fields.

But this isn’t always the case. A great wedding photographer can bring in unique ideas to a pretty stale genre. Their mission is to try to represent the essence of a couple in a photograph. That’s a difficult task, and one which requires people skills beyond skills behind a camera.

At its core, portrait photography is the opposite of landscape photography. Instead of taking pictures of expansive landscapes, you are taking pictures of specific subjects.

Portrait photography is typically associated with pictures of people, but it can also include animals as well. The idea remains the same: trying to create a compelling depiction of a living being. What do you want people to think of this subject? In what context should this subject be seen? These are questions a good portrait photographer will ask themselves.

With event photography, you need to be quick on your feet. Being an event photographer often means capturing things that aren’t going to happen again. You’re not working with models, you’re just along for the ride.

As such, event photographers are typically camera gurus, able to quickly adjust settings to capture a flash in the pan. Usually these photographers will want to avoid motion blur and shallow depth of field, which means using exceedingly fast lenses.

Put simply, macro photography refers to photographs of extremely small subjects. Some sticklers, however, argue that true macro photography is where the magnification ratio (the size of the subject on the camera’s lens in comparison to its real-world size) is at least 1:1. In other words, the object should be hitting the camera’s sensor at its actual size or larger.

As you might imagine, macro photography typically requires special attention to equipment. You’ll need a lens with a very small minimum focusing distance so that you can get very close to the subject. The lens will also probably have to be pretty long to magnify the subject enough to qualify as truly macro.

When done right, a macro photograph can reveal the hidden worlds of objects overlooked by the naked eye.

Today, a brand’s visual identity is crucial. Even a business that is barely consumer-facing at all will have a cohesive visual palette. Much of this visual identity comes from graphic design, but brand photography is also crucial.

These can be photographs of a brand’s products at work. Think of a Nike billboard where a model is running in the company’s shoes.  But even corporations without a tactile product might utilize brand photography. A hedge fund might have photos of cityscapes and happy families on its website to make it feel more approachable.

Long-exposure photography is defined by a camera setting. Intuitive readers may have guessed that said setting is exposure; that is correct, but it’s also a bit more specific. Long-exposure photography refers to a picture where the shutter speed is particularly slow.

A slow shutter speed creates extreme motion blur. This can emphasize movement, or, if done with light sources, can create an entirely new visual landscape. Used deliberately, long-exposure photography can add meaning to an image that wouldn’t be present with a fast shutter speed.