This is your easy-to-go article explaining different types of photography and is written especially for beginners, with lens recommendations like the versatile SIRUI Saturn series.
Introduction:
Imagine this: you are a true shutterbug with a shiny new camera in hand, and if you want a litmus test for that, if your heart races like Indiana Jones when pressing the shutter button, you really are a rookie. But you don’t always have to be.
In 2026, the photography industry is a multibillion-dollar playground with many brands and tons of lenses in its ecosystem. To better understand what’s for you, you really need to get acquainted with different types of photography as a newbie. This is what we are going to do here for you so that you can use logic to better unlock the camera magic this year.
Core Photography Genres
a. Portrait Photography
If you were starting, you would quickly get to know that this niche is a heart-hugger among all the types of photography to date and remains one of the most popular in 2026. And it’s all about creamy backgrounds, crisp eyes, and facial features with clear object isolation.
To get better shots for such shots, you will need wide apertures from f/1.8 to f/2.8, with 85 mm being the best choice (50 mm is also used as an all-star environment choice) in portrait photography. Such lenses make the subject pop and blur the nearby distractions. For compositions, the rule of thirds is the way to go.
b. Landscape Photography
As the name suggests, this niche is all about painting Mother Nature's masterpieces with your camera. Once, photographers used to paint the majestic mountains and rivers, and this year, it's all about drones and high-end mirrorless cameras capturing the scale, pure serenity, and that "I was there" factor in photos.
For such photography, you would need camera lenses (f/8-f/16) that can capture wide-angle views and demand sharp front-to-back focus. Lenses like the 24-70mm f/2.8 standard zoom, 14-24mm f/2.8 ultra-wide, and 16-35mm f/4 wide lenses are most common.
c. Street Photography
This one is literally the sneaky ninja of types of photography and is quite a popular one. Most of the time, you will be capturing candid city life, from random laughs to people sitting in absolute silence.
You need to have fast apertures and light gear to capture such shots. Popular options are 35mm f/2, 28mm f/2, and 50mm prime lenses; they are both compact and super-fast.
d. Sports Photography
You will be dealing with cricket sixes, soccer goals, and energetic sprint finishes in this niche, and for that, your camera can't miss a single frame of action, or an opportunity will be lost forever. This is why your camera and its lens not only have to be fast but also intelligent.
In specification terms, it means you invest in a gear that can capture in burst mode with more than 10 fps and also keeps track of objects with continuous autofocus functionalities and intelligently predicts the object. Lenses for this niche are usually between 70 and 200 mm, with more pro options exceeding 400 and even more.
e. Wildlife Photography
You are going to capture the wildness where every shot is extremely unpredictable, and this is where your patience will meet telephoto power. Not only that, but professionals will need durability to win their gear, as such conditions can be very challenging with harsh weather and unaccommodating situations.
Your camera should be able to capture with fast shutter speeds (like 1/2000 s+) for a standard freeze flight of animals and focal lengths of 100-500 mm f/4.5-5.6 in the super-tele zoom range. For birds and high-velocity shooting, this focal length can reach up to 600 m!
f. Architectural Photography
Capturing architectural structures has quickly become a travel porn and a staple for real estate industry ads. Such photos are all about capturing the mightiness of tall skyscrapers, different designs of minarets, and similar architectural marvels. In the outdoors, most of the time you will be needing 14-24mm f/4 tilt-shift lenses and 16-35mm for interiors.
g. Macro Photography
Close-up shots (especially the extreme close-ups with a 1:1 ratio) are becoming quite a dense niche now as photographers unveil the tiny details of an object with their camera shots, like flower and leaf veins, coffee bubbles, dew-kissed insects, etc. 100 mm with f/2.8 macro focal length is quite common for this niche.
All-rounder Lens for Photography genres
You might have noticed above that each niche demands a separate breed of camera lens to serve its purpose in different types of photography, but if there is one camera lens kit that is both affordable and also crushes most genres, it is the SIRUI Saturn 35mm/50mm/75mm Full-Frame Carbon Fiber Anamorphic Lens with its extreme value in a budget price.
Each lens in this kit is a 1.6x anamorphic beast, which is designed with premium optics and a feather-light construction to capture effortless widescreen shots with cinematic vibes, serving most niches we explained above with pro results at a budget price.
The 75mm works great for portraits with extreme bokeh, the 35mm can capture epic wide screens with great detail, and capture architectural shots with end-to-end sharp edges with added creative attributes like horizontal flares. A complete starter kit for your photography journey.
Conclusion
Learning different types of photography isn’t geeky, but a logical and essential step towards your professional career in 2026. To get the most out of the camera in each niche, the SIRUI Saturn lens kit is an easy recommendation this year.
