The Story of The Photography Reference
The Photography Reference is an invaluable resource of the types of photography for both professional and recreational photographers, and for anyone interested in this beautiful and creative art form.
Our aim is to become instrumental in inspiring new and existing photographers to explore this art form through the evaluation and experimentation of photographic genres and techniques.
Whether you are just starting out in photography, searching for photographic inspiration to elevate your social media presence, or are exploring options to branch out from your existing genre of professional photography, at The Photography Reference we will have information to inspire you on your journey!
We have one of the biggest and most comprehensive list of photography genres easily accessible all in the one place. It has been a multi-year labour of love to build one of the largest online lists of photography genres!
We are adding to our resources all the time so keep up with all that we are doing by following us on our socials:
• Instagram
• Facebook
The idea for The Photography Reference
The Photography Reference was an idea envisioned by myself, Phill Petrovic. With +10 years’ experience as a professional photographer specialising in commercial, real estate, portraits, and commissions on assignment, I have a considerable amount of knowledge and practical hands-on experience. However, even with the experience I do have, I wanted to learn more about as many other genres and techniques as I could to broaden my understanding of photography. This was so I could expand my earning capacity as a professional photographer, especially when it comes to the wide array of photographic assignments secured through commercial contracts.
With the knowledge that commercial photography can touch almost every other genre and sub-genre of photography I decided to do some further research. So, I initially came up with a list of over 80 genres and techniques, and I then began the slow many-years-long process of documenting and researching those ideas and techniques.
Some genres and techniques at The Photography Reference are purely creative in nature. These mostly reflect my personal interests outside of the existing field of commercial photography. However, creative genres and techniques also play a vital role in assisting with the interpretation of light, camera settings and composition in the commercial photography scene.
I have always found the best way for me to learn something new was to have a hands-on approach, or at the very least to document what I had learnt. Over time I have amassed a huge volume of photography-related notes, and it is out of those notes that I came up with the idea to build a website that would become a one-stop collection of information on many photography genres and techniques. A website that anyone, professional or otherwise, could visit as a springboard to inspire to improve their photography, to start their journey, or to move into a different genre if they are already a professional photographer and are looking to expand their services.
The Photography Reference isn’t a learning platform per se, (OMG, there’s so many other more-talented photographers out there that could teach you far better than I ever could!), The Photography Reference is a platform that will enlighten you to the artistic possibilities available for you to take advantage of with your camera!
If you visit The Photography Reference and leave with just one technique, idea or piece of information that helps you on your photography journey, then your visit here has been worthwhile!
I don’t consider myself an expert in all fields of photography by any stretch, but I have an interest in photography that goes much further than just as a hobby… photography has been my main source of income for over 10 years!
It took over two years of learning and writing before I could even consider collating all this information into this website, and with the help of a paid technical writer to complete some detail, The Photography Reference is now live!
To help with the cost of maintaining and building on this site with new articles and new resources I am affiliated with several external photography and related resources including advertising, educational and retail businesses. I may earn a commission from some of those affiliated websites if you click through and make a purchase at any of those sites.
On the flipside there are also external links at The Photography Reference to resources and information where I do not earn any commission at all. This is because I believe in balancing quality photography information over just those sites that may pay a commission.
So, if you run a quality photography website, please let me know through the comments section on any of the pages at The Photography Reference and I will personally check out your site.
Enjoy!
Oh, and PS… don’t forget to do a bit of reading, you may just learn something new at The Photography Reference!
