What Kind Of Photographer Are You?

I've been dabbling in photography for close to 5 years now. Time has flown and I hardly realized that it has been almost 5 years. Feels closer to 3 for me. Anyway, today I am doing a little lighthearted post on photography. It asks the question of 'What Kind of Photographer Are You?" Go on, see if you can find yourself in there somewhere. If not, why not post your comment of what kind you should be?

These days, cameras are ubiquitous. I can safely bet that at anytime of the day, you are less than 20 feet away from a camera. All the smartphones nowadays comes with a camera built in so if you are within 20 feet of a smartphone, you are witin 20 feet of a camera.

With cameras being so prolific, here's a list that I have compiled of all the different kinds of photographers that are available out there. Please note that by photographer here I mean people who can operate a camera and not like professionals or whatever. Have fun!

1. The Food Snapper

This kind of photographer takes pictures of mainly food. You can find them in restaurants and other eating places, merrily snapping away at the dishes that they have ordered and posting them on social networking sites or blogs. Most are armed with a relatively high end compact camera but some do carry DSLRs. Woe to those who are in the company of the Food Snapper as you may not touch your food until a picture has been taken.

2. The Snapshooter

The snapshooter always have a camera with him/her. It will be whipped out at even the slightest variance to the normal routine and pictures will be taken. New colleague? Snap! New clothes? Snap! New haircut? Snap! New place for lunch? Snap! You get the idea. A small digital compact or a cameraphone is the weapon of choice and they have tonnes of pictures of everything and anything. Looking at the pictures of the snapshooter can often make you feel like you're having deja vu.

3. The Camwhore

May be mistaken for the Snapshooter at first glance as they share similar traits but upon closer inspection you realise that the Camwhore has one subtle difference. The Camwhore is in ALL its pictures! You will find the Camwhore in all it's own pictures almost invariably at arms length, with the lens pointing back towards himself/herself. Less often you will find that the Camwhore shooting at mirrors and even rarer is the pic where the Camwhore is not holding the camera.

4. The Documenter

This subset of photographer is found mostly in groups of tourists on a guided tour. The Documenter has a serious demeanour and does not take many pictures. At every tour stop, he will take one shot of each tourist attraction and then keep the camera away for the next tour stop. Main aim of the picture is to proof that he/she has been there. Most Documenters are armed with a slightly outdated digital camera model.

5. The Show-Off

Always count on the Show-Off to be in the possession of the latest and greatest gears and/or cameras. These new gears will be prominently displayed for all to see and great pains will be taken to inform you of his/her latest acquisition. Takes moderate amount of pictures but mysteriously, not many pictures are actually shown to others.

6. The Gearhead

The Gearhead often also have the latest and greatest gears like the Show-Off but the main difference is that they do not really show off their gears. Rather the Gearhead prefers to show off their knowledge about their gears. Takes large amounts of pictures but most of their pics show off mundane stuff like their computer's keyboard or items on their desk or little anime figurines that they own. Nothing spectacular about the items in their pictures but boy can they ever talk about the out-of-focus areas in those shots. Terms like bokeh, chromatic abberations, vignetting and distortions are bound to pepper any such talks.

7. The Child Chaser

The Child Chaser shoots only one thing. His/her child or children. All shots have their child/children in them. Takes large numbers of shots and is not adverse to sharing them. Hope to be in one of their shots? Better get real close to their child/children or you have no hope.

8. The Enthusiast

The Enthusiast is almost always holding a DLSR or at least a high-end digital compact camera. They like to study photography and can sometimes cross over to the Gearhead territory. Often wanders out alone in search of pictures and takes a large amount of pictures. You can often see their best shots on display. Starts out taking pictures of almost everything but will eventually specialize in one or two areas.

9. The Trade-Fair Trawler

The Trade-Fair Trawler lives for only one thing - trade fair show girls! If a trade fair has any show girls, you will find them there. Car shows, IT fairs, Comic/Anime conventions, Cosplay meet-ups, toy fairs or any kind of fairs open to the public usually attracts large number of Trade-Fair Trawlers. They tend to herd when they meet other trawlers in any fair and make their way slowly through the fair, impeding other visitors and distracting the promoter gals. They usually have large DSLRs hung around their necks.

10. The Shot Stealer

Lurking close to the Trade-Fair Trawlers are the creepy Shot Stealers. Usually loners and invariably male, they wait until the Trawlers are busy shooting a show girl before they quickly whip out their camera phones and steal a shot of the show girl in question. As fast as they appear, they will disappear into the crowd after taking their shot. No one will ever see any pictures take by the Shot Stealer except for the Stealer himself.

That's about all the different kinds of photographers I can think of. I you know any others, feel free to add them in the comments! Oh, and by the way, don't take this too seriously, OK?