Photography is more than just pressing a shutter button — it’s an art, a story, and a science combined. With modern cameras, drones, and smartphones, there are now dozens of creative ways to capture the world. Each photography style comes with its own techniques, equipment, and storytelling approach.
In this guide, you’ll explore 30 different types of photography — from commercial and outdoor shots to creative and event-based genres. Whether you’re a beginner or a professional photographer, learning these styles can expand your skills and help you discover your niche.
30 Different Types of Photography in 2025
“Jack of all trades” is a famous saying that applies well to photography. It is important to explore multiple types and genres of photography in order to grow creatively and professionally. To build your versatility and find your passion, here are 30 genres that you can master.
1. Still Life Photography
Still life photography, a type of commercial photography, involves capturing inanimate objects such as flowers, fruits, and décor. Ordinary objects become extraordinary art through composition and lighting. In controlled studio environments, this type is ideal for product and advertising photography.
2. Stock Photography
Stock photography provides ready-made commercial images for websites, ads, and blogs. It’s a major source of income for photographers who sell photos through platforms like Shutterstock or Adobe Stock. In the digital age, stock photos fuel online marketing and brand visuals.
3. Food Photography
Food photography makes people crave a dish before tasting it. It involves styling, controlled lighting, and props to make meals look delicious. Restaurants, magazines, and food bloggers rely on this genre for visual appeal.
4. Sports Photography
Sports Photography introduces the type of photography that captures each of the sports categories. In short, such photography is included under Photojournalism. Sports photography gained popularity between 1835–1860, and it continues to be a thriving field today.
5. Modeling Photography
Model photography shows people in flattering, expressive poses. It’s essential for fashion, advertising, and branding. This picture benefits from good lighting, background, and post-processing. Get an idea of model photography through these model poses.
6. Architecture Photography
Architectural photography highlights the design, geometry, and symmetry of buildings. Understanding color composition in photography can enhance the visual appeal of both modern skyscrapers and ancient temples. Real estate companies often use it to market properties.
7. Real Estate Photography
Real Estate photography gives a complete picture of a building. This type of photography includes indoor and outdoor decoration, garden cartwheels, and a swimming pool. In the listing book, real estate photography is crucial to make your property stand out.
8. Metropolitan Photography
Metropolitan Photography is all about photographs that provide a proper explanation of a city view. Under Metropolitan Photography, there are two different types of photography. For instance, Cityscape Photography and Vehicle Photography.
9. Cityscape Photography
High-rise buildings are often thought of as Cityscape Photography. The verdict has been proven wrong; cityscape photography captures the whole city from the skyline. Pictures like these show a city’s true beauty. Using Cityscape Photography, you can get a full view of a city. It also makes the town more attractive.
10. Urban Photography
The term Urban mentions a town or city. Urban Photography is a kind of photoshoot that captures scenes inside the town or city. This genre of photographs is responsible for representing urban areas with a splendid look. Don’t forget that urban photographers can grab a better career faster than other photographers.
11. Vehicle Photography
Now it’s time to introduce Vehicle Photography—a genre that demands both skill and precision to master. It’s a subsection of Urban Photography. This genre focuses on capturing vehicles with sharp, aesthetic detail.
If I talk about career growth in vehicle photography, the automobile industry comes in a row. So, if you are trying to utilize your expertise level in Vehicle or automobile Photography, go for it.
12. Nature & Outdoor Photography
Weather photography captures dramatic natural events like lightning, storms, or sunsets. It requires patience, safety awareness, and the right camera settings to handle extreme lighting.
13. Sunrise/Sunset Photography
Sunrise/Sunset Photography brings mesmerizing pictures of the sunset and sunrise. Usually, photographers select a place like hills or high-rise buildings to click these types of photographs. Standing in an apex position gives the photographer comfort to cover the charm of the phenomenon.
14. Rainbow Photography
You may already be excited to hear the name Rainbow Photography. The only intention of such photography is to represent the rainbow within a frame. The common concern of Rainbow Photography is to provide the rainbow with a fascinating view.
15. Travel Photography
In 1855, for the first time, people became familiar with travel photography. Travel Photography is a subclass of documentary photography. It is integrated with making documentation of an area or division of a country.
16. Panorama Photography
Panoramic photography is a modern procedure that demonstrates a prolonged horizontal view of a specific place. Another name for such photography is Wide-angle Photography for the accessibility to cover a vast area in a single frame. Choosing the right Aspect Ratio in Photography helps capture the scene beautifully.
17. Landscape Photography
You may have proper knowledge of different types of photography, but avoiding Landscape Photography as your expertise category will be a big mistake. Such photography can afford to show nature and outdoor scenes.
18. Underwater Photography
Underwater Photography needs a super-efficient hand for a unique caption. Such photography covers images underwater. The requirements of modern and updated technological cameras and lenses are necessary for Underwater Photography.
19. Wildlife Photography
Wildlife Photography strongly demands a caption of various creatures or animals with their natural characteristic. Such photography refers to a kind of documentation of wildlife, for instance, wildlife’s traits when they are in their natural habitat.
20. Creative photography
Creative photography is an action to stimulate creative arts and thoughts into the pictures. One subgenre closely aligned with creativity is lifestyle photography, where emotions and natural interactions are captured artistically. It encourages photographers to go beyond their ideas and to use something different than others.
21. Crystal Ball Photography
Now it’s time to make you familiar with Crystal Ball Photography. Such photography focuses on covering the scenario in the Crystal Ball. Situating the crystal near the camera or keeping it at the edge of the camera will give you a fabulous look.
22. Fine Art Photography
Fine Art Photography is a process in which a photographer acts as an artist. This photograph is a combination of a line that photographers put in to demonstrate their creativity. Most photographer stands for Fine Art Photography to express feeling and emotion through images.
23. Multiple Exposure Photography
Multiple Exposure photography is a procedure to integrate two different types of photographs on a single layer. Many times, it is regarded as Double Exposure by the photographers. Combining two distinct pictures creates a unique view of a particular situation. Gathering efficiency in Multiple Exposure Photography may carry a fortune for your photography career.
24. Black & White Photography
Black & White Photography is an integration of grayscale photographs. Greyscale photography is a spare name for this photography, which consists of two classic colors, black and white.
In 1825, the first black and white photographs were taken successfully. If you want to bring yourself back to the 19s, you should apply this photography. Pairing it with insights from Color Psychology in Photography can deepen your understanding of visual storytelling.
25. Conceptual Photography
Concept photography is the most common way to present a proper thought into a picture. This photoshoot tells people a complete story and makes people very clear about a specific topic. Conceptual photography is for an advertisement, where images explain a service or product.
26. People & Event Photography
Event Photography is everything about taking pictures of guests or relatives who came to any occasion or event. A photographer gets a significant opportunity to enhance expertise for event shoots. One common example is graduation photoshoots—explore our best graduation picture ideas for inspiration. Even more, get the pleasure of practicing portrait and landscape photography with all the guests around you.
27. Fashion Photography
Fashion photography emphasizes style, clothing, and personality. It’s a blend of creativity, lighting mastery, and collaboration with models and designers. Commonly seen in magazines and fashion campaigns.
28. Holiday Photography
Responding to a tradition like covering pictures on holidays is a common trend among humans. On Christmas, New Year, or during seasonal celebrations like fall, people hire a photographer to save their activities with images. For inspiration, check out our fall picture ideas for your next photoshoot. In short, Holiday Photography refers to the photographs that are taken on various festivals.
29. Wedding Photography
Wedding photography documents one of life’s most emotional events. It combines portrait, event, and creative styles. Editing plays a crucial role here — post-production can enhance color tones and mood beautifully.
30. Street Photography
Street photography is a reflection of regular human life activities. This kind of photography blends people with the real world and other humans as well. To be more precise, Street Photography covers ordinary human images that are taken on the street.
Final Thought On Different Types of Photography Styles
There are endless possibilities in photography. Every genre teaches you something new about light, emotion, and perspective. If you’re just starting, experiment with a variety of styles. Mastery comes when you find the one that defines your artistic voice.
Remember, even the best photos need the right post-production touch. Services like Clipping World’s photo editing and retouching can help elevate your shots to a professional level.
Checkout Relevant Articles
- Aesthetic Photography → Understand aesthetic photography to improve visual appeal.
- Unity in Photography → Learn the concept of unity in photography for balanced images.
- Emphasis in Photography → Apply emphasis in photography to highlight subjects.
Frequently Asked Questions
The three main types of photographs are portrait, landscape, and abstract. These represent people, scenery, and creative or conceptual imagery.
Gen Z photography trends focus on authenticity, candid moments, aesthetic color grading, retro film styles, and social-first content.
The four basic types of photos are portrait, landscape, macro, and action photography.
The most in-demand photography includes product photography, ecommerce photography, real estate, lifestyle, and social media content creation.
Photos that sell the most include lifestyle images, business concepts, food photography, travel shots, and clean product images.