All photographs are lies of omission. That is to say that no single photograph can contain all of the scene’s information due to the limitations of the medium. Good print makers learn how to make an image appear to be complete. But I will get into that in a later blog. Today I would like to define the different types of photography.
Nature photography is an attempt by the photographer to depict the natural world around us. In theory, the hand of man is not to be evident in the final result. In practice, the hand of man is often used quite heavily to perform this kind of work. Often branches are moved out of the way, sometimes via pruning. Strobes are often used to ensure the elusive target has been rendered motionless enough to remain in focus. Some nature photographers that shoot insects actually capture the bugs and chill them so they will be sluggish and won’t just fly out of frame. There are others that rely upon captive animals because an encounter with the creature could be extremely detrimental for the survival of either party. Serious nature photographers do not shoot domesticated plants or animals (at least not with their camera).
Journalistic photography is the style that most people equate with the adage “a picture is worth a thousand words”. The photographer is not supposed to do any nonessential manipulation of the image in post production (don’t add smoke, change skin tones or eliminate the village idiot saying hi to his mother from the background). Preproduction and staging of the photographs in this genre has been known to happen without serious repercussions. Many of the Brady Civil War Photographs had bodies moved to make the frame more dramatically balanced. On top of that, government leaders rarely miss an opportunity to portray themselves in a positive light. The aim of the journalistic photographer is to pack as much honesty into the photo as possible.
Landscape photographs are usually either highly manipulated in post process (High Dynamic Range) or the photographer was extremely patient (or just plain lucky). Light and weather play a large role in making these images of Earth appealing. Landscape photographers tend to work in the golden hours, shortly before sunrise and about 2 hours after it and the 2 hours before sunset and a bit after that. During mid day they scout out locations they would like to shoot, travel to the next shot, or nap. Although lots of landscape photographers don’t like them, post cards and calendars depend heavily on their services.
Cityscapes are similar to landscapes, but show off the architectural efforts of man. These shooters often get to shoot at night, as city lights can be more interesting objects than the buildings by themselves. One big advantage of night photos, the trash doesn’t show up as easily. The biggest disadvantage of shooting city scenes at night is that the dregs of society like to prey upon distracted people and camera equipment fences easily. Post processing of cityscapes is often done to make the city look better.
Fashion photography is often thought of by potential models as the high end of modeling. In reality, fashion models are walking clothes racks being used to show off the apparel. The main reason tall models are chosen for this work is that on a runway, a tall model’s clothes can be seen from the back of the room. Odd posing angles are often the result of trying to get as much of a single girl and her outfit in the frame without distorting the shape of the clothes.
Aside from fashion, where tall models rule, all other types of photography has no required body type. Catalogs and most other kinds of commercial photography use models to show off the product and since no parade is being put on, height does not matter for these kinds of shots.
Environmental photography is not shooting to appease the tree huggers. It is shooting a person or object in the vicinity of where they are normally found. Bathrooms, barstools, and casino interiors are not usually involved in these shots, but they are not ruled out. These shots are often found in brochures and company reports. Models are often used in these situations if the photograph is going to be used as part of the advertising campaign or equipment manual. Wedding photography would fall into a subset of environmental photography as the goal is to showcase the happy couple within the area of the event.
Boudoir photography and glamor photography are similar, yet the goal of each is different. In boudoir the photographer is supposed to be creating a dreamy romantic scene that leads the viewer towards an illusion. Sex is merely hinted at and not an overt part of the scene. Glamor can be done on any boudoir set, but boudoir can not be done on every glamor set. The most important thing to remember about shooting boudoir is that the photograph should reflect anticipation of an intimate occurrence, not the real thing, so implied nudity is preferred for these shots over nudity itself.
Glamor shots are all about desire. It is the model’s expression that sets the over all tone for a successful glamor shot. It should elicit a high level of excitement when the shot is viewed. These are the kinds of shots used for advertising as when you get excited about a the model (or the product) you tend to equate that level of excitement with a reason to buy. Glamor shots can be done in any attire including lingerie, evening wear, or nude, but the clothing or lack of clothing is not as important as the eye contact the model makes with the camera. Many photographers forget that it is a come hither look for potential sex that makes these shots work, not the state of dress and definitely not actual sex.
Portraiture is done a lot, and a lot of it is done poorly. Portraits should instill a sense of who the person is in the photograph. Many of the ones I see are more like a deer in the headlights look or you can sense the hand trying to get in position to block the camera. Posing should be done to create the tone of a good portrait. The pose can be formal or informal, but I am tired of looking at flat lit, red eyed pictures of people with a very cluttered background. Portraiture will be looked at in more detail in another post.