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21 Types of Photography You Should Know

Here is a detailed list of photography types, with examples
BY SPENCER COX | 17 COMMENTS
LAST UPDATED ON APRIL 12, 2020

It’s useful to understand the different types of photography and genres practiced today. On one hand,
it’s good to know that you aren’t missing out on good pictures from photographers who capture
different subjects than you do. But more importantly, when you see a wide range of photographic
types and styles, you might be inspired to try out another genre of photography for yourself. Although
this list doesn’t cover every genre, it outlines many of the most important.

Below is the list of types and genres of photography that exist today. You can click on any of the links
to jump to that section within the article.

Table of Contents
1. Nature Photography
1.1. Landscape
1.2. Wildlife
1.3. Macro
1.4. Underwater
1.5. Astrophotography
1.6. Aerial Photography
1.7. Scientific
2. People Photography
2.1. Portraits
2.2. Weddings
2.3. Documentary
2.4. Sports
2.5. Fashion
2.6. Commercial
2.7. Street Photography
 2.8. Event Photography
2.9. Travel
2.10. Pet Photography
3. Manmade Objects
3.1. Product Photography
3.2. Food
3.3. Still Life Photography
3.4. Architecture
4. Other Types of Photography

Nature Photography
Landscape
Landscape photography is another way of saying scenic or environmental photography. It involves
taking pictures of a natural scene – often large and grand, but sometimes smaller and more intimate
– in a way that brings the viewer into a scene. Landscape photography is one of the most popular
types today, spinning off several sub-genres such as storm photography, seascapes, and so on. With
a broader definition, it also includes “urban landscape” photography and manmade scenes.

Landscape photography is a very accessible type of photography, but that doesn’t mean it is easy to
master!

NIKON D800E + 24mm f/1.4 @ 24mm, ISO 100, 8 seconds, f/16.0

Wildlife
Wildlife photography can bring out some of the most intense photographers you’ll meet – people
who might spend hours on end waiting for an animal to wander into the perfect spot, or search for
creatures that most people would rather try to avoid. But it’s also something you can practice in your
own backyard, or a short drive from where you live, since there are animals to be found everywhere.
From time to time, you’ll see a photo series of urban wildlife that rivals the best images captured in
more remote locations.

NIKON D800E + 70-200mm f/4 @ 175mm, ISO 100, 1/250, f/4.0

Macro
One of the most accessible types of photography is macro, the art of capturing small creatures and
objects that we ordinarily overlook. Macro photography is usually associated with images of bugs
and flowers, but even subjects like snowflakes or water droplets in the studio can make for amazing
macro photos. A related style of photography is simply “close-up” photography, which might not be
as magnified as true macro work, but still isolates a small slice of the world that otherwise may not
stand out.

Although a dedicated macro lens can be expensive, a set of extension tubes is much cheaper and
likely works just fine with your current equipment. For photographers who only ever take pictures
when they travel, my top recommendation is to start practicing macro photography one way or
another. It’s not easy to master, but you’ll learn some very useful technical skills and take some
stellar photos along the way.

NIKON D7000 + 105mm f/2.8 @ 105mm, ISO 1250, 1/250, f/22.0

Underwater
It isn’t always easy to take underwater photos, even if you live in the right location for it. Not only do
you need a good waterproof camera, but you also need some specific lighting equipment the
moment you start taking photos more than a short distance from the surface. Add in scuba gear and
the requisite training for longer dives, and you can see why this is one of the trickier genres to start
practicing. But if you put in the money and effort, you’ll end up with photos that not nearly as many
people are taking today. Underwater photography spans everything from wildlife and macro to
portraits that are striking to the eye.

NIKON D7000 + 105mm f/2.8 @ 105mm, ISO 3200, 1/100, f/2.8

Astrophotography
Encompassing everything from smartphone images taken through a telescope to deep-space
photographs from the Hubble, astrophotography can be one of the most humbling types of
photography to practice. It’s humbling for two reasons: First, the size and scale of subjects captured
in this style of photography are enough to bring on existential awe in almost anyone. But more to the
point, if you don’t have excellent exposure and post-processing techniques, any lack of knowledge
will be immediately obvious.

There is also a genre of “astrolandscape” photography that includes the Milky Way with a slice of
Earth in the foreground. Although it is still tricky to take astrolandscape photos, they’re a bit easier
for most photographers to master.

NIKON D800E + TAMRON SP 15-30mm F2.8 Di VC USD A012N @ 15mm, ISO 3200, 20 seconds, f/2.8

Aerial Photography
Whether this is simply a branch of landscape photography or a genre of its own is debatable, but
either way, aerial photography is experiencing an explosion in popularity today thanks to the advent
of high-quality consumer drones. Aerial photography also encompasses high-altitude images from
planes and helicopters, as well as images where the subject is manmade rather than a landscape per
se.

COOLPIX A via drone @ 18.5mm, ISO 320, 1/1000, f/3.5

Scientific
Scientific photography is a broad category, encompassing everything from extreme magnification
microscope photography to, again, astrophotography. Some manmade objects sneak their way into
this as well, like photos of particle colliders or the space station that periodically go viral. It’s a type of
photography that I hope continues to see more and more attention in the future, since it has the
power to show us entirely new sights and change the way we think about the world.

NIKON D810 + 150-600mm f/5-6.3 @ 850mm, ISO 100, 1/50, f/11.0, © Nasim Mansurov

People Photography
Portraits
The broadest type of people photography is portraiture, covering everything from family portraits to
fine-art photography and commercial work. Often, the goal of portraiture is to show the character of a
subject – to capture the person’s personality and emotion in an image. Portrait photography is also
quite an accessible genre overall, not requiring more than a single prime lens and flash to start at a
high level (or whatever equipment you already have if you’re just testing the waters). But capturing
the essence of a subject, or meeting the goals for your commercial project, can take a lifetime of
work.

NIKON D7000 + 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 34mm, ISO 360, 1/100, f/2.8

Weddings
One of the most important events in many people’s lives is a wedding, and that means wedding
photographers have a huge responsibility. Not only do wedding photographers need to have good
camera and lighting skills, but they also must know how to work with people and capture the right
emotions almost effortlessly. This is a difficult type of photography to practice, and you only get one
chance to do it right, so I have a lot of respect for good wedding photographers.
 NIKON D800E + 85mm f/1.4 @ 85mm, ISO 400, 1/1000, f/2.0 © Nasim Mansurov

Documentary
Documentary photographers seek to convey news or information in their images. Sometimes, the
photos depict a moment so striking that it crosses the line into art or otherwise causes viewers to
have an emotional reaction. Documentary photography can happen anywhere, from local news
stories to reporting directly from war zones. In the best of cases, documentary photos shed light on
important yet little-known events, or celebrate the best examples of humanity for everyone to see.
Not all documentary photos are newsworthy; sometimes, they simply document a place or culture to
show other people.

NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S @ 24mm, ISO 3200, 1/13, f/4.0

Sports
Another broad style of photography is sports photography, from international events like the
Olympics to adventure-based photography in the most remote areas of the world. Even a parent
photographing their child playing sports is part of this genre – a type of photography which requires
top-notch autofocus skills, good timing, and often a very fast shutter speed.

NIKON D800E + 70-200mm f/4 @ 200mm, ISO 140, 1/800, f/7.1

Fashion
A cousin of portraiture, but distinct enough to count as its own genre, is fashion photography. This is
a fast-paced world, and the best fashion photographers are intimately knowledgeable not just about
lighting and photography but also the clothing styles they’re photographing. Fashion photographs are
usually intended for brands and advertisements, but not always, especially in today’s Instagram
world.

NIKON D800E + 35mm f/1.4 @ 35mm, ISO 100, 1/200, f/5.6 © Lola Mansurov

Commercial
Commercial photography of people is anything intended to sell a product, especially advertisements
and even stock photos. Commercial photographers often simply capture the products themselves,
although that’s something I’ll cover later in this article; people are still used very frequently in
advertising campaigns today. Usually, the goal of commercial photography is to create images that
match the emotions and message the brand in question is trying to convey. These photographers
need special skills in studio lighting and visualization to make the client’s plan a reality.

NIKON D3S + 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 98mm, ISO 400, 1/160, f/8.0 © Nasim Mansurov

Street Photography
Street photography is about capturing slices of life that happen in common areas in a city, such as
parks and sidewalks. Good street photos find meaning and purpose in seemingly ordinary moments
or interactions, making viewers think about something they would otherwise pass by. Street
photography is often associated with black and white work on 35mm film, but modern-day street
photos utilize almost any post-processing styles and camera equipment.

NIKON D7000 + 17-55mm f/2.8 @ 55mm, ISO 640, 1/10, f/2.8

Event Photography
Aside from weddings, there are broader classes of events that deserve recognition as a separate
genre of photography. For example, corporate events, concerts, parades, and other celebrations all
count as event photography. You can expect unpredictability and fast-paced scenes – but also
interesting human interactions and sometimes (like with concert photos) very good light. Skilled
event photographers are able to convey emotions so that viewers are able to relive the moment.

NIKON D700 + 300mm f/4 @ 300mm, ISO 3200, 1/160, f/5.6 © Nasim Mansurov

Travel
One of the broadest types of people photography is travel – photographing life in another area of the
world, whether portraits or candid images. Good travel photography captures the striking similarities
and differences among people across the world, making us feel more connected and aware of how
other people live.

NIKON Z 7 + 70-200mm f/4 @ 200mm, ISO 200, 1/6400, f/4.0

Pet Photography
Pet photography doesn’t fit perfectly under one of this article’s broader categories, but I put it at the
end of “people photography” because pets are an important part of many people’s families. And
similar skills apply to pet photography as portraiture – understanding light, dealing with fast-paced
chaos, and conveying the essence of your subject. Aside from selfies, this might just be the most
popular genre of photography today!

NIKON D7000 + 50mm f/1.4 @ 50mm, ISO 720, 1/160, f/1.4

Manmade Objects
Product Photography
Another branch of commercial photography is product photography, where you are typically shooting
in a studio with careful lighting to accentuate the product in question (though sometimes outdoors
or on location). In the same way as commercial portraiture, a product photographer’s goal is to
match the vision of the company in question. An outdoor brand will have different needs from a high-
end lifestyle company, even if both sell the same underlying type of product, such as clothing or
backpacks.

Food
Food photography has experienced a remarkable growth in popularity in recent years thanks to social
media. Previously, it was essentially a sub-genre of commercial work – advertisements, cookbooks,
menus, and so on – but it’s becoming more a part of documentary photography today.

No matter the final output, though, food photos almost always try to capture their subject in the most
appetizing way possible. Sometimes, food photographers will replace the actual foods in an image
with artificial substitutes that look tastier, such as glue rather than milk when photographing cereal!

NIKON D300 + 50mm f/1.4 @ 50mm, ISO 200, 1/200, f/3.2 © Lola Mansurov

Still Life Photography

Another broad style of photography is still life photography, taking pictures in a studio of a
manufactured scene in order to look as good as possible. Although still life photography sometimes
includes living things such as plants, I’m putting it under the “manmade objects” category because it
can include almost anything. Some of the most interesting still life images I’ve seen are of seemingly
boring objects like silverware and office supplies.

© Nasim Mansurov

Architecture
The last type of photography in this list is also one of the most popular: architectural photography,
including cityscapes and other details of buildings and construction. In many ways, architecture is
like “urban landscape” photography, with practitioners of both genres often using tripods and careful
post-processing techniques to accentuate their subject as best as possible. However, architectural
photography has the added difficulty of dealing with straight lines – not an easy task if you want to
avoid a skewed or tilted look in the final photo.

NIKON D7000 + 24mm f/1.4 @ 24mm, ISO 200, 1/80, f/2.5

Other Types of Photography

Not every photo fits neatly into a single genre of photography. Sometimes, an image will straddle the
line between two or more different types, like a landscape image of manmade telescopes under the
Milky Way. Is that landscape, architecture, scientific, or astrophotography? It doesn’t really matter –
these genres don’t have a hard line between them, and the categories just make it easier to talk
about.

Other images might not meet the criteria for any of these categories at all, like surreal composite
photography or abstract images where you can’t tell what the subject is in the first place. That’s
perfectly fine, and it doesn’t say anything about the quality of a photo one way or another. The point
of the list above is to give you some ideas for different styles of photography you may enjoy, not
constrict the types of images you can take.

Let us know below if you’ve taken an interesting path from genre to genre in photography, or if there
are any types and styles you’d like to learn next!

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About Spencer Cox

Spencer Cox is a landscape and nature photographer who has gained international recognition
and awards for his photography. He has been displayed in galleries worldwide, including the
Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and exhibitions in London, Malta, Siena, and Beijing. To
view more of his work, visit his website or follow him on Facebook and 500px. Read more about
Spencer here.

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17 COMMENTS  Most Voted 

Josh
 April 1, 2020 12:26 am

Thank you for this lecture sharing it serves a big help in my photography lecture.

0 Reply

Jesse Barnum
 December 18, 2019 8:21 am

Hard to believe that last architectural image (which is beautiful) was taken at an f/2.5 aperture, unless a bunch of
exposures were focus-stacked together.

0 Reply
 Spencer Cox Author

 Reply to  Jesse Barnum  December 23, 2019 9:35 am

I’m glad you liked that photo, Jesse! It is f/2.5, and the photo is fairly sharp throughout, just because the
subject is pretty far away. I normally wouldn’t have used such a wide aperture, but I was shooting handheld and
the lens didn’t have vibration reduction. 1/80 second was probably faster than necessary, but the settings
aren’t too far from optimal there, considering the subject distance (and that this lens is fairly sharp at f/2.5).

0 Reply

Lisa
 September 11, 2019 5:44 pm

I love macro and landscape/nature. Due to being a shy introvert, I never in a million years thought that I would like
street photography(as my instructor calls it). While in Italy, I shot a lot of people on the street. They turned out to
be some of my all time favorites.

0 Reply

Amna Ahuja
 July 24, 2019 11:20 pm

As a model I love both fashion and portrait photography.Last month I was in Dubai for my photo-shoot. I would
like to thank “Alex F Buchholz Photography” for an amazing photo session. Keep Posting.

0 Reply

Parker Arrow
 June 15, 2019 11:13 am

Photography is what everyone loves to do. Someone likes to do landscape photography some wildlife and so on.
But I have done landscape photography and I really enjoyed it doing. It’s my passion and I love to take pictures of
the beautiful natural scenery. Thanks for sharing these all different types of photography with us. Good Job.

0 Reply

paul c
 March 14, 2019 8:06 pm

great painters didnt need classifications , neither do photographers

0 Reply
 Bolesław
 January 27, 2019 12:07 pm

IMHO this list definetely lacks cosplay photography.

0 Reply

Ganesh Raam Ramadurai

 January 17, 2019 3:06 pm

This is an excellent article. I had always been trying to figure out how to classify my pictures. Thank you so
much!

0 Reply

Richard Collins
 January 9, 2019 6:36 am

About landscape photography, “It involves taking pictures of a natural scene….” seems misleading. Since the
1950s ‘landscape photography’ has been widely understood as pertaining to the land, including urban scenes;
and many contemporary landscape photographers primarily address the conflict between human and natural
forces on the land.
Certainly since the 1976 exhibition “New Topographics”, the concept of the Anthropocene era and it’s
implications for the landscape have been central to landscape practice.
References:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…pographics
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropocene
All the best

0 Reply

Spencer Cox Author

 Reply to  Richard Collins  January 10, 2019 6:01 am

Good point, Richard, I’ve added a note under landscape photography to include urban landscapes as well.
Thank you for the comment and Wikipedia links!

0 Reply

Frédéric Paulussen
 January 9, 2019 2:46 am

A very good and organized list of the (most mainstream) genres. I like it!
I bet it is going to help me with exploring photography even more. Sometimes I forget the other genres because I
am so entangled in my daily life doing event and corporate photography. Oh and macro photography in my spare
time.
I should definitely get into some of these genres more!

0 Reply

Spencer Cox Author

 Reply to  Frédéric Paulussen  January 9, 2019 3:22 am

Thank you, Frédéric! Great to hear, I hope it does inspire you to try out some new genres. Personally I’m looking
forward to doing more wildlife photography in 2019 – why not, I already love being out in nature, and it would
just be another good excuse to do so!

0 Reply

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