Here are the most important beginners photography tips any photographer starting photography should knows.
Without further do let’s jump into it.
TIP 1: QUICKLY ELIMINATE BEGINNERS PHOTOGRAPHER’S MISTAKES
The first list of photography tips for beginners is about avoiding common mistakes that block your progression. Being able to recognize is really important in order to improve your photographer skills.
1. FOCUS ON THE QUALITY OF THE PHOTO RATHER THAN ON COMPOSITION
This is certainly the most typical fallacy beginners fall into. If we don’t make better photographs, the easy way is to take responsible our equipment instead of our skills. Then we get obsessed about getting a better camera instead of focusing on the science & art behind photography. Image quality is buyable, emotions aren’t. So priority should be on learning some composition techniques and train to build interesting clichés even if they are of a poor visual quality. Beautiful pixels will follow later.
2. SPENDING MORE TIME EDITING THAN SHOOTING
Lots of professional photographers regret the time they used to spend editing their early shoots. The fact is when you are editing you aren’t shooting and if you don’t, you won’t make any progress. Editing is like makeup: it will embellish your photographs but if the source is poor you will lose time and energy trying to transform a bad shot into a good one, instead of learning how to create a good one directly.
3. NOT LEARNING EVERYDAY
If you spend 10 minutes learning daily at the end of the month it’s 300 minutes, and at the end of the year you will be a new photographer. There are tons of resources on the internet, YouTube, blogs… It’s not about learning everything, but learning something new daily that will encourage you to return to the battlefield, and get you closer to your perfect shoots.
4. LIMIT YOUR POTENTIAL
Once you start getting some good results you should invest in some affordable equipment. Each new accessory will motivate you to learn new associated techniques and keep exploring the world of photography. You can start with some filters that cost less than $5 on photographs-tavern.com. A tripod is also the best investment you can make.
TIP 2: PROPEL YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY LEVEL
The second wave of beginners photography tips is about using creative and challenging strategies used to build the eyes of the photographer.
1. SHOOT IN BLACK AND WHITE
It’s easy to be distracted by colors. They hijack the attention we should put on lighting, contrast and characters. Like a subvention, colors make a bad photo look “ok”. But “ok” photographs won’t make you a better photographer. When you you give up colors, you could think you are sacrifying a bit of aesthetic but actually you are revealing a lot of emotion and driving attention to the most important aspect :the story. Training in b&w mode is the best way to focus on the essential of the picture taken.
2. USE CREATIVE CONSTRAINTS
Several artistic fields use creative constraints because they drastically increase your skills by giving you new visions, new ideas and more courage. Just google “creative constraints photography” and try some. Examples : shoot without zooming, only shoot a specific emotion, shoot in a stressful environment…
3. FIND A PHOTOGRAPHER MATE OR TEAM
Like bodybuilding, photography means training. If you want to improve, you need to constantly practice. But sometimes we are not motivated and we procrastinate. This is where sharing your photography journey with someone motivated will help you keep on track. You can find the community on a Facebook group, Meetup, Instagram,…
4. EXPLORE AND TRAVEL
Obviously! But you don’t need to go to the end of the world. I’m sure you have not entirely explored your district. you will surely find something interesting to shoot there, won’t you? Constant exploration helps you maintain motivation in an ever- stimulating environment.
5. SPEND AT LEAST 10 MINUTES LEARNING DAILY
At the end of the month, it’s 300 minutes, and at the end of the year you will be a new photographer. There are tons of resources on the net, YouTube, blogs… It’s not about learning everything, but learning something new daily that will encourage you to return to the battlefield, and get you closer to your perfect shoots.
TIP 3: UNDERSTAND HOW TO CREATE A CAPTIVATING PICTURE
After, it’s really important that you understand what makes some picture great and others ok. Those tips will help you to move from a beginner photographer to an experimented one.
1. SHOOT ANYTHING IN A NEW WAY
Great photographers transform anything boring in something interesting. To achieve this skill they are always trying to see it from a different angle, with an unique lightning or in an exclusive environment for example, so they can give a unique version of the subject. This uniqueness is their style and vision, and with this comes the ability to captivate.
2. CHASE EMOTION
Humans are sensible to emotion: in presence of it they will feel something inside that will captivate them. To create emotions you can seek whatever subject that makes you feel something or you can train to reveal emotions of scenes that apparently seem cold. Once you have decided which emotions to chase, you can play with light (diffuse light is more mysterious than reflective light for example), position (from above generally feel anxious), clarity of the scene (you can create tension by letting some part of your character in the dark…). Just pay attention on photographs you see that make you feel something, then examine them and try to understand so as to reproduce the process behind it.
3. USE STORYTELLING
Firstly, seek interesting characters (two should be enough if you start photography).If they are boring, use (1.) to make them interesting. Then create a relationship between them that could be obvious or subtle, or link them with a common characteristic, light or visual line, logical sequence… anything that will make the viewer gather elements to trace the story. Finally apply (2.) to put emotion in your story.
4. WEIRD IS BETTER THAN BORING
Probably the most important to reach the captivation skill is experimenting. Don’t stay in your comfort zone, think of this whole unknown world waiting to be discovered. This is what you want to find, not boring clichés that have been done for years. By doing this you will discover techniques that work well and others that don’t. You’ll then start to understand the relation between what you see, how you shoot it and the final piece of art. In the end you will accumulate a nice range of habits that will produce captivating photographs.
TIP 3: SHOOT MORE PORTRAITS
An other useful photography tip: Learn to shoot portrait.
1. WHY MORE PORTRAITS?
Portraits require you to create a relation with your subjects. Portrait photography is exigent because you need to extract the unique beauty, emotion, feeling from a person. This require time and experience and to understand the basics of photography composition. As a beginner photographers shooting portrait will boost your level by putting you in the heart of the skill.
2. BEGINNERS PHOTOGRAPHY PORTRAIT TIPS
TIP 4: BEHAVE LIKE A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER
Start building your portfolio and propose your services as a photographer. You can start to work for free for friends and family the time to build a consequent portfolio. Here is an article about how to find client as a photographer. Below are some useful tips for beginner photographers that would like to start moving pro.
BEGINNERS PHOTOGRAPHER TIPS: TAKE AWAY
Photography is not easy but you can use some tips to speed up your learning process. Learn how to spot beginners mistakes, then understand what is making a picture great and how photographers see the world. Finally train yourself shooting portraits and start moving pro!
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If you need some inspiration, here is a list of 12 photography quotes.
This list of photography memes was created in cooperation with the Photograph’s Tavern.
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