Photography Themes



This crazy list of photography themes is useful for those who feel like there is nothing to photograph. Photography themes are a great way to organize your photography. Often students say their town is boring or there is nothing to shoot. There is ALWAYS something to photograph you just have to get creative. This list should get the creative juices flowing.

A photo theme simply means creating a set of photographs that are related in some way, whether it be through subject, color or other reoccurring pattern. This theme may be minimalistic when it comes to design, but when it comes to features it’s very rich. Esben is designed in an elegant fashion and integrates all the essential photography tools and layouts.Besides tons of gallery templates, this theme covers an endless collection of portfolio styles. As for photography ideas at home for beginners, find objects belonging to one group, for instance, vegetables, stationery items, candies, jewelry, etc. Gather them and put the camera on a tripod. Create a composition, beginning with larger objects and moving to tinier elements.

Just take a look at this list of themes and items that are interesting to shoot. It should get you started.

If you're wondering why using themes in photography is useful read this.

  1. Abandoned Buildings
  2. Abstracts
  3. Amphibian
  4. Anger
  5. Arches
  6. Architecture
  7. Autumn
  8. Back Alleys
  9. Bad Weather
  10. Bald Heads
  11. Balloons
  12. Bare Feet
  13. Bark
  14. Barns
  15. Bees
  16. Bicycle Parts
  17. Bikes
  18. Birds
  19. Black and White
  20. Blimps
  21. Blue
  22. Bolts
  23. Bones
  24. Books
  25. Bottles
  26. Bridge
  27. Bridges
  28. Broken Glass
  29. Bronze
  30. Brown
  31. Bump
  32. Butterflies
  33. Butterflies / Bees
  34. Campsites
  35. Car Details
  36. Catching People Unaware
  37. Cats
  38. Celebrations
  39. Choice
  40. Church Windows
  41. Churches
  42. Circles
  43. City Hall
  44. City Skylines
  45. City Street Scenes
  46. Close-up
  47. Clouds
  48. Cold
  49. Colours
  50. Columns
  51. Computers
  52. Contrasts
  53. Covered Bridges
  54. Critters
  55. Culture
  56. Curves
  57. Custom Cars
  58. Dancers
  59. Decorations
  60. Demonic
  61. Demonstrations
  62. Devilish
  63. Digital
  64. Disappearing Professions
  65. Disappearing Technologies
  66. Dishes
  67. Documentary
  68. Dogs
  69. Dominating
  70. Doom and gloom
  71. Door Knobs
  72. Doors
  73. Dots / Dashes / Diagonals
  74. Drawers
  75. Duplicates
  76. Easter
  77. Eggs
  78. Elation
  79. Embrace
  80. Emergency Situations
  81. Enthusiasm / eager
  82. Environmental Trash
  83. Events
  84. Eye Glasses
  85. Eyes
  86. Farm Animals
  87. Feathers
  88. Feet
  89. Feisty
  90. Feline
  91. Femininity
  92. Fences
  93. Fetes & Festivals
  94. Fetish
  95. Fire
  96. Fire Engines
  97. Fireworks / Fire
  98. Fish
  99. Flags
  100. Flower Petals
  101. Flowers
  102. Food
  103. Forks
  104. Forms in Nature
  105. Fountains
  106. Framed
  107. Freeways
  108. Frozen
  109. Fruit
  110. Games
  111. Gardens
  112. Gates
  113. Gears
  114. Geriatric (older folks)
  115. Glamour
  116. Glass
  117. Gold
  118. Graceful
  119. Graffiti
  120. Green
  121. H Hands
  122. Halloween
  123. Hallways
  124. Handles
  125. Hands
  126. Happiness
  127. Harbours
  128. Harvest
  129. Hats
  130. Hidden
  131. History
  132. Holiday
  133. Horizon
  134. Horses
  135. Hot Rod Cars
  136. Hunger
  137. Ice
  138. Inclines
  139. Indian Ruins
  140. Indigenous Things Or People
  141. Industrial
  142. Insects
  143. Inspiration
  144. Iridescent
  145. Iron
  146. Isolated Objects
  147. Jails
  148. Jets
  149. Jewelry
  150. Jobs
  151. Joints
  152. Journalistic
  153. Joy
  154. Jugs
  155. Junk Yards
  156. Keys
  157. Kids
  158. Kin or Families
  159. Kite
  160. Kites
  161. Knives
  162. Landscapes
  163. Lazy
  164. Learning
  165. Leaves
  166. Legs
  167. Letters
  168. Light
  169. Lightning
  170. Lights
  171. Locks
  172. Machine Parts
  173. Macro
  174. Marine life
  175. Masculinity
  176. Masks
  177. Mass flowers
  178. Mirrors
  179. Money
  180. Monuments
  181. Mood
  182. Movie Theater Marquees
  183. Muse
  184. Mushrooms
  185. Neon Signs
  186. Night
  187. Night lights
  188. Nighttime
  189. Nonsense
  190. Noodles
  191. Numbers
  192. Nut
  193. Nuts
  194. Objects
  195. Odd Couples
  196. Old Everything
  197. Olympic
  198. Opposites
  199. Opulent
  200. Orange
  201. Pairs
  202. Paper Abstracts
  203. Parallel Lines
  204. Patterns
  205. Peacocks
  206. Peeling Paint
  207. People
  208. People At Work
  209. People Walking Dogs
  210. Peppers
  211. Perspective
  212. Pets
  213. Pictures in Pictures
  214. Piles of Things
  215. Pink / Purple
  216. Polished
  217. Porches
  218. Quad
  219. Quarters
  220. Queens
  221. Railroad Cars
  222. Railroad Tracks
  223. Raindrops
  224. Rainbows
  225. Red
  226. Red Barns
  227. Reenactments
  228. Reflection
  229. Reflections in Glass
  230. Reflections in Water
  231. Religious
  232. Roads-capes
  233. Rocks
  234. Round Things
  235. Rows of Things
  236. Rust
  237. Rustic
  238. Sand dunes
  239. Sand Patterns
  240. Sea Shells
  241. Seascapes
  242. Seasons
  243. Self
  244. Shadows
  245. Shoes
  246. Signs
  247. Silhouettes
  248. Skulls
  249. Sky
  250. Sleeping Animals
  251. Sleeping People
  252. Small Furry Animals
  253. Smiles
  254. Smoke Stacks
  255. Snow
  256. Soft Curves
  257. Sorrow
  258. Spanish Moss
  259. Speed
  260. Spoons
  261. Sports
  262. Spring
  263. Squirrel
  264. Stacks
  265. Stairs
  266. Statues
  267. Steam Railroads
  268. Still life
  269. Strange Signs
  270. String Instruments
  271. Structures
  272. Summer
  273. Sunrise
  274. Sunset
  275. Superstitions
  276. Sweets
  277. Swings
  278. Tattoos
  279. Teddy Bear / toy
  280. Textures
  281. The Local School
  282. The spot (X marks it, you know)
  283. Toads
  284. Tombstones
  285. Tools
  286. Tools of the Trade
  287. Transport
  288. Tree Knots
  289. Trees
  290. Ugly Everything
  291. Umbrella
  292. Umbrellas
  293. Ungulates (hoofed animals, pigs, goats, deer horses)
  294. Uniforms
  295. Urban
  296. Utensils
  297. Vacation
  298. Valves
  299. Vegetables
  300. Vices or Habits
  301. Views
  302. Vignettes
  303. Vines
  304. Visitors
  305. Watches
  306. Water
  307. Waterfalls
  308. Weather
  309. Weathered Wood
  310. Wet
  311. Wheels
  312. White
  313. Wide Angle Everything
  314. Wildlife
  315. Windows
  316. Winter
  317. Woods
  318. Xenon
  319. Xenophobia
  320. Xylophones
  321. Yachts
  322. Yellow
  323. Yo-yos
  324. Zebras
  325. Zig Zags
  326. Zipper
  327. Zombies!
  328. Zoos

How's that for a list of things to shoot?! Now get out there and take some great photographs!?

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For me, photography started as a passion and only later became a profession. But as much as I have learned over the years, I still consider myself a student of photography, as there is just so much to learn! A few years after starting in photography, I entered many themed photography competitions and eventually managed to get first place.

Participating in photography competitions can sometimes earn you hundreds if not thousands of dollars, as well as fame as a exciting reputation.

Starting as a photographer many years ago, there was no chance then to become as famous as you can become now. Digital media has completely, changed the landscape however. Now anyone can become famous and earn a living as a photographer. There exist many organizations that promote photography education, as well as many online classes offering lessons on technique. You can join these as a student, a teacher, or just as a fun hobby. These groups often organize photography competitions, which are always a great idea for boosting creativity and coming with new ideas.

I can still remember my photo competition. As I read the guidelines, I realized that I would have to move across to the other side of the village. The theme was street dogs. Luckily, my friends helped me track down these dogs for the competition, and I ended up winning first place!

There are certain rules

There are endless themes in photography, and there are endless competitions taking place around the globe to explore these themes. As a member of any competitions you need to always be aware of the rules and regulations involved within them. If you don’t follow these rules, your photos could very well be denied.

When it comes down to themes in photography, I think there are two main objectives. The first one is creativity. The second is commercial value.

Things to remember when setting up a photo contest:

Photography Projects For Beginners

Most photo contests today have several aspects, including brand promotion and advertising. Often, these contests are organized by groups like Facebook or Instagram, with the main objective being commercial promotion. There are also photography competitions put together art clubs and photography clubs, which are more geared towards fostering creativity. Keep in mind that if you are participating in the aforementioned social media contests, your work can be vulnerable. Here are some tricks to follow if this is the case.

Using specially programmed applications

If your photo contest is based on social media, you should be prepared for some possibly fraudulent activity. A lot of individuals can band together to provide extra likes for specific photos, using fake accounts to multiply likes. You can find apps to use that are specially designed to track IP addresses and recognize voters specifically. If you are afraid that this may be happening to you, it is always best to involve the authorities.

Image entry system:

Photo contests often charge for image entries, and restrict the maximum number of entries allowed for individuals. Some contests are actually free to enter, and don’t require any sort of registration fees. When these contests are digitally based, the quality of the uploading system can be crucial. Most HD images are of a large size, and RAW photos tend to be even larger. Therefore it is the organizers duty to to provide an error-free system for uploading these images to their website.

Selecting a theme:

The most important part of a photo contest is the theme. As participants need to focus on these themes, as they judges will be paying close attention when looking for them. If for example the mentioned b&w photos, all participants must submit in b&w only. While there are literally hundreds of photography themes, most of them tend to be based on nature, candid shots, street art, wildlife, working professionals, and macro shots.

Avoid highly modified photographs:

Most creative photography contests don’t allow highly modified images. Participants are usually allowed to touch up their images to a certain extent. If however, you are participating in an only photography contest for professional purposes you often are granted far more freedom to modify images, because the goal is more to attract a wide range of customers who may not know that much about photography.

Booking an art gallery:

Art galleries tend to be the best places for photo contests. These locations should be spacious to accommodate large amounts of guests. There should be proper lighting to showcase larger photographs, as well as properly illuminate all images in the gallery should an individual want to purchase them.

Jury boards:

This is the most important part of contest for both online and traditional contests. Especially in traditional gallery-based photo contest, visitors are very much aware of photography. Some of them may come from elite society. Jury board’s decision is the final. This should be declared in the very beginning of the contest.

This tends to be the most important part of photography contests for both online and traditional contests. Traditional gallery-based photo contests tend to depend more on the view of the visitors, as they tend to come from all walks of life. Remember, the jury’s decision tends to always be final, but you should check the rules prior to entering.

Themes

Prizes:

Photographers are often attracted to these contests because of the valuable prizes they offer. This could be money, vouchers, or even a brand new professional-grade camera.

Fun photo contest ideas:

Babies being the evergreen fun photo contest idea. Babies are driven by moods and express varieties of gestures. Capturing those brilliant moments is a fun.

Taking photos of your pets running around is also a great idea, as they can often present you with hilarious material.

Enacted photo shoot like a boy is trying to impress a girl by ridiculous activity is a wonderful fun photo contest idea. To do this you may have to hire professional model. If you are a college going student then you can request your friend to

Setting up photo shoots that tell a story can also be quite enjoyable. For example, you can get a couple of friends you to to act as if they are in love but can’t seem to get it right. To do this, you may have to hire a professional model or two. If you are a poor college student, just pester your friends!

Some of the best photography themes tend to be in motion, so it is always wise to shoot them on a high shutter speed. I prefer a shutter speed over 500 with the aperture set wide open. As it is difficult to focus on these objects with a manual focus lens, try to use a camera with auto-focus.

Pet photo contest ideas

People love pets, the number of pet lovers increasing day by day. Many photography club and organization are organizing pet photo contest around the globe.

People love pets, and the number of those individuals tend to grow every day. Many photography contests you will come across will have this as their theme.

  • Dog shows are always a great place to capture photographs, as you can shoot different kinds of dogs moving with their masters. If you have your own dog, then maybe make them a subject.

Go to an open field and let your dog run around. Capturing running dogs frame by frame is an excellent idea. You also can capture their lovely eyes and funny gestures.

Throw a dog biscuit in the air, and try to get your dog to jump in the air to catch it. Take this photo with a high shutter speed and auto focus.

  • Bird shows are another great place for shooting pets. The various types of colorful birds make great subjects, and this is a great place to catch them standing still.

Bird shows often also have birds showcased in “natural” positions, which can give you the chance to shoot like a wildlife photographer.

  • If you enjoy fish, than maybe try visiting famous aquariums and taking photographs. The choices on this will vary from person to person. For example I know an individual who shot photos of his snake, which was a novel idea and easy because of their lack of movement.

You could also capture a shot of a rabbit funnily chewing his food.

Creative photo contest ideas

Most photo competition theme ideas evolve around creative concepts, like street photography, candid photography, macro photography, wildlife photography and even arial photography.

Street photography:

These types of photos are an attemp to capture candid shots of daily life on the street. You could name albums full of shots like this something like “Rainy Day, Men at Work”.

Another creative concept is to capture the shadow of a walking person. Whatever you capture that should make a sense. It’s a genre of candid photography.

Night life photography

Life on street is another interesting concept. A good photographer with a sense of art can create almost any theme out of street photography. Remember, proper exposure is very important for these images.

Creative motion-blur effect:

This is another good way to make something look more creative. Sometimes it requires some technical knowledge. Suppose for example you are shooting a running horse. A shot like this can be much more exciting than just taking an image of a standing horse.

If you can take photos with proper light and exposure, you can capture animals in all of their glory. The horse will almost look alive in the photo. To create this sense of life, you will want a low to moderate shutter speed. Because this effect uses blurring, you will have to experiment with changing the light levels and exposure time.

Delightful fireworks:

Fireworkphotography is an outstanding example of creative photography. You can also call it light photography.

The best kind of fireworks for these types of photos tend to be professional-grade fireworks. This kind of photography is usually shot at night with a tripod. Photographers also often use bulb mode to shoot fireworks.

Playing with water:

This is another subject. Have you ever captured a splash of water? If not, you can try it. Splashing water in your face is a wonderful idea. By using high shutter speed you can capture each and every droplet of water in the air which makes the photo look more energetic. You probably have seen this kind of photo on roadside billboards.

Candid portraits:

This is a cool subject. Capturing natural expressions of a person can have a special charm. Photographers often choose wrinkly faced people to get a nice contrast

Themes

The main aspect of candid photography is that you have to capture the moods and expressions of the subject without him or her noticing.

Repetition of objects:

This type of creative photography deals with repetitive objects like castle arches, trees in a row, structural marvels, etc.

Playing with shapes:

Photography Themes

You can find various kinds of shapes in nature. Capturing naturally occurring geometric shapes found in nature is another idea. You may have visited mountain cities before, which are great for these kinds of shots.

Student Photography Project Ideas

When there are photo competitions, I suggest you visit art galleries to have some experience with these various themes. Most exhibitions are organized in the spring.

Photography Themes January

These are some traditional themes for photography competitions. Some of the most famous photo competitions are organized around the globe by top ranking photography schools and are almost always based on these themes.