Architecture photography of any kind is always mesmerizing. The breathtaking designs, magnificent structures and the effect of light on them are a menu every photography lover cannot be fed up with. And as the world progresses and technology takes us to another level, various architectural designs have emerged that have held the masses in awe. Even while this presents great opportunities for photographers to capture these designs in frozen frames, trying something different like abstract architecture will bury the monotony of steel and glass, steel and glass, steel and glass...

Abstract architecture can be created by computers to create illusions of all kinds. But there is a feel of human touch when that is captured by a camera. Abstract architecture can be described as a form of an architectural presentation that has an intellectual and affective artistic content that depends solely on intrinsic form rather than on narrative content or pictorial representation. In a layman’s language, it is where a small part of an architectural structure is captured to form the main composition rather than trying to capture a larger portion, if not the entire structure. If mastered, this form of photography is a great art. Here are a few tips that can help one in capturing great abstract architecture photos.

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Photographing sand? Probably this would be the reaction of many after hearing of someone with his or her gear out in the desert or beach photographing sand. Many of us have visited beaches, walked on their white sands yet did not think great photos could come out of them and rather concentrated on the expanse of waters and the orange horizons. The truth is sand photography is one of the most rewarding forms of photography. Some of the best landscape or nature photographers have taken picturesque shots of sand dunes or desert sands, not forgetting the famous sandy beaches.

Photographing sand is not an easy task, even though it may sound easy. It involves hardships, technical difficulties and if you lack good artistic or photographic eye, disappointing results. One of the major problems one faces when photographing sand is exposure. This is because sand is often bright and reflects a lot, making the camera come up with wrong readings. Here is a brief on how you can shoot sand, overcoming exposure issues and making the best out of various sand forms.

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Our streets are filled with attractive posters and hoardings featuring various food items. For many years, food has been used to advertise many products including itself and companies or hotels making them. A cookbook will have no takers if it’s done without photographs of the foods being features there. Cookbooks are filled with mouth watering photographs of foods taken in various angles and arrangements. All this tells us that food photography is a genre that is here to stay and one that one can’t go wrong with if taken as a business as long as the skills and tricks are well mastered.

Food photography is still photography that aims at photographing foot items in a way to make them appealing and attractive for use in advertising, cookbooks, menus and ingredients. Photographing food requires special skills and techniques since dealing with foods is challenging due to the way they lose their visual value quickly. Here is a short munch into this delicious genre of food photography.

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You might have seen those pictures taken without make up, or without following any rules including the rule or thirds. You might have taken time to look at them, at times you may have laughed or just smiled but never realized they were not planned and ended up breaking all basic photography rules yet you remember them more than the ones you have seen on covers of magazines! What you saw were products of street photography, a photography genre that aims at capturing your subjects in their candid best with no or little interaction with the camera or photographer.

According to Wikipedia, “Street photography is a type of documentary photography that features subjects in candid situations within public places such as streets, parks, beaches, malls, political conventions and other settings.” The London Festival of Street Photography came up with a close definition though they took a more liberal route when they defined street photography as, “un-posed, un-staged photography which captures, explores or questions contemporary society and the relationships between individuals and their surroundings.” The two definitions clearly bring out the meaning of this fun genre of photography. Let’s explore further a few aspect of street photography.

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One of the greatest dilemma you may face as a photographer (amateur or professional) is the type of gear to use for each photography genre. The sad thing is that most amateurs don’t have options and so they put their only camera and lenses on a hard drive and in the end they don’t get good photos for certain photography sessions. Photography gear is as important as other tools are for other trades. Doing photography with the wrong gear is like a carpenter trying to make a table using farming tools!

When one hears of gear guide, he or she may expect a short but comprehensive guide to what gear to use that will fit the needs of all photography genre. That is not the case. The complexity of photography gear lies in the fact that for each genre of photography, you may need a completely different gear. For example, if you are doing wildlife photography, you will need lenses with super reach but this may not be the case if you are doing wedding photography or micro photography. For the sake of this article, we will briefly look into a few common photography genres and the gear you can use.

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