Genres of Location Photography

 In this post I will be explaining the genres of location photography and what they are:

Genres:

 "Napalm Girl"  nick ut 1972

Journalism: This type of photography is used to broadcast events and purposes. The images are used to tell a story alone without words.
Equipment used for this type of work would be a sturdy, durable weather resistant camera with a good quality prime lens such as a 35 or 50mm. I would choose this as the aperture would be nice and fast, something faster than 2.8 no less. To pair up with this I would have a nice zoom lens such as a 70mm-200mm, this would allow me to cover folcal lengths of many situations.



Street by me
Nikon D5000, lens 18-55mm, SS 1/125, AV 9.0, ISO400

Street Photography: Generally shooting from the hip the aim is to capture the essence of the streets environment without the subjects becoming aware of you photographing. 

Fashion: This type of photography is often used for advertising purposes. In general it is usually a subject modelling fashion, make up or hair style on location. It is usually the location that can help manipulate and enhance the said product. Cameras are generally set at the standard ISO100, SS 1/125 AV 9.0, The additional studio lighting and techniques are responsible for the end resulted image.

Sports: Action shots in sharp focus is generally what this genre includes. The images usually have a shallow depth of field with the main subject is in sharp focus. I have added another post for sports photography. This posts in more depth what would be involved and what equipment would be required.



Architectural by me
NIKON D5000, ISO 800, lens 70-300mm, AV f/16, SS 1/125

Architectural: Is capturing the characteristics of buildings/structures. The beauty of the buildings etc this could be the shapes, size, colours and textures. Angles and lighting can help the photographer to capture these details.
Equipment needed. The angle, aperture and exposure helps to create a brilliant architectural image however a good wide angle and/or tilt shift lens would be ideal. A tilt shift lens allows the photographer to manipulate the angle the image is taken at. Tilt shift lenses remove the normal restrictions of depth of field and persepective.If a tilt shift lens is not available another way of achieving the same effect would be to use the skew tool in photoshop. I have attached a tutorial with a great example on how to do this. click here  A remote and a sturdy tripod with a level on the hot shoe would be a good idea too to ensure the images a crystal clear and straight when needed.

Scientific: This type of photography is usually used to show viewers things that cannot be seen by the naked eye or in person.  Photomacrography and photomicrography are used to produce microscopic images, using special equipment like macro lenses etc are used to achieve this. Ring flashes are a common piece of equipment to use for macro photography as is helps to capture the fine details.

Documentary: Is as it says, images documenting a fact ie ex ray, scans, passport photographs. These images are generally taken without any enhancements and are not alter in any way as they need to document their natural state.

Landscape by me

NIKON D500 AV F16, ISO400, SS1/125 zoom lens 70-300mm

Environmental: Landscapes etc, capturing the essence and beauty of the natural environment using the natural elements to enhance the landscapes ie sunset over the sea, moonlight over a rocky mountain etc

Fine Art by me
NIKON D5000, 50mm prime lens, AV F/2,4, ISO800, SS1/80

Fine Art: Is more for display purposes for example creative intent rather than for commercial use and client requirement.

Music: Similar to commercial, these images capture live events of bands and musicians. As a lot of these events are in the evening or indoors and in low light conditions a good pro camera a cmos sensor and a lens with fast aperture speed would be ideal 50mm prime 1.8. It would allow you to open the lens nice and wide, letting the light in thus allowing you to get the speed of your camera nice and fast to capture nice sharp images. Shoot in Aperture Priority.You can also have a speedlight tilting up to the ceiling to provide more light but I think with the correct lens and ISO settings this would not be needed. I think the grain given from high ISO adds to the efffect of music photography.

Wildlife by me

Wildlife/Nature: Captures the subject normally within its natural habitat in its natural state and form.
Equipment used

• Camera Body - DSRL with manual focus override.
• Wide Angle Zoom 
• Telephoto Zoom 
• Tripod
• Filters - Tiffen and Hoya are good, polarising and uv filters are probably the main ones you would use, UV are designed to remove the uv rays that can decrease the quality of your images. Polarizing filters can help to prevent reflections from pavement, foliage, and shiny objects can have a negative effect on your photos.

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