PORTRAITURE PHOTOGRAPHY

If you have ever picked up a camera and took a photograph of a family member or a pet than you have done portrait photography.

Two different types of portrait photography are:

Studio – Many professional photographers have a studio where they do most of their work.  The studio most likely will have lighting, muslims (the backdrops in photographs) and different props.  Photographers can have a lot of equipment and it is much easier to bring the subject to them than to have to take all the equipment they would need to them.

Location – Many photographers including me, prefer natural lighting to artificial so they do their photography outdoors.  No matter where you live,  you can find some place that have a beautiful backdrop, whether it is at the beach, a park, famous landmark or maybe just your backyard. I live near the beach so I have the perfect backdrop.  The downside of course is the weather, you are at the mercy of Mother Nature.

NATURE/WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY

Have you ever taken a picture of a flower in your backyard or a cardinal eating out of your bird feeder?  That is nature/wildlife photography.  The great thing about nature and wildlife photography is you can do it in your own backyard or at the local park. Ansel Adams www.anseladams.com is probably the most well known nature photographer.  His shots of Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks are incredible.  This is the photography that I love to shoot.  It is beautiful and unpredictable.  The great thing about wildlife photography is no two shots are the same but you do have to be patient and you have to be ready.

One of my favorite types of photography is long exposure photography.  You can find some great photos on Fine Art America’s Long Exposure Art for Sale

LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY

Another great subject is landscape photography.  Have you ever taken a photo of a famous landmark (i.e. Lincoln Memorial, Seattle Space Needle, St. Louis Arch).  That is landscape photography. Cityscapes also fit into this category.    Cityscapes are especially great photographs when taken at night.

I always carrying extra batteries in my camera bag so if they die, I still have extras.  A few months ago I was at Huntington Beach State Park taking photos of wading birds (egrets, herons). Deciding against carrying my heavy camera bag, I just grabbed one of my cameras, my extra memory cards and headed to take more photos.  I was on the other side of the causeway from my car when my batteries died.  As I was walking back to my car  to replace them I heard crunching near me.  I turned to look and not five feet in front of me was an alligator facing me munching on a blue crab.  It would have been a great shot but because I hadn’t brought my extra batteries, I did not get the shot.

A few weeks later I was sitting at a light when to my right I saw a Red Tailed Hawk 10 feet away standing on the ground.  Because I was heading to a meeting I had not thought to bring my cameras with me.

No batteries or no camera = no shot.  The moral of the story, just like the boy scouts, is "always be prepared." You never know when you perfect shot will be presented to you and you want to be ready.