In the world of photography, everyone seems to fall into certain categories or somewhere in between. There is nothing wrong with either but most photographers seem to be one of these; technical photographers or creative. Technical photographers are more about getting it in-camera, while creative photographers are more focused on composition and post-processing. However, there are others as well, and while you may not think you are one of these, you might fall into one of the others. So what type of photographer are you?
Photographers all over the place at a popular tourist place in Australia. They are all different and take photos for different reason. There are a lot of different types of photographers.
Technical photographers
A technical photographer is one that likes to know exactly what their camera does and how it works. They understand how white balance will affect their images and what kelvin means in regards to the color scale. Generally, these photographers will know what the sweet spot is for their lens (meaning which aperture will give the best and sharpest images).
Getting the best possible image from the camera is how these photographers like to work. You will hear them talking about how they like to get the image right in-camera, meaning that they don’t want to do any post-processing, or rather they don’t want to do too much. This doesn’t mean that they aren’t also creative, but the technical aspects are more important.
A technical photographer might just do some basic processing to an image like this and leave it as it is.
Creative photographers
This type of photographer is less concerned about how the camera works and more interested in the composition and what they can do with the camera. You will often find they don’t understand a lot about their camera, other than the basics.
The more creative ones won’t have any issues with post-processing and doing what they can to achieve the results they want. Editing images is part of their creative workflow.
A creative photographer might try to do a lot of different things to an image and see if they can change it, make it their own.
Other types of photographers
While most of us will fall into one of the above, there are a lot of other categories that many of us will fit into as well. The technical versus creative side is more about what type of photographer you are, but the following says more about why you take photos. Some will fit into more fun type categories, while there are others that are a lot more serious about their craft. You may also find that you fit in more than one of these.
The Fun Photographer
There are a lot these sorts of photographers out there, they often just use phones and are not interested in any technical aspects at all. They are more interested in just taking photos for fun. They will usually only use the cameras that are in their phones.
This category of photographer will take a lot of selfie images. You see them in many places with their backs to the sights as they photograph themselves in front of them. The don’t take photography seriously and for many, the images will go to social media and possibly nowhere else.
In some ways, many of us fit into this category. We are all guilty of taking selfies and taking photos just for fun. There’s nothing wrong with this.
People at popular tourist place taking photos of themselves with their phone. They are having fun taking photos.
The Social Photographer
For some people, joy comes from going out with others to do activities or hobbies. There are a lot of people who are like this, and we call them social photographers. They have cameras, but the only time they use them is when they go out during photography excursions with others who are like them, or groups of people.
They may not have the most expensive gear, but it is good enough to take images and share the experience with other photographers.
A group of photographers out together enjoying the social aspect of photography.
The Holiday Photographer
It is hard to believe, but there are people who only take photos when they go on holidays. I have a friend who is one of these. She has learned how to use a DSLR, but she only uses it when she is travelling. She has no interest in taking photos other than to record her trips.
There are other people who are the same. Holidays can be expensive and remembering them is important. So, for these photographers it is vital to know how to take photos so they can capture those places to help them relive their holidays.
A man holidaying in Melbourne taking photos of the Block Arcade.
The Hobby/Amateur Photographer
There are many photographers that fall into this category, the hobby or amateur photographer. They are usually people who like taking photos for leisure. They don’t do it to earn money, but as something they can do in their spare time.
Going out on the weekends or days off when work and family life allows. They often have gear that is fairly basic as they can’t afford to spend that much money on their hobby. There is no reason to believe the images they create are not good, in fact most of these photographers still take what they do seriously and will learn what they can to take good photos.
A hobby/amateur photographer taking photos around an old building.
The Serious Amateur Photographer
In this category, you will find the next level of hobby photographers. They do it for their own interest but they are far more serious about it. They spend as much time as they can out taking photos. Often, they will learn everything they can about their cameras and photography in general.
They can be really rigid in their thinking and you might find a lot of them don’t believe in post-processing. In some ways, they can be very technical photographers and because of this they often have the best gear they can afford. Many will have professional level photography equipment.
They can be like professionals, but in many ways they still do it for fun.
Serious amateur photographer getting ready to take a photo.
The Professional Photographer
They say a professional photographer is anyone who makes money from photography. The reality is a lot do, you could say that someone who sells a photo has made money, so that put them into this category. Perhaps, it should mean making a living by doing photography. Whether that is a lot or not is up to the individual.
The professional doesn’t listen to what is right or wrong in photography and will do what they must to get the image for their client. They can be technical, or creative depending on the work they do. Most know how to use photo manipulation software. They tend to do their own thing.
A professional photographer with expensive gear, taking photos.
Which one are you?
You might fit into one or more of these categories of photographers. There are no hard rules about it. It is important to remember that most of these are just generalizations and there will always be differences.
So which type of photographer are you? Which do you most relate to? Fill in the poll below and tell us!
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