Are you a portrait or action photographer?

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Do you consider yourself more of a portrait, photographer, an action, photographer, or a mixture of

  • Portrait

    Votes: 5 8.3%

  • Action

    Votes: 20 33.3%

  • Mixture

    Votes: 35 58.3%
  • Total voters
    60
sh1209

sh1209

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I would most likely choose myself as predominantly portrait, and is one of the main reasons I love macro photography and bird portraits. Occasionally, I will photograph birds in flight but frankly find it boring after a few minutes. I like the thrill of going out in the woods, finding subjects, finding interesting perches or interesting actions. I also do a lot of drone photography and videography just something very interesting as I get older to really like shooting video just about as much as photography anymore. I think this is the main reason that high frame per second cameras don’t interest me much anymore and frankly, I could keep my A7RV and A1 for another 5 to 6 years and be perfectly happy. I will definitely photograph birds in flight if it’s something interesting such as a bird catching prey or a subject that I haven’t seen very often, but I just have never really gotten into the action photography. I’m just curious what others find the most interesting.
 
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MatthewK said:
Portrait mostly, BIF opportunities are few and far between where I am. I'll take 'em if they appear, but I don't expect them.
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There are quite a few places locally that you can do birds in flight but they’re pretty boring places as well with not much scenery. To me, there’s nothing more fun than walking about in the woods and fields and such and trying to find the subjects.
 
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I was portrait almost exclusively up until a few years ago, oddly about the time I stumbled across Steve's YouTube channel! Since then I've tried to up my action, specifically BIF photos. Especially when I'm in my kayak at the local state park, getting herons, cormorants and ducks flying is my new passion!

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MikeJ said:
I was portrait almost exclusively up until a few years ago, oddly about the time I stumbled across Steve's YouTube channel! Since then I've tried to up my action, specifically BIF photos. Especially when I'm in my kayak at the local state park, getting herons, cormorants and ducks flying is my new passion!

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Thats a nice shot and I will certainly take a few images every now and then of something interesting if it’s flying, especially kingfisher and such, but I would venture to say that 98% of my images are definitely portrait
 
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Action/environmental and portrait. I take what nature offers at the moment, whether it be portrait or action. I like variety so when possible and I think to do it, I try to get portrait and action shots of the same subject in an attempt to give everyone, including myself, a little something that they like.
 
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K9Kirk said:
Action/environmental and portrait. I take what nature offers at the moment, whether it be portrait or action. I like variety so when possible and I think to do it, I try to get portrait and action shots of the same subject in an attempt to give everyone, including myself, a little something that they like.
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The video side of things is really fun too. I really gotten a lot more interested in it the last three or four years and it certainly opens up a lot of opportunities that you can’t capture with photography. There’s definitely a learning curve, but it’s certainly a lot of fun.
 
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I shoot whatever presents itself. If there happens to be a lot of BIF action, then that's what I concentrate on. Of not, then I'm perfectly happy with portraits. I do try to get images of birds or animals doing something interesting rather than just a static portrait. I strive for a WOW factor in the image, be it the animal actively doing something interesting or eating, or catching the animal in a unique pose, etc. Having said all that, I also like to have at least one real good portrait image of all the species I encounter.

Even dull seagulls can make for interesting images.
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Rassie said:
I shoot whatever presents itself. If there happens to be a lot of BIF action, then that's what I concentrate on. Of not, then I'm perfectly happy with portraits. I do try to get images of birds or animals doing something interesting rather than just a static portrait. I strive for a WOW factor in the image, be it the animal actively doing something interesting or eating, or catching the animal in a unique pose, etc. Having said all that, I also like to have at least one real good portrait image of all the species I encounter.

Even dull seagulls can make for interesting images.
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That’s definitely a very nice and interesting image
 
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sh1209 said:
There are quite a few places locally that you can do birds in flight but they’re pretty boring places as well with not much scenery. To me, there’s nothing more fun than walking about in the woods and fields and such and trying to find the subjects.
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I too love the artistic pursuit, when all the elements come together: great lighting, interesting perch or setting, color, ambiance, etc. It's not too often that you can get the stars to align, but it's so rewarding when they do.
 
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MatthewK said:
I too love the artistic pursuit, when all the elements come together: great lighting, interesting perch or setting, color, ambiance, etc. It's not too often that you can get the stars to align, but it's so rewarding when they do.
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It’s amazing how many times you can go back to the same place and find such a drastically, different pose or perch of a subject. I don’t think there’s anything more relaxing than going out and walking in the woods and trails and such.
 
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What constitutes "action" for wildlife? For birds is BIF the only thing considered as action? How about mammals? I indicated mixture but have a strong preference for action. I only shoot what I consider portraits when there's no action going on. Or if there is amazing lighting. In which case I'd rather shoot a full frame bird portrait in great light and a nice BG than most BIF in flat lighting. The more I think about it I guess I don't know what I am ... :unsure:
 
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NorthernFocus said:
What constitutes "action" for wildlife? For birds is BIF the only thing considered as action? How about mammals? I indicated mixture but have a strong preference for action. I only shoot what I consider portraits when there's no action going on. Or if there is amazing lighting. In which case I'd rather shoot a full frame bird portrait in great light and a nice BG than most BIF in flat lighting. The more I think about it I guess I don't know what I am ... :unsure:
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Yeah, I guess it’s really geared more to what you shoot predominantly and for myself that’s portraits. I’ve known guys over the years that will not shoot anything other than birds and flight 100% of the time. I’ve met others that only photograph raptors as per se, honestly I like photographing anything that gets in front of the lens lol. For myself, especially macro photography? I get a kick out of setting up for the shot, getting the correct flash setting, finding the right background and things of that nature. Thats more exciting to me than shooting birds and flight or things like that I suppose. Unfortunately the insects don’t stick around all year though lol
 
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sh1209 said:
I would most likely choose myself as predominantly portrait, and is one of the main reasons I love macro photography and bird portraits. Occasionally, I will photograph birds in flight but frankly find it boring after a few minutes. I like the thrill of going out in the woods, finding subjects, finding interesting perches or interesting actions. I also do a lot of drone photography and videography just something very interesting as I get older to really like shooting video just about as much as photography anymore. I think this is the main reason that high frame per second cameras don’t interest me much anymore and frankly, I could keep my A7RV and A1 for another 5 to 6 years and be perfectly happy. I will definitely photograph birds in flight if it’s something interesting such as a bird catching prey or a subject that I haven’t seen very often, but I just have never really gotten into the action photography. I’m just curious what others find the most interesting.
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I take whatever they'll give me.
 
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I voted for "mixture".

Usually I try to get close to what is defined by PSA and FIAP as Nature Photography. That means a true depiction of a creature in nature, a single subject, identifiable and showing its features, mostly filling the frame. Besides one bird, "single subject" can mean a pair of birds and even a flock of birds (or other subject). It can also include the (natural) habitat. There is a lot of flexibility, but the goal is to create something that aspires to those ideals.

And the best Nature photos show action.
 
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This will be an interesting thread. I shoot my fair share of perched birds but I have been moving my focus to shooting more and more action, flying and behavior photos of birds as I find them more interesting and offer more unique opportunities. I am also trying to do more large mammal photography and it is more exciting to capture action than just the animal sitting/standing.

I have a good friend I often shoot with and he has began using a Fuji medium format camera and adapting Canon telephoto lenses. 100 megapixels is great but he is almost always cropping the vast majority of them away. He went on a trip to shoot feeding eagles with me and I heard more swear words coming from him missing action completely while my Sony a1 filled cards. They are both tools but one is more suited for action than the other.

I bring this up because all cameras have a specific strength. The medium format cameras strength isn't action lol but can deliver some amazing details for landscape or static subjects.

My gear is focused on speed because I like to shoot action. I also shoot some sports for a local university and speed in af and fps rules over MP in that genre.
 
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DavidT said:
This will be an interesting thread. I shoot my fair share of perched birds but I have been moving my focus to shooting more and more action, flying and behavior photos of birds as I find them more interesting and offer more unique opportunities. I am also trying to do more large mammal photography and it is more exciting to capture action than just the animal sitting/standing.

I have a good friend I often shoot with and he has began using a Fuji medium format camera and adapting Canon telephoto lenses. 100 megapixels is great but he is almost always cropping the vast majority of them away. He went on a trip to shoot feeding eagles with me and I heard more swear words coming from him missing action completely while my Sony a1 filled cards. They are both tools but one is more suited for action than the other.

I bring this up because all cameras have a specific strength. The medium format cameras strength isn't action lol but can deliver some amazing details for landscape or static subjects.

My gear is focused on speed because I like to shoot action. I also shoot some sports for a local university and speed in af and fps rules over MP in that genre.
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Yeah I've known a couple folks that tried medium format and bailed pretty quickly lol. They produce some great images but IMO full frame makes more sense from a performance and monetary aspect. The lenses are insanely expensive lol.
 
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I love taking portraits of birds and look for those unusually facial expressions or body language that give them that unique look people don’t usually see. With birds I’m looking to capture their unique behaviors whether that be feeding, mating , feeding their young, nest building, or competition. I will also shoot birds in flight whenever the opportunity presents itself, looking for that great shot that still hasn‘t come for me yet. I would say that I shoot maybe 60% portrait, 40% action. I won’t pass up an interesting shot of animals but my main interest are birds,
 
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Ralph said:
I love taking portraits of birds and look for those unusually facial expressions or body language that give them that unique look people don’t usually see. With birds I’m looking to capture their unique behaviors whether that be feeding, mating , feeding their young, nest building, or competition. I will also shoot birds in flight whenever the opportunity presents itself, looking for that great shot that still hasn‘t come for me yet. I would say that I shoot maybe 60% portrait, 40% action. I won’t pass up an interesting shot of animals but my main interest are birds,
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I do probably 85/15% but if something interesting flies by I'll certainly snap away lol
 
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For as long as I've been photographing critters (over 50 years now) I've been primarily a portraitist, probably because I shot film for over 30 years and there were only 36 or 37 shots on a roll before you had to rewind the film, open the camera, insert a new roll, close the camera's back and get back on the subject -- if it was still there. Action shots were difficult and expensive, you folks who've never shot film don't know how good you've had it. Besides I have slow reflexes.
 
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