8 Types of Portrait Photography

Today, we’re going to look at the different types of portrait photography you can do!

Whether you primarily capture your own children, are looking to start your own family photography business, or even want to specialise in photographing weddings or newborns: if you shoot people, then your photography type will fit somewhere within these 8 types of portrait photography.

Don’t get me wrong, there is ALWAYS a blurring of lines, because photography is art, and art isn’t exactly known for its rules, so you don’t necessarily need to neatly fall into one photography type over another (and shouldn’t worry if you don’t!)

Nor do you need to pigeonhole yourself into doing just one - you may find you mix a few types, or you might be like me, who loves to Costco sample the whole darn lot because you get easily bored and you like to stay creative and learning new things 😉

So whether you're looking to spice things up (photography wise) and try something new, or if you run a photography business and just want some ideas on how to describe your style or what to specialise in, this will be perfect for you.

Let’s dive in to the different types of portrait photography you can try….

#1 - Candid / Documentary / Photojournalist

Candid, documentary style, photojournalist - call it what you will, this type of portrait photography means that the photographer is merely documenting the scene, as it happened, and not posing or directing events in any way.

So for example, if you photograph your own children going about their daily lives, and you don’t tell them to do anything, or tidy up around them, or shepherd things along, then that style would be documentary.

If you were a wedding photographer, and you went around photographing the events of the day without posing anyone or telling anyone to look at you, just capturing the events that unfold naturally, then that style would again be candid or documentary. (A great example of this would be Allan Zepeda - love the documentary approach of his wedding photos!)

And if you went out onto the streets and photographed an event (again, no posing, just capturing!) that would be photojournalist / candid.

(All 3 terms essentially mean the same thing - natural, unposed, and undirected shots - so don’t get too hung up on the terms)

The key thing to note is that even although these are unplanned and candid, it’s not snapshots.

You are still paying attention to light, exposure, focus, composition etc, it’s simply that the moments themselves are completely unscripted.

Up above is an example of a documentary photo that i’ve taken - you can see this is unposed, undirected, and un-tidied-up - it’s simply documents a moment in time, but I’m still controlling as much as I can by the way of light, settings and composition.

#2 - Lifestyle

Lifestyle is when the photographer is capturing their subjects in their natural environment.

These lean toward candid, but there is a slight difference in that in these type of situations, the photographer is generally directing events, but while still encouraging the subjects just to be themselves, and therefore capturing candid expressions. (so still no posing)

An example of a lifestyle shoot might be when you photograph a family on a beach, and you instruct the father to throw his toddler in the air - you’re capturing a predetermined event, but with the natural expressions that flow from that.

Another example might be newborn photography - you might instruct the parents to play with the baby on the floor, so you’ve directed the scene in some way, but you’re capturing the natural expressions or moments that flow from that.

One final example (because I do like to hammer a point home) if you were to set up an activity for your children such as painting or playing with trucks, and you do it so that you get the best light, then that might be considered lifestyle over documentary - you’ve created the scene to a degree, but then capturing the rest naturally.

There is not much difference between documentary and lifestyle, but generally, if you interfere in some way, then it’s usually considered lifestyle.

My usual style of photography borders between documentary and lifestyle, because I love capturing our day to day lives, but I also interfere in order to get the best light or composition (or move the mountain of washing in the background so you don’t judge my housekeeping skills!!) So it’s documentary with a hint of lifestyle 😃

#3 - Traditional

Traditional portraits are more formal, and more posed. The main goal of a traditional portrait is usually to capture that person’s likeness, rather than what they were doing.

These traditionally would take place in a studio setting, and of course they still often do, but many of these will be taken outdoors, say at a beach or forest, perhaps in the same setting as lifestyle image!

The difference here is that there is a lot of posing going on, and the purpose of the image is different!

This example above was taken in my “studio” which is a glorified term for what is essentially a backdrop that I string up in the garage from time to time (Which my husband hates, because he has to move all 3 of his motorbikes out and therefore disrupts his man cave)

If you want to see my cheap and cheerful garage studio in action you can take a look here on how to set up a home studio on a budget (warning - no fancy studio set up here!!)

#4 - Editorial / Commercial / Advertising

Editorial means images for use in the press.

If you capture places or people without them signing a consent form, they can be used to go with news articles, but not for commercial purposes.

However, if you DO have a model release, then these types of images are usually used for ads, or do go alongside articles that are not news, for example, an article about potty training your toddler in women’s magazines, or top 10 family holiday destinations (or whatever!)

These can be stylized, or lifestyle or documentary in nature, but they usually have some kind of purpose or theme behind it, so that it they can be uploaded to a stock photo site and people will actually search for those types of photos.

(Side note: If you want to dive deeper into some other ways you can make money through photography as a stay at home mom, which selling to stock photos sites is one, be sure to check these out)

Again, that photo above would make a good commercial photo!

#5 - Fine Art

Fine Art is when you create an image that is less about capturing a likeness or documenting a moment in time, and more embodying a thought or feeling.

These are usually also more artistic in approach, so that they have more universal appeal than a traditional portrait. In fact, one way I’ve heard to consider whether your portrait / lifestyle image would be considered “fine art” is to ask yourself this:

Would people hang this photo on their wall if they didn’t know the person in the image?

If the answer is yes, then it could be considered fine art!

A great (and really relatable) example of fine art photography is Kate T Parker.

She would take images to a theme Strong is the New Pretty, which was showcasing the strength of girls. They are documentary or lifestyle in nature, but with a strong artistic element that elevates them to fine art. You can check out her work here.

The black and white image above is another example of a portrait that would considered fine art - the goal is not the likeness, and there is a strong artistic approach.

#6 - Environmental

An environmental portrait is a image that shows the subject and the surroundings.

Although this is often associated with businesses (where you would take a portrait of the person at their workplace, usually engaged in their work) you can have environmental portraits with other types of photography too, such as during your lifestyle or traditional portrait session.

In fact, many photographers will throw in a few environmental portraits in, so they can showcase the beauty of the surroundings too.

For me, I tend to start wide and move in, so i get environmental, then full body, then half body, then headshot!

#7 - Concept or Styled

Styled photo shoots are so much FUN, and this is where you can unleash your creative side and go a little nuts with your hot glue gun.

Styled photoshoots take a concept and plan a whole shoot around them.

These concepts can be anything, but as some examples, you could create a styled shoot around events like Halloween or Christmas, or around interests such as the solar system or cars, or even favourite books or movies!

These type of shots are well planned (even though the expressions can often be candid, especially when it comes to child photography) and usually include some kind of props and / or outfits to fit in with the theme.

Once again, the image above is styled. (I’ll leave you to guess what the theme was!)

#8 - Surreal / Composites

This is REALLY when you can go wild with your creativity!

This is when you shoot an ordinary scene, and then transform it into something else, so the images definitely have a “surreal” look to them. They aren’t meant to look like real life, that’s their whole point and purpose.

Due to their fantastical look, Photoshop is often involved so that the photographer can create “composites” - where you take two (or more!) images and blend them together. (Not all composites are surreal by the way, and you could create a surreal image without photoshop. Just so ya know)

I don’t do this style of photography, but I do want to share a photo from one of my former Auto to Awesome students Misty Martin Schuler.

She is AMAZING and you can read the whole end to end story of her photography journey here (she’s gotten even better since that blog post was written so be sure to check out her work on Instagram)

Right now you might be thinking….

“You haven’t mentioned light and airy? Or black and white? Or dark and moody? Are those not types of photography?”

To my mind at least, these are more styles rather than types of portrait photography.

For example, you can be a fine art photographer who shoots dark and moody portraits, or you could equally be a fine art photographer who creates images that are clean and bright.

You can be a documentary photographer who shoots exclusively in black and white, or a documentary photographer who creates images that have a light and airy feel.

(As a side note, if you are looking to “find” your photography style, figuring out what “type” of portrait photography you do first, then the “style” of that is a great way to think about it!)

If you’re interested in hearing more about styles, let me know in the comments below and I’ll see what I can do!

I hope you enjoyed this week’s blog post, and as always, if you did, please don’t forget to share it. You can share on social, take a second to pin it to your Pinterest boards, or simply tell a friend about Live Snap Love - I’m grateful for each and every share.

Thanks so much for being here, and I’ll see you next week!

Audrey xxxx