how did you hone in on what you shoot?

For those that have been shooting for a while, how did you decide what subjects you shoot? For example, landscape shooters, how did you decide that you wanted to focus on landscapes? As someone who is heavily interested in a few subjects, (birds, wildlife, landscapes) I'm having trouble deciding which gear path i want to go down. I don't necessarily want to limit myself, but I would like to have the equipment to shoot one thing really well as opposed to being able to shoot lots of things "OK."

Does anyhing I'm asking make any sense? Another example: say you like shooting urban shots and wildlife. How did you decide which path to go down, if you did only pick one?

I'm not looking for advice specific to me, but more of a general thought process that others may have taken. I'm sureiim not the only one to think this.

How did you fine tune your photographic interests to what they are today?

My hardware picks were fairly simple, as I already knew what I needed, but ended up being able to shoot quite a lot of different things. I probably shot 90% of my photos with a 70-200, everything from macro and urban to wildlife and landscape, there's no reason not to have a lens like this.

I think it's more about how you want to use the equipment rather than what it was specifically intended for. Gear really only matters when it comes down to whether or not it's even physically possible to get the shot, like having a wide-angle if you need to fit something in the frame, or a fast lens if you need all the shutter speed you can get.

If I were to put together a camera kit from scratch today, it would probably consist of either the 24LII or the 24mm TS-E, 70-200 f/2.8 IS II, and the 400/5.6 if I shot wildlife. One rarely needs more than 3 lenses to be able to shoot everything, unless you're allergic to zooms or are a collector.

Nice idea for a thread.

For me, I've always enjoyed shooting a wide variety of subject matter, but because of limited shooting times, I shot a lot after work, which meant shooting at night. I became fascinated with shooting night stuff and my earlier work centered around lots of architecture, street shooting, car lights, etc...

As technology advanced, so did my subject matter. With more capable equipment (namely better high ISO) I was able to shoot in darker areas with quicker capture times. I'd always been into landscapes and so I started to try and shoot landscapes at night.

Since moving to Texas, I'm don't have an abundance of really pretty landscape scenes (unless you like cows and flat fields ) so I turned to other subject matters that I had an interest in and that were abundant in Texas: abandonements, old cars, roadside oddities, etc..

I've now got a sorta varied portfolio of night scenes, but lately I've been doing more traveling in order to find more varied subject matters to shoot at night.

I've got several more trips planned this year with a good range of subject matter, some that you don't normally see photographed at night.

It's a niche, but I like it and I enjoy the solidarity of working at night, no distractions and it can be more challenging.

I still shoot other things at other times, but I really enjoy doing what I do and I don't see that changing.

Great question!

I like birds, wildlife and landscapes; mainly because if I'm shooting those things, I'm outdoors and away from the daily grind. My favorite part about it is having some form of relationship with the feathered and furry critters, even if it's just as an observer. If I can get in and my presence doesn't bother them, so they go about their own business or they come by to see what I'm up to, then things are good.

To that end, I started my kit with a bent toward birds, and it just turns out that the same kit is great for other wild life. For landscapes, there isn't too much needed aside from the moderate to wide angle, which I have covered with two lenses, a good tripod and some filters [which were the most difficult gear to acquire]. Since I only dabble in the landscape shooting while I'm out looking/waiting for my real "prey", I didn't need anything fancy.

One of the big deciding factors has been that for any particular niche of shooting, there are many, small ins and outs that you need to learn and practice in order to really get good; and it's much easier to pick one to put most of your time into. I love the color, detail and personalities that the various bird species show and it gives me lots of learning to do, constantly; so that was mainly what pushed me this direction

Good question indeed.

My honest opinion. Don't limit yourself to certain subjects. You might enjoy photographing birds, but by photographing other subjects, you increase your abilities as a photographer overall. What you have learned from sports, portraiture, landscape, architecture, etc, may actually help you better compose or create bird photos. Creativity is about making connections. When connecting two elements that do not normally exist together, you've just created something new and amazing. Thus, the more you know, the more connections are possible. Also realize sometimes, what you're good at might not necessarily be what you like. For example, I'm better at event photography and photojournalism, but I don't enjoy it.

I've been doing photography for fun for 15+ years. What I enjoy photography was related to the equipment I had, not the other way around where one would buy equipment to photograph what they enjoy. For example, when I first used film, I used a 50mm lens. When I looked back at my photos, most of the images were of people. However, when I got into DSLRs, I found myself enjoying long exposures and landscape work more. To help myself figure out what I really enjoy, I try to spend a lot of time with a fix set of equipment. Such as, I want to use 1 prime lens for 2-3 weeks. Such exercise will force me to explore the limitations of that 1 tool. If I discover that the 1 tool is not working out or im not getting photos I want, I move on. Thats how things worked for me.

I'm a sh!te landscape photographer, so I shoot people.

I shoot what I do and do what I love!

I first got into landscape photography because I spent most of my free time backpacking, bicycling, and canoeing, and wanted to capture the amazing things I saw.

Then I branched into sports shooting because I love sports, and the excitement of trying to time a great shot is fun.

Now I'm getting into "street photography", mainly because I enjoy just walking around and looking for interesting situations.

The great thing about landscape photography is that I feel like it can be done really well on a budget. I have cheap lenses, but always stop them down to their optimal apertures. My rebel and lenses are also compact and light, which I appreciate. I am saving up for a nice prime to shoot the streets with.

I was a gigging musician for almost ten years. The gig started to be too much like a second job, though, and it sucked all the fun out of it.

I still liked the live-music venue atmosphere, though, whether it was a club or an arena. Therefore, I proclaimed myself a "concert photographer".

I should've been cited for littering early on...

I have always loved racing - I like watching it and even occasionally compete too. So it felt completely natural to start shooting it

I picked my gear with racing in mind (70-200 f/2.8 is definitely my most used lens), but it's varied enough for other things like portraits, travel, zoo etc. But no matter what, racing will always be my first love - there is always something to learn, experiment and play with there.

To some extent, what I am not interested in played a major role, whereby a natural process of elimination occurred concurrently with that which was increasingly drawing my interests.

I generally like shooting outdoors…outdoors just happens to be cities for me.

The situation is still evolving, constantly trying to figure out any relevancy to it all, if any, while keeping it fun.

But no, I have no desire to shoot a wide variety of genres.

I started with photography back in the 70's and 80's when I was spending a lot of time hiking and backpacking, so it was natural for me to do nature (sorry for the unintentional pun ). I don't relate well to people in a formal setting, so portrait photography is not my forté.

My wife and I are moving to the Bahamas in a couple of months, so macro, seascapes and sunsets may become my primary focus. Fortunately, my gear kit is good for just about anything.