Do you just take photos of one genre?

Hi,

Personally I love taking pictures of basically anything that looks cool or I have a connection with. But lately, I've been going through the links of people's signatures and checking out their photos, and to my surprise many people only post pictures of one kind. For instance, some folks only have pictures of animals, others only airplanes, and others just their family.

So I was wondering, do you guys really just only use your camera for that one particular thing? Have to be honest, I wouldn't understand why.

...So for those that only post pics of just one kind, is it because you only want to show others that particularly specialty and actually use your camera for other stuff? Or you really just take those kind of photos? why?

Just curious.

A lot of people get into photography through another hobby such as hiking, bird watching etc.

They start by taking photos of that subject that interests them. Some branch out further, others specialise.

Other people start out shooting everything and might specialise later or just keep shooting all subjects.

We are all different with differing motivations and skill sets.

it depends, people who do it more for business only care to show what their brand entails, others who dont may wish to share all or only what they feel is worthy.

Xyclopx wrote in post #16004388
Have to be honest, I wouldn't understand why.

Its hard to answer because there could be a bunch of different reasons or combination of reasons a photographer decides to focus on one type of photography.

It might be all they're interested in. Or what they enjoy the most.
It might be the only thing around them.
It might just be natural for them.
It might be the way they were taught.
It might be that they want a consistant, strong body of work.
It might be that they want to get as good at that one type of photography as possible, therefore eliminating distractions.

Those are just a few reasons I can think of. For me, its a combination of reasons.

Xyclopx wrote in post #16004388
So I was wondering, do you guys really just only use your camera for that one particular thing? Have to be honest, I wouldn't understand why.

...So for those that only post pics of just one kind, is it because you only want to show others that particularly specialty and actually use your camera for other stuff? Or you really just take those kind of photos? why?

It's like sports. If you play all the sports there are, you'll suck at all of them.

If you dedicate yourself to one sport, you might not win the olympics, but you'll have a chance to be good because you focus.

And if you want to make a show, you need a finite project within a finite amount of time. Let's say a dozen prints you want to exhibit on a certain subject and only a year to produce them. If you shoot "everything", it simply can't be done.

Plus, photography means different things for different people. Some people try to capture a moment in sports. Some people tell stories. Some people's interest is more technical...

Along with sports, look at it like music; is it odd that AC/DC doesn't play almost every style or genre of music in existence?

Some musicians and bands are more diverse, of course, but even in such cases, many of them still retain a style that's fairly consistent.

However, some bands that ambitiously try to broaden their repertoire often make a self-indulgent mess, where it would have been best if they had stuck with their roots.

The point being that not everyone is a generalist, and that's OK; that's the personal element or passion of the endeavor.

neilwood32 wrote in post #16004991
A lot of people get into photography through another hobby such as hiking, bird watching etc.

They start by taking photos of that subject that interests them. Some branch out further, others specialise.

Other people start out shooting everything and might specialise later or just keep shooting all subjects.

We are all different with differing motivations and skill sets.

True. My main interest is in the "Natural World" ....I carry my camera always and take many landscape shots, with a preference for cloudy days and dramatic lighting. But my real interest is a bit closer to nature...photographing birds, and the macro world of bugs and flowers etc.

But I also love aircraft and boats, so tend to diversify a bit....and then of course there's people...preferable doing what they do, not posed in a studio.

So I guess I fit that variety of photographers who have a particular interest, but who branched out into other interests.

I mainly shoot travel stuff (landscapes, cityscapes), but was getting bored of it and started getting into street photography...I've shot tons of other stuff too, news, weddings, portraits, sports, cars, macro, etc...I was either not very good at it or I really had no interest in it...so I stick with the stuff I love...even if it is a bit limited (ie: I don't shoot people unless it's a candid street shot).

Yeah, I mainly only shoot one genre: night photos. I do shoot other times (landscape sunset and sunrise) but those are mainly just because I am around those at that timeframe, so why not... But those shots rarely see the light of day (so to speak).

I've always had a fascination with the night time ever since I could remember, and photographing it just seemed natural to me.

I've tried shooting lots of other subjects and probably have some decent work in other areas, but to me, it's not a passion, and I tend to only do things that I'm passionate about - its just the way I am.

Xyclopx wrote in post #16004388
Hi,

Personally I love taking pictures of basically anything that looks cool or I have a connection with. But lately, I've been going through the links of people's signatures and checking out their photos, and to my surprise many people only post pictures of one kind. For instance, some folks only have pictures of animals, others only airplanes, and others just their family.

So I was wondering, do you guys really just only use your camera for that one particular thing? Have to be honest, I wouldn't understand why.

...So for those that only post pics of just one kind, is it because you only want to show others that particularly specialty and actually use your camera for other stuff? Or you really just take those kind of photos? why?

Just curious.

I've been wondering a similar thing. I often wonder if I'm shooting to many topic's at once. I enjoy photographing animals (mainly pet portraits), birds, macro, getting creative (smoke trails, water drops...etc) and lately started playing around with fine art flower photography. I think sometimes I'm doing to many and it's quite hard to get really great at any one of them.

But then on the other side I become to bored if I sit to still in one area for to long. I have considered narrowing it down to two or three of them...... but finding it hard to figure out which way to go.

Perhaps I just haven't figured out my style yet.... or maybe thats a whole new topic of conversation.

In general, I think most people will tend to gravitate towards a subject if they stick with it long enough. Just look at our lives.....there are so many things to experience that there's no way any one person could experience everything in our short lifetime, so we choose those things that interest us.......same goes with photography
Even though you may feel that you currently have no bias when it comes to photography, I'm willing to bet that you do.....compared to the world of experiences available, I'm guessing that what you photograph is quite limited to the scope of things you find interesting.

I think it depends.
If you are paid for photo, you might specialize on something, because it is easier for networking, not just technically.

If you are amateur, it is completely personal choice.
Few will do nothing but BF wet plate landscape photography. And only few will see it.
Some will take pictures about anything and everywhere they go with thier mobile phone and dump it on FB and Twitter every one hour or so.
And many are in between those two extremes.

Xyclopx wrote in post #16004388
Hi,

Personally I love taking pictures of basically anything that looks cool or I have a connection with. But lately, I've been going through the links of people's signatures and checking out their photos, and to my surprise many people only post pictures of one kind. For instance, some folks only have pictures of animals, others only airplanes, and others just their family.

So I was wondering, do you guys really just only use your camera for that one particular thing? Have to be honest, I wouldn't understand why.

...So for those that only post pics of just one kind, is it because you only want to show others that particularly specialty and actually use your camera for other stuff? Or you really just take those kind of photos? why?

Just curious.

I'm most comfortable with nature and landscapes, but I'll shoot anything that catches my eye. I'm particularly bad at people photos, so I usually leave that to others.

jra wrote in post #16015958
... I'm guessing that what you photograph is quite limited to the scope of things you find interesting.

I love female nude photography
And flowers

I know what genre I like - and at what genre I can produce photos other like. This is not 100% the same.
And there are a lot of genres like micro/macro, infrared, kids,.. that I do to, but most likely with not good results. I try to concentrate to some few genres to get better there.

I do a lot of stuff, but there are only a few things where I'm confident that I do it particularly well.