Specialize Your Photography Training and Career

Commercial photography – Take pictures for any number of commercial purposes from catalogues to marketing materials to advertisements. Your clients will most likely give you well-defined parameters for your projects, with the goal of selling a product. In commercial photography, you'll be shooting a wide variety of subjects in diverse locations.

Fashion photography – Capture the latest fashions on the runways in major fashion cities like New York, Paris and London, or shoot fashion spreads or advertisements for top name designers or department stores.

Fine art photography – Use your knowledge of lighting, composition and imagery to create meaningful, artistic images that galleries—and collectors—look for.

Forensic photography – Document the details of crime scenes to help law enforcement officers solve crimes and to aid in criminal justice procedures.

Medical photography – Capture images of organs or medical procedures that will be used in medical texts and research documents.

Nature photography – Take pictures of landscapes, plants and animals. A nature photography job can take you to a wide variety of locations around the world.

Photojournalism – Use your photography skills to document the latest breaking news or in-depth feature. Take pictures of people, places and events that your audience will be interested in learning about.

Portrait photography – The challenge of portrait photography can be to capture something about the personality of your subject—whether you're taking pictures of beautiful celebrities or making ordinary people look their best. In a portrait photography job you may work with individuals or groups, or you might work at events like weddings. You may work in a studio or on location.

As you start your photography training or launch your career, think about what kinds of photography are most interesting to you. While you don't have to stick with just one photography specialty, having expertise in one or two areas may help you make a name for yourself. Think of photographers like Annie Leibovitz, known for her portraits, or Ansel Adams, known for his landscapes. Determining what kind of photography training to pursue can be a good first step on the way to getting the photography career you've always wanted.