10 Types of Photography Every Aspiring Photographer Should Try

With so many different types of photography out there it can get confusing and be hard to know what’s what. Here are 10 types of photography every budding photographer should try out, if they haven’t already…

Long Exposure Photography

Turning water into pure silk – no it’s not some magic circle shenanigans, it’s long exposure photography. This is a type of photography that once you learn can apply to lots of different photography scenarios. You might want to get some extra accessories and equipment such as an ND (neutral density) filter. This simply cuts out light entering your camera giving you longer shutter speeds, but if you shoot when light levels are low you can get away without using one.

The possibilities are endless with long exposure photography. Whether you want to make people disappear in a busy street, or want to capture motion in the night sky, this type of photography is where you want to be.

Wildlife Photography

Although this can be a challenging and at times a dangerous type of photography, its one you need to try out! There’s so much wildlife around us only a crazy person would not want to shoot it (with a camera of course).

Why not test your skills at wildlife photography next time you venture out with your camera – you might just surprise yourself.

Here are 6 Ways to Take Beautiful Animal Photos.

Portrait Photography

Capturing a portrait takes skill, patience and a great understanding of light. Once you open the door on this type of photography you might not be able to close it again.

As you progress within portraiture you will be able to build relationships with your subject and very quickly put them at ease.

Taking a portrait is so much more than just pressing a shutter button, it’s a process and an art for you to master. And if you don’t have anyone to be your model why not test yourself taking a self-portrait. Which is arguably harder, more challenging and far from the world of “selfies.”

Check out how to take great portraits if you want to try your hand at some portrait photography today.

Architectural Photography

Next time you are on your tourist trek instead of taking snapshots of famous buildings and architecture, why not try taking a couple of minutes longer to compose your photo. Maybe look for an unusual angle or abstract shot.

photo by Jon Herbert

Here are 10 top tips for creating breathtaking architecture photos.

Black and white Photography

There is a lot more to taking a black and white photo than just simply converting a colour image into black and white. Learn to see in black and white. Discover what types of light work best for the scene or mood you are looking to create and capture.

A top tip here is to shoot in black and white from the start. Don’t start with a colour image then convert it. This will help hone your skills for this type of photography. If you shoot in Raw you can still capture all the data including colour but have the preview on the LCD in black and white, best of both worlds.

If you need any more tips for black and white shooting you might find this an interesting read – 10 Tips on How to Create Better Black & White Images.

Macro Photography

Although macro lenses can get pretty expensive you can try out a bit of “sudo macro” yourself with what camera you already have. Even using your kit lens you can zoom in to 55mm and get as close to a subject as you camera will focus.

You might find you have a lens that has a macro mode built in already. Now even though these aren’t true macro, they will still let you get in and focus much closer on your subject and open up a whole new world of photography for you to explore!

Landscape Photography

Landscape is a type of photography most people try out first. Being able to capture the beauty of a scene forever often leads some to get bitten by the bug for shooting landscapes. Others move on or come back to it in time. Either way landscape photography is accessible to everyone with a camera. Even smartphone cameras can produce gorgeous landscape photos so you have no excuse to get out there and give this a try.

More serious landscape photography takes careful planning, researching and the right equipment and light. But when this all comes together you will know about it!

Read our Best Lenses For Landscape Photography.

Time lapse Photography

This type of photography involves taking a series of photos spaced apart from anything to a second to whole minutes, then combining them together to make a video. Why? I hear you ask. Making a time lapse lets you capture long periods of time and compress it down into seconds.

You could watch the sunset in a few seconds, watch the stars move across the night sky or even watch a building being built from start to finish in minutes!

Check out this rather cool time lapse video made in Norway.

Some cameras have what’s called an intervalometer built in. This lets you shoot at set intervals automatically without you having to stand with a stop watch pressing the shutter every few seconds. Don’t worry if your camera doesn’t  have this feature built in, you can pick them up pretty cheap these days. Just type in the make and model of your camera followed by intervalometer into google and you should find what you need.

Food Photography

Taking photos of food seems to be common place these days. But why not try something a little bit more creative next time you indulge in some food photography.

Place your food next to a window to get some nice soft yet directional light which will highlight the texture in the food.

Check out our Ultimate Food Photography Tips to get started taking some mouth watering food photos of your own!

Star Photography

Shooting the stars and these types of photography for the first time can seem daunting. Never fear it’s actually pretty easy when you know how. Here is a quick video I made showing you everything you need to know about shooting the stars in a little over 3 minutes!

A few things to remember, if you’re shooting in a built up area you will see a lot of light pollution in your star photos. But don’t let this put you off can still try it out and once you are confident with your skills why not check out a light pollution map to show you where all the best spots are for shooting the stars near you.

If you’ve enjoyed this and it’s inspired you to get out taking photos share it with your friends and family and get them out taking photos with you today.