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I have seen many times the structure 'photograph + object + -ing,' but I rarely saw 'photograph + object + infinitive.'

Do native English speakers say or write that way?

Lifeispicnic
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  • I photographed her singing means "I photographed her while she was singing" while what you put means "I photographed her as she sang". There is a subtle difference in the tense in which the form you wrote is, in my opinion, better English. But the alternative is more widely used. – it's a hire car baby Mar 19 '19 at 08:05

2 Answers2

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This works with certain verbs (the verb that comes first in the sentence) but not others. I wouldn’t use photographed like this. You can use the bare infinitive with to watch: “I watched her sing”. Also to see: “I saw her sing”. Not sure which other verbs offhand (if any) can work this way.

Mixolydian
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    You can also use the bare infinitive with to hear ("I heard her sing"—which means something slightly different than "I heard her singing"). Also with to feel (although it's usually difficult to feel someone sing). Watch, see, hear and feel might be the only verbs that can be used in quite this way; in particular, similar verbs such as observe, listen, taste and sense can't be used this way. – Tanner Swett Mar 19 '19 at 07:09
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Photograph as a verb is used in the following two ways
Photograph somebody/something + adjective

I refused to be photographed nude.

Photograph somebody+something doing something

They were photographed playing with their children.

Therefore it's better to say I photographed her singing

Kshitij Singh
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