Photographing People in Uniform

Guess what this photographic project is all about. Did you guess people in uniform? Well you are partly correct. Not only does it involves people who wear a uniform as part of their daily lives or work.

There are other things or rather subjects within nature that can be part of this project simply because they seem to be in uniform. Take for example a "parade" of penguins, now that's a vision worth recording for posterity.

Simple enough to start and finish but for the project to be successful in its appeal to a broad range of tastes, it must include a wide range of uniforms, so seeking out various samples as well as various naturally found subjects may take some time.

But what constitutes what is normally considered to be a uniform; "A uniform is worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are worn by armed forces and paramilitaryorganizations such as police, emergency services, security guards, in some workplaces and schools and by inmates in prisons. In some countries, some other officials also wear uniforms in their duties; such is the case of the Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service or the Frenchprefects. For some public groups, such as police, it is illegal for non members to wear the uniform. Other uniforms are trade dressed (such as the brown uniforms of UPS)." Wikipedia

The good thing is that almost any major city has its share of people who wear a uniform and probably some suitable samples of natural formations or wildlife that can fit the theme.

Another good aspect of the project is that you will probably not need any specialized equipment other than a camera, flash and a zoom lens in the range of 80mm to 200mm which can cover regular distances as well as moderate ones.

Remember that you are not really concentrating on doing close ups but rather scenes which "groups" several uniformed subjects together. This is what makes the project get it appeal.

With that said, do take a couple of images of details of a few individual pieces of a uniform. This emphasis will serve to highlight the more attractive or unusual part of an individual uniform.

A single individual in uniform looks good but the perspective of having many of the same at once is what appeals to most of us due to the scene's uniformity.

Although you can do this project with one particular country in mind, it would be much better if you can recompile samples from various parts of the globe as the distinctiveness of each region adds another element to make your project that much interesting to your audience.

Be mindful and record images of school uniforms, work uniforms like those of flight attendants, civil service uniforms like that of police officers and off course military ones.