What is the real path to artistic success? Some people say it is nothing more than practice. Not just practice in general, but practice in one single area of photography, always working on that one slice of the craft.
I see it differently. I think success grows out of diversity. Different styles, different techniques, and even different genres. Even the genres that might not be your favorites. Let me walk you through why I think this matters.
When you only look at one kind of art, you miss a lot. And I don’t mean only photography. There is inspiration in all of it. A sculpture can teach you about lighting just by the way shadows move over the marble. A painting can teach you about color choices. A sketch can show you how much can be said with a few careful lines. Every medium has something to offer if you spend a little time with it.
And when you don’t look at a variety of art, you also miss the chance to find new things that speak to you. If portraits are your main focus, you may never notice the excitement in landscapes, or the stories in street photography, or the patterns in architecture, or the creativity in abstraction. Any one of those might spark something new.
Exposure shapes perspective. If you only shoot landscapes, then you naturally start thinking in horizon lines, foregrounds, midgrounds, backgrounds, different types of sunlight, and the familiar colors you find in nature. If you only shoot in color and never touch black and white, you don’t get as much experience with contrast or the subtle steps between deep blacks and bright whites.
When you work across a lot of genres, your mind opens up. You start building ideas that you can later carry back to your favorite subjects. Creativity often comes from seeing something unfamiliar, trying it, and learning from it.
If you limit yourself to one area, you might believe you’re sharpening that specialty, but you may actually be shrinking your creative space. When you explore other subjects and other types of photography, you start picking up new things that blend beautifully with the work you love most.
Think about what each genre teaches. Portraits teach you to nail focus on eyes and catch tiny textures in skin, hair, or clothing. Landscapes teach you about color, whether that’s the drama of a sunset or the softer tones of water and greenery. Black and white landscapes teach you to look for contrast. All of these skills can cross over in surprising ways.
Some of the best photography pulls from everywhere, letting each piece develop its own character.
And every genre comes with its own set of skills. Street photography builds awareness and quick reflexes, because you only get a moment before a scene changes. Studio portrait work gives you deep experience with controlled lighting. If you only do street work, you have little reason to set up lights. If you only do studio work, you don’t get the lessons that come from catching real, unplanned moments.
The more genres you try, the more your skill set grows, and the more versatile you become as a photographer.
The good news is, you never have to stay with anything that doesn’t interest you. Try whatever you want. Learn what you can from it. See what you enjoy and what you don’t. Even if you only try something once, the skills you pick up along the way will still be valuable.
The idea is to keep an open mind. Explore as much as you feel comfortable with. There’s no rule that says you must stick with everything you try.
So, which is better, diversifying or staying with one thing until you master it? For me, the choice is to diversify. Your answer may be different, and that is part of what makes photography such a rich art to practice.
