Perhaps more than any other artists, photographers have a clear choice on how to make their art.  Although there are obviously many ways to make art, here I want to look at two that are most applicable to photographers.

 One method is creative photography. Using this technique, a photographer can create the image that he or she whats to photograph, arranging the elements in a way that reflects a particular vision or to reproduce an image seen or imagined previously. Fashion, portrait, product, and especially food photographers, fall into this category.  The goal of the photographers engaged in these genres is to make their images as attractive, intriguing, and appealing as possible so as to get the viewer to love and want to purchase--or eat--what they see.

         Evening sail.     

   The other method is capture photography, in which the shooter has little or no idea what image they will see and find appealing before clicking the shutter.  This type of photography often waits for an image to present itself and the photographer seizes the opportunity to capture it forever.  Street, landscape and astrophotography, wildlife, and especially sports photographers fall into this category. Such photographers strive to be at the right place, at the right time, to "capture" an image that appeals to the photographer's inner sense of interest, beauty, harmony, or attractiveness.

   An exception to this dichotomy is wedding photography, because such photography combines elements of each method.  Indeed, at times the wedding photographer must direct the bride and groom and wedding party on where to stand, where to face, when to smile, and when to look serious.  Yet there are also times when a wedding photographer must be prepared to capture spontaneous action, and people and expressions that are fleeting, such as the scene at the reception after the ceremony.

 I am, without question, a capture photographer.  I like to take photographs of things as I see them, or objects or people that are in motion.  I will take a boat under full sail or in a race any day over a bowl of fruit or a portrait.  Although I have done some work as a creative photographer, I have to work to get a decent image.  It does not come naturally.  For me, capturing a moment in time, such as a bird in flight, is infinitely preferable to arranging the lighting on a plate of pasta or telling a person to look left or to stand one way or another.

     Although I am certain there are photographers who can use each method equally well, and a good photographer must try all methods and techniques, I would guess that ultimately every photographer finds the technique, either creative or capture, that enables their talents to shine!