Types of Photography

Aerial:                  From a plane, helicopter, balloon or other airborne device.
Adventure, Action :   Adventure sports, daring feats, etc.
Amateur  :                  Any type of photography practiced by non-professionals.
Animal, Pet:          Pets and their relationships with humans. Note that the human content is often as important as the animal.

Architecture, Real Estate:   The art of making property appear attractive. Often involves panoramic photography.
Artistic:                    Photography in which creative composition is the goal.
Astrophotography :     Space photography, through a telescope.
Aura:                            A controversial type of photography which some claim can photograph a person's aura.Often confused with Kirlian photography.

Black & White:   Not simply photography without colour, black and white photography explores shapes, tones and textures. Shadows and highlights become much more important.

Camera Phone:          Convenience" photography using a mobile phone's built-in camera. While not the best quality, camera phones have opened a new world of spontaneous, on-the-spot photo opportunities.

Commercial:            Product shots, advertising, etc.
Digiscoping:            Photography through a telescope or binoculars.
Documentary:            Journalism, Events, Historical, Political, etc.
Event:                    Concerts, parties, festivals, weddings, etc.
Forensic:                     Police and legal photography.
Infrared:                    Photography in which the recording medium is sensitive to infrared light rather than the normal visible light spectrum.

Large Format:             For use on posters, billboards, etc.
Kirlian:                      A type of contact print photography in which an object touching a photographic plate is connected to a high voltage source, creating an aura-like image. Often confused with aura photography.

Macro:                     The art of photographing very small and/or close-up objects.
Medical:                      Specialized photography for clinical purposes, i.e. to help reveal and diagnose illness.

Microscopic:           Any technique for photographing objects too small to be visible to humans.
Modeling:                    Photographing objects to be converted into 3D models.
Nature:                    Landscapes, animals, plants, sea, etc.
Night:                    Any technique used to capture images at night. Often includes infrared photography.

Panoramic:            Views of wide areas, up to complete 360° panoramas.
Paranormal:           Ghosts, unexplained phenomena, etc.
People:                   Candid, Family, Fashion, Glamour, Passports & Visas, Portrait, Pregnancy, School, Sports, Wedding

Pinhole:                     Uses the most basic type of camera possible — a box with a tiny hole to let light in.

Scenic:                      Landscape, Cityscape
Satellite:                      Views of Earth from orbit.
Scientific:                      Any specialized photography used for scientific endeavour, e.g. electron microscopy photographs, medical photography, astrophotography, etc.

Sports:                      The specialized art of shooting people engaged in sports, games and adventure activities.

Stereoscopic (3-D):         Involves taking two photos simultaneously to simulate 3-D vision.
Stock:                         Photographs taken for distribution to other people, for use in their projects. These photos tend to be quite generic, e.g. people working, landscapes, places, etc.

Time-lapse:                 Photographs with a very long exposure, used to illustrate something happening over time. A popular example is a street at night with car lights blurred into long lines.

Travel:                         Photography to showcase locations, illustrate travel literature, etc.
Ultraviolet:                 Photography in which the recording medium is sensitive to ultraviolet light rather than the normal visible light spectrum.

Urban, Industrial:          Emphasizing urban environments.
Water, Underwater:          Any type of photography taken under water with a water-tight camera housing.

what is photography

Photography is the science, art and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film.

Typically, a lens is used to focus the light reflected or emitted from objects into a real image on the light-sensitive surface inside a camera during a timed exposure. With an electronic image sensor, this produces an electrical charge at each pixel, which is electronically processed and stored in a digital image file for subsequent display or processing. The result with photographic emulsion is an invisible latent image, which is later chemically "developed" into a visible image, either negative or positive depending on the purpose of the photographic material and the method of processing. A negative image on film is traditionally used to photographically create a positive image on a paper base, known as a print, either by using an enlarger or by contact printing.
Photography is employed in many fields of science, manufacturing e.g. photolithography
and business, as well as its more direct uses for art, recreational purposes, hobby, and mass communication.