Photography Genres

30 Types of Photography Niches

Photo of author
Written By Nate Torres

In this guide, we’ll be covering photography niches and how to choose the right one for you.

Photography is a powerful medium that captures and preserves moments, memories, and emotions that can last a lifetime. From capturing stunning landscapes to creating vibrant portraits, photography offers a vast array of opportunities to explore various niches and styles.

If you’re looking to dive into the world of photography or broaden your existing skills, then you’ll be amazed by the diverse range of options available to you.

In this article, we’ll explore 25 different photography niches that you can explore to find your passion and hone your craft. Whether you’re interested in shooting wildlife, fashion, or street photography, this article will guide you through some of the most exciting and rewarding photography niches out there.

What is a Niche?

A niche is a segment of a larger market that has its own unique needs, pain points, and identity.

An example of a niche within the larger marketing of photography is fashion photography.

Understanding what niche you are in and how that niche plays into the larger market, will allow you to hone in on your product/service positioning strategy and corporate image within the market.

This will allow you to establish a defined brand that is unique and memorable.

Let’s take a look at some of the common photography niches.

photography niche

Types of Photography Niches

1. Portrait Photography

Portrait photography is one of the most common photography niches.

Portrait photography is the art of photographing a person or a group of people with the goal of capturing their personalities and stories into a single frame.

With the rise of more advanced smartphone capabilities, most beginners turn towards portrait photography as their intro to photography.

There is something about capturing a genuine expression from an individual that allows us to gain introspection. It is for this reason that portrait photography has remained one of the most popular photography types throughout history.

portrait photography
portrait

2. Landscape Photography

Landscape photography is another common photography niche and type.

Landscape photography is the art of photographing the outdoors with the goal of bringing the viewer into the scene.

With the advent of social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook and the rise of better smartphone technology, landscape photography has also increased in popularity.

landscape photography
landscape photo

3. Street Photography

Street photography is the art of capturing a candid moment of a subject in its current environment

The subjects are often living beings such as people or animals.

The difference between a street photograph and a regular portrait photograph is that in portrait photographs, the subject knows they are going to be photographed.

There are “street portraits,” however, that combine the two concepts.

street photography
street photo

4. Headshot Photography

Headshot photography involves a portrait picture with a particular focus on the person’s face.

Headshots are very popular when in need of a new profile picture for one of many public digital profiles that we now use on a daily basis.

Headshots and portraits can be quite similar but the distinction I like to make is that a headshot usually only includes the photo of a subject from their shoulders to their head.

A portrait can be of a subject’s whole body.

The way I like to think of it is that a headshot can also be a portrait, but a portrait isn’t necessarily a headshot.

headshot photograph
headshot

5. Still Life Photography

Still-life photography is the art of capturing an inanimate subject in a created setting.

The particular arrangement and lighting in still-life photography are what separates a professional still-life photographer from an amateur.

6. Food Photography

Food photography is a type of still-life photography that focuses on food as its subject. (check out the best cameras for food photography)

food photography
food photography

7. Sports Photography

Sports photography is the art of capturing events and moments during sporting events.

Sports photography is often considered a branch of photojournalism.

8. Wildlife Photography

Wildlife photography is the art of capturing various forms of wildlife in their natural habitat and environment (check out list of best lenses for wildlife photography).

wildlife photography
wildlife photography

9. Macro Photography

Macro photography is the art of capturing an extremely close-up image of a small subject such as insects, flowers, etc.

Macro photography is often accompanied by a macro lens that will allow you to capture these larger-than-life images.

macro photography
macro photography

10. Event Photography

Event photography is the art of capturing moments, guests, and occurrences at an event or occasion.

Event photographers are often needed when there are parties, music events, or any other gatherings where the moments will want to be remembered.

11. Fashion Photography

Fashion photography is the art of capturing a subject that is displayed in a certain set of fashion items such as clothing or accessories.

Fashion photography is often found in fashion magazines or websites such as Vanity Fair, Vogue, etc.

Fashion photography is similar to portrait photography, however, in fashion photography, the main attention should be on the clothing/fashion items as opposed to the subject’s expression.

fashion photography
fashion photography

12. Newborn Photography

Newborn photography is the art of capturing newborn babies.

Since newborn photographers are dealing with babies, safety is the #1 priority.

The plus side of newborn photography is that you’ll often have the parents as your assistants and they can hold up and pose the baby!

13. Photojournalism

Photojournalism is a form of journalism that focuses on capturing images that will help the narrative of a news story.

At its core, it’s about telling a story through an image.

photojournalism
photojournalism

14. Stock Photography

Stock photography is the practice of capturing photographs with the sole intention of licensing them for use.

Stock photographers upload their images to Stock Photography Websites and in return make some money from their images.

The relationship is mutually beneficial.

People use stock photographs for their websites and stock photographers take photographs for the money.

15. Documentary Photography

Documentary photography is the art of capturing events/images that are significant to the history and everyday life.

Documentary photography and photojournalism are similar but the main distinction people make is that documentary photography is often deemed long-term whereas photojournalism is often associated with breaking news images that will be shown in newspapers, on the news, etc.

16. Weather Photography

Weather photography is the art of capturing the weather on a given day through a photograph.

In order to be a great weather photographer, you also need to be able to read and understand particular weather such as storm patterns.

You also need to know how to use tools such as radars to follow the weather and stay safe.

weather photography
weather photography

17. Night Photography

Night photography is the art of capturing images outdoors at night.

Night photographers often capture subjects that illuminate the dark sky of night.

Examples of subjects of night photographers include the stars, city lights, or other bright lights.

night photography
night photography

18. Architectural Photography

Architectural photography is the art of capturing photographs of buildings or other architectural structures with an emphasis on their lines, curves, or patterns.

In order to capture a successful architectural photograph, the image should be aesthetically pleasing.

architecture photography
architectural photography

19. Astrophotography

Astrophotography is the art of capturing astronomical objects and particular areas of the night sky in which celestial events are occurring.

In order to be successful in astrophotography, you’ll often need the right equipment which includes telescope lenses and certain camera filters.

The images that are captured, however, are truly out of this world.

20. Wedding Photography

Wedding photography is the art of capturing wedding events and the special moments that occur on the day.

Wedding photography is often considered the most stressful because you are capturing someone’s “big day” and there are a lot of moving parts.

The upside is that wedding photographers often can make a lot of money due to the grandiose nature of the event.

wedding photography
wedding photography

21. Travel Photography

Travel photography is the art of documenting the area, landscape, people, and culture around you.

Travel photography is often done when one is currently “traveling” and wants to document the moment around them.

22. Underwater Photography

Underwater photography is the art of capturing images while underwater.

In order to successfully capture underwater photographs, you will need the best waterproof cameras and often need to have experience scuba diving, swimming, or snorkeling.

The subjects of underwater photographs are often the sea life in the water.

underwater photography
underwater photography

23. Aerial Photography

Aerial photography is the art of capturing images from above with either the photographer being in some type of aircraft or them using a flying object to take the photo such as a drone.

The images that are produced from aerial photographs are often used in cartography, land planning, environmental studies, conveyancing, movie production, or even espionage.

aerial photography
drone photography

24. Boudoir Photography

Boudoir photography is the art of capturing an image that features an intimate, romantic, or sensual mood.

The setting of boudoir photographs often includes a studio, a bedroom, or a private dressing room.

The images are not often meant for public view but for the enjoyment of the subject and his/her romantic partner.

boudoir photography
boudoir photography

25. Lifestyle Photography

Lifestyle photography is the art of capturing images of people in real-life events and telling a story through that image.

Lifestyle photography is similar to a portrait photograph in the sense that they are planned images, however, lifestyle photographs are a bit more candid and should aim to capture and document a real-life event.

lifestyle photography
lifestyle photography

26. Pet Photography

Pet photography is a niche within the broader category of animal photography that focuses specifically on capturing images of pets. The goal of pet photography is to capture the personality and unique qualities of pets in a visually appealing and memorable way.

Pet photographers often work with a variety of animals, including dogs, cats, birds, and other domesticated animals, and may specialize in certain breeds or types of pets.

This type of photography may be done in a studio setting, outdoors, or in the home of the pet owner. The resulting photos can serve as cherished keepsakes and beautiful works of art.

27. Commercial Photography

Commercial photography is a genre of photography that is used to create images for commercial purposes. The main goal of commercial photography is to promote or sell products or services.

This can include images for advertising, marketing, and branding purposes. Commercial photographers work with a variety of clients, including businesses, corporations, and advertising agencies, and may specialize in different niches such as food, fashion, or product photography.

They may work in a studio or on location and use specialized lighting and camera techniques to create images that meet the specific needs of their clients. The resulting photos are used in a variety of media, including print ads, billboards, websites, and social media.

28. Automotive Photography

Automotive photography is a niche within commercial photography that focuses specifically on capturing images of cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other vehicles.

The goal of automotive photography is to create visually stunning and impactful images of these vehicles that showcase their unique features, design, and performance.

Automotive photographers may work with a variety of clients, including car manufacturers, dealerships, and individual car enthusiasts.

They may shoot in a studio or on location, using specialized lighting and camera techniques to capture the desired effect. The resulting photos may be used for advertising, editorial, or artistic purposes.

29. Concert Photography

Concert photography is a type of photography that focuses on capturing images of live music performances, including concerts, music festivals, and other events.

The goal of concert photography is to capture the energy, emotion, and excitement of the performance in a visually stunning way. Concert photographers must work in low light conditions and be skilled at capturing fast-moving performers and dynamic lighting effects.

They may use a variety of camera equipment and lenses to capture the desired effect and may work in a variety of venues, including stadiums, clubs, and theaters. The resulting photos are often used in promotional materials, music magazines, and other media related to the music industry.

30. Cityscape Photography

Cityscape photography is a type of photography that focuses on capturing images of urban landscapes and cityscapes. The goal of cityscape photography is to showcase the unique architectural features and character of a city, as well as its energy and vibe.

Cityscape photographers may shoot from a variety of locations, including high vantage points, rooftops, and bridges, to capture the best views of the city.

They may use a variety of camera equipment and lenses to capture the desired effect, and may also use techniques such as long exposure to create stunning visual effects.

The resulting photos are often used in tourism, real estate, and other promotional materials related to the city.

Why Should You Find a Photography Niche?

Finding a niche has many benefits. One of them is that you won’t be competing with everyone.

If you decide to try to become an expert in 5 different styles of portrait photography all at the same time, you may find yourself in the situation of — “Jack of all trades but master of none.”

Another major benefit to finding a niche is that it will make it easier for you to describe to customers and people what it is that you do and what products/services you offer.

This is important when it comes time to write/brainstorm your business plan which we’ll be discussing in the next section.

How do You Find the Right Photography Niche?

Now that we’ve covered all the different types of photography niches and touched on the importance of finding a niche, let’s dive into how you would go about finding the right niche for your photography business.

It’s important to note that this is regarding picking a niche for your photography business. In other words, how you will be making money with your photography.

If you want to enjoy all the photography niches in your free time as a hobby that is great!

Let’s dive into how to find the right niche for you.

1. Research All the Niches Out There

The first step in finding the right photography niche is to first research and know all your options.

You need to know all the different types of photography niches out there so you start to think about which ones sound interesting and align most with your current skill set.

We’ve listed all of the different types of photography niches above so be sure to examine each of those and make sure to write down which ones interest you!

If you dwindle it down to a list of 3-5 niches that sound interesting to you, do some more research on each niche, watch some YouTube videos of people in that niche, check out the different photography educational creators in the different photography niches, then narrow it down even more until you’re left with 1-2 niches!

writing skills
do your research

2. Evaluate Your Interest

The second step to finding the right photography niche is to evaluate your interests.

A big mistake I see a lot of people make is that they want to immediately dive into Wedding Photography because it pays well although they may hate shooting weddings.

Why would you do this to yourself?

I can’t speak for you, but the reason I got into photography is that I enjoyed capturing moments and the artistry behind photography. If I didn’t, I would find another way to make money.

With all that being said, evaluate your interests.

Example questions you can ask yourself include:

  • Do you like photographing outdoors?
    • If yes, then maybe look into the options that mainly involve outdoor photography and maybe stay away from indoor event photography or studio photography.
  • Do you like working with people?
    • If yes, then maybe look into portrait, event, or street photography. If not, then maybe stick with product photography, night photography, wildlife photography, etc.
  • Do you love working with a lot of equipment?
    • If yes, then look into the photography niches that require the latest and best gear such as astrophotography or aerial photography. If not, then maybe stick with a niche that you can just stick with 1-2 pieces of gear such as outdoor portrait photography or street photography.

3. Evaluate Your Current Skill Set

The third step is to evaluate your current skill set.

Although some might disagree, I believe certain niches require a sort of “prerequisite.”

For example, with street photography, I think it’s best to first hone in on your portrait photography and landscape photography skills so you can develop basic composition skills and knowledge of lighting and shadows.

The same goes for wedding photography, I think it’s best to hone in on portrait photography and event photography skills before attempting to photograph a wedding where the stakes are a bit higher.

Evaluate your current skill set and be honest with yourself. Knowing your current strengths and weaknesses as a photographer, it will allow you to know what areas you need to focus on before diving into a particular niche.

So what if you’re a beginner and you want to dive into a niche with no current skill set?

This is where knowing your strengths and weaknesses is important.

If you know this is your weakness (that you don’t know anything yet), then you can take the necessary action to improve upon that weakness such as being a second shooter for someone, reading up on that photography niche, and tips to improve, watching videos, taking an internship, doing a couple shoots for family and friends to “get your feet wet,” etc.

It’s hard to know the next course of action if you don’t know where you are currently at.

freelance photographer

4. Narrow it Down

Once you research all the niches and evaluate your interest and current skill set, it’s time to narrow it down.

Remember I mentioned writing a list of all the particular niches that interest you? Well, now it’s time to narrow that list to 1-2 niches that you will want to focus on.

Once you have narrowed your list it’s time to move on to the next two steps.

5. Research Competition

The fifth step when choosing a photography niche is to research the current competition within your area.

In order to find the current competition within your area, go to Google and type in “ [insert photography niche] + [location].”

These are good keywords to check and see what competition you have in your local area.

For example, if you want to dive into the portrait photography niche and you live in New York, you would type in “portrait photography in New York” or “portrait photographer in New York.”

If you live in Austin, Texas, you would type in “portrait photographer in Austin Texas.”

Once you have done that, take note of everyone who is ranking on Google and showing up in the GMB (Google My Business) map pack.

I recommend seeing everyone who is ranking on Google up to page 3. In order to find those showing up in the GMB map pack, click here then take note of everyone showing up.

gmb google

It’s important to know who your competition is so you can see how they are branding themselves as a photographer, positioning their service, and can gain insight into profitability and price metrics.

When on the competition’s website, there are four things that you will want to look at – their about page, their services/products pages, their portfolio, and their price page.

Side note – if you don’t have a website set up for your own business, that needs to be done ASAP. Here is a guide on creating a website.

About Page

Their about page will reveal how they are branding themselves and how they are positioning their service (what makes them unique).

Service/Product Page

Their service/product page will reveal the type of sub-niche they have (if any).

For example, if they are a portrait photographer, you may find that they only shoot indoor portraits.

Portfolio

Their portfolio page will reveal the level of quality that they deliver

Price Page

Their price page will reveal the going rate in your area for the type of photography niche you are in. You can then cross reference this with their portfolio.

If the quality level of their work is similar to yours, then you can be confident that you can charge the same or a bit more for your own services.

On the note of pricing, let’s dive into the next step.

6. Determine Profitability

The 6th step for choosing the right photography niche is to determine profitability.

Money is the lifeblood of companies.

As mentioned, when researching competitors, take note of the average price your competition is charging and then work out the math.

Calculate how much you want to make a year to be profitable, then calculate how many photoshoots a month it would take to make that based on the going rates. Of course, you will also have to factor in taxes and stuff but there are just rough estimations for right now.

If you get to step 6 and do not like the profitability, the competition, or your overall confidence in that niche, then start over and go from steps 1 – 6 until you feel confident.

Once you accomplish step 6, it’s time to move on to the last step.

money
pricing

7. Put it on Paper

Once you’ve accomplished all the previous steps, then it’s time to put it on paper so you can lay out a game plan for your business.

It’s time to create your business plan which will lay out each state of starting and managing your business. This will serve as your roadmap for how to structure, run, and scale your photography business.

Within the business plan, you will also lay out marketing strategies and the products/services you plan to offer as well as your revenue model.

The process of creating a business plan will give you further insight and vision into your business and what it will take to become successful in the photography niche you have chosen.

Profitable Photography Niches

I’m a strong believer that if you do well and are skilled at what you do, then you can be profitable.

Just like any job, however, there are some industries that make more money due to the skills involved and the demand for the job.

Here are the current top 3 profitable niches for photographers at the moment:

1. Event/Wedding Photography

Event/wedding photography tops the list for most profitable. When you think about it, it makes sense.

Weddings cost a lot of money, and if you photograph a wedding, you’ll be getting a piece of it.

Weddings are a large and growing industry, and wedding photographers can often charge high rates for their services.

2. Product Photography

With the boom of e-commerce, product photography has become more popular.

This includes areas such as advertising, product, and fashion photography, and can be highly lucrative for experienced and skilled photographers.

With online businesses needing high-quality photos of their products, a product photographer will be their go-to source.

If you want to get started, check out the best lenses for product photography and the best cameras for product photography.

3. Social Media Photography

With the advent of social media, the need for high-quality images whether it’s of yourself or of your products has become more popular.

You can be a class of portrait photographer or product photographer to take advantage of the social media/digital age.

This was an in-depth guide discussing photography niches, how to pick the right one, and the tips for choosing a career in photography.

It’s important to take action and take any new concepts you learned and apply it to your own business.

4. Real Estate Photography

Real estate agents and property owners rely heavily on high-quality images to showcase properties, and real estate photographers can often command high rates for their work.

At the end of the day though, you can make good money in whatever niche it is if you take good photos and know how to market yourself in this digital-first world.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I find my photography niche?

To find your photography niche, you should consider your interests, skills, and experience, and explore different types of photography to determine what you enjoy and excel at. You may also want to consider the market demand for certain types of photography in your area to determine which niches may be most viable for you.

What photography is in high demand?

Photography that is currently in high demand includes commercial photography, such as product and advertising photography, as well as photography related to technology and social media, such as smartphone photography and influencer photography. The demand for certain types of photography can vary depending on the local market, industry trends, and evolving consumer preferences.

Can photographers make 100k a year?

Yes, some photographers can make $100k a year, but it’s important to note that this level of income is not common in the photography industry, and it typically requires a high level of skill, experience, and business acumen. Photographers who earn $100k or more typically have established themselves in high-demand niches, such as commercial, advertising, or wedding photography, and have a strong reputation, a loyal client base, and effective marketing strategies in place. Additionally, photographers who earn this level of income may have a team of assistants or other support staff.