Popular Photography Types in 2022 and Some Common Terms

Photography is one of the top trending professions in 2022 and definitely, a top gig hit. An exciting profession that helps to save lots of memorable moments to see later, it is not only a lot of fun but also a lot of hard work.

Every day lots of people tend to learn photography, whether by attending a course or by practicing. But keep in mind that photography is a tricky art and needs a high concentration. Choosing a qualified photography course can be a strong start for amateur photographers to capture better images.

Photography is an activity full of interest and excitement. It can be for fun and, at the same time, a source of income for life.

What is Photography?

Literally, photography is the process of drawing art using light. It is the process of taking pictures by capturing light on a photosensitive surface like a photographic film or an electronic image sensor. Photographers imagine something in their minds and then create the final result with the tools in their hands. They explain photography in three words: seeing, vision, and imagination.

Photography has different types. These types include architectural, black and white, Astro, creative, drone, business, and double-exposure photographs.

Architectural Photography

The world’s oldest picture is an architectural photograph from 1826 or 1827. Architectural photography is one of the photography types in the world with the main subject being the buildings’ interior or exterior shots.

Exterior shots usually use daylight to capture the building and its nearby landscape or use lighting from streets or moonlight at night. The interior shots are sometimes used to complete the exterior shots.

Black and White Photography

Black and white photography, also known as fine photography, focuses on taking images in no color. Photographers can take these images through camera settings or edit them afterward.

In the first days of photography, almost all the pictures were black and white. With the improvement of technology, colored photography was born in the mid-20th century and produced the black and white genre. Photographers mostly use this genre to produce a nostalgic or vintage vibe.

Astrophotography

Astrophotography is capturing pictures from astronomical objects such as stars, the moon, and the sun. planets, and other night sky objects

Keep in mind that getting into astrophotography is no child's play. Astrophotography needs lots of equipment and techniques to be able to capture a clear picture with details. Tripods, telescopes, tracking mounts, and imaging sensors are some of the tools needed for a good photograph from the night sky.

Creative Photography

Creative photography is one of those genres that is growing in popularity but is hard to define. It includes lots of concepts, techniques, and subtypes. Creative photography includes composite photography, fisheye lens photography, and crystal ball photography.

Photographers always can make a new subtype by experimenting with filters, textures, shutter speed, and motion blur.

Drone Photography

Drone photography is also known as aerial photography and is focused on capturing pictures from high In the sky. Photographers in this genre need helicopter, plane, or literally a drone.

Because of the challenges and high prices of planes and helicopters, photographers prefer to use a drone and capture pictures remotely. Photographers usually use this technology for creating maps, archaeology, movie production, and environmental studies.

Business Photography

Business photography is capturing images of products/services, company employees, shop front, etc. for marketing purposes. It allows the brand to tell a story about its products and services through the use of pictures.

These photos are used for marketing, brochures, and other forms of advertising. Its subtypes include portrait photography, product photography, and candid photography.

Double-exposure Photography

Double-exposure photography is merging two or more photos into one. In the past, it needed unique camera development techniques. But now, modern cameras have related settings that allow photographers to do it so easily.

There are also editing software like Adobe Photoshop that helps photographers to merge the pictures into one after capturing them. Some smartphones also have apps that make it possible to produce this effect within minutes.

One will need to determine composition when doing double-exposure shots. The photographer must capture a base photo first, and then the layer photo. Then he /she must merge the images into one before removing the background of the base photo and blend them together to get the final result.

Apart from the types of photography available, you may also want to familiarise yourself with some simple terms often used in photography. We have an article on them written previously for beginners but here are some of them:

• Exposure Exposure is the darkness or lightness in an image. It defines whether a picture is light or dark. We have two exposures in photography, Overexposed and underexposed. Overexposed means that the image was exposed to too much light. Underexposed means that the image wasn’t exposed to enough light. The photographer can control exposure through the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.
  

• Aperture Aperture is the size of openings in the lens and is measured by footsteps. Aperture determines the darkness or lightness of a picture, as well as how much of the picture is in focus. Wide-open apertures capture brighter images with unfocused backgrounds, while narrow apertures capture dark and clear images.
  

• Shutter Speed Shutter speed is the part of the camera that opens and closes to let the light in. Photographers measure the shutter speed in seconds or a fraction of a second. The amount of light in an image depends on how long the shutter speed stays open. The more the shutter speed stays open, the brighter the picture is. Keep in mind that if anything moves while the shutter speed is open, it will become a blur.
  

• ISO The ISO shows how sensitive the camera is to light. A high ISO means more sensitivity to light while a low ISO means less sensitivity to light. Pictures with high ISO have fewer details while pictures with a low ISO are more detailed. Photographers can balance the ISO with aperture and shutter speed for better exposure.
  

• Bokeh Bokeh is the balls that appear when the light is out of focus in a picture. Photographers can create bokeh through a wide aperture and use it as a neat effect in pictures’ backgrounds.

Although possible, it is never easy to try scaling up your knowledge in photography without the help of a good mentor or guidance. Take a look at our Diploma in Photography & Digital Imaging where experienced professional photographers with live models and studios are being used to impart real photography knowledge to you in Singapore.