Tôi thích nhiếp ảnh.

• Tôi = I
• thích = like
• nhiếp ảnh = photography

So the sentence is literally I like photography.

Vietnamese usually follows a simple Subject + Verb + Object order, just like English in this sentence:

• Tôi = subject
• thích = verb
• nhiếp ảnh = object

So it works the same way as I like photography.

Nhiếp ảnh means photography as a field, art, or hobby.

It is a bit broader and more formal than just taking pictures.
If you want to talk about the action of taking photos, Vietnamese often uses:

• chụp ảnh = to take photos / to photograph

So:

• Tôi thích nhiếp ảnh. = I like photography.
• Tôi thích chụp ảnh. = I like taking photos.

Both are correct, but they are not exactly the same nuance.

Yes, but it sounds a little more like photography as a hobby, discipline, or art form.

In casual conversation, many people might more naturally say:

• Tôi thích chụp ảnh. = I like taking photos.

So nhiếp ảnh is perfectly correct, but chụp ảnh may sound more conversational in daily speech.

A rough English-friendly guide is:

• Tôi ≈ toy
• thích ≈ somewhat like tick with a different vowel and a sharp ending
• nhiếp ≈ difficult for English speakers; starts with a soft nh sound, something like nyeep
• ảnh ≈ something like anh with the proper tone

A few pronunciation notes:

• th in Vietnamese is not the English th sound in think. It is more like an aspirated t.
• nh is similar to the ny sound in canyon.
• Vietnamese is tonal, so the tones matter a lot.

If you want, the tones here are:

• Tôi — level-ish tone
• thích — high rising/sharp tone
• nhiếp — heavy/glottalized tone
• ảnh — dipping/glottalized tone

Vietnamese usually does not use articles like a, an, or the the way English does.

So nhiếp ảnh simply means photography, and no extra article is needed.

This is very normal in Vietnamese.

Sometimes, yes.

In conversation, Vietnamese often drops pronouns when the subject is already clear from context. So if everyone knows you are talking about yourself, you might just say:

• Thích nhiếp ảnh.

But on its own, especially for learners, Tôi thích nhiếp ảnh. is the safest and clearest full sentence.

Thích usually means like.

It is weaker than yêu, which often means love.

So:

• Tôi thích nhiếp ảnh. = I like photography.
• Tôi yêu nhiếp ảnh. = I love photography.

Using thích is neutral and very common.

No. Vietnamese verbs do not change form the way English verbs do.

thích stays thích.

If you want to show time, you usually add time words or markers:

• Tôi thích nhiếp ảnh. = I like photography.
• Trước đây tôi thích nhiếp ảnh. = I used to like photography / I liked photography before.
• Tôi sẽ thích nhiếp ảnh hơn nếu... = I will like photography more if...

So the verb itself usually stays the same.

Yes. Vietnamese pronouns depend a lot on relationship, age, and context.

• tôi = neutral, general I
• em = I when speaking to someone older or in certain relationships
• mình = can mean I in casual, friendly speech

So the sentence structure stays the same, but the pronoun can change:

• Em thích nhiếp ảnh.
• Mình thích nhiếp ảnh.

For beginners, tôi is often taught first because it is broadly usable and polite.

You can absolutely use nhiếp ảnh by itself here.

Classifiers are used with many countable nouns in Vietnamese, but nhiếp ảnh is an abstract noun like music, art, or photography in English, so no classifier is needed in this sentence.

That is why Tôi thích nhiếp ảnh sounds complete and natural.