Our ultimate photography tips for beginners

Photography is absolutely one of the best ways to keep memories and tell stories. However, it is also one of the most difficult hobbies to learn. As a beginner, you might feel overwhelmed by all the buttons and controls on your new camera. But don’t let yourself give up to pursue your passion for photography! If you are just starting out with photography and don’t know what to do, here are our ultimate photography tips for beginners!

Get familiar with using exposure

Galaxy photo using long exposure, Photo by Harmish Dowson
Photo by Harmish Dowson

Exposure is the measure of light you get in the image sensor when capturing an image. To improve your photography as a beginner, you need to make sure that it is a very important part of your skills. There are three main elements that determine exposure: ISO, aperture and shutter speed. 

  • ISO: ISO units are determined by how sensitive the sensor is to light. (100 ISO, 400 ISO, 3200 ISO, etc.) A higher ISO offers you to take photos in dark, but the noise would remain on your photos. 
  • Aperture: F-stops are measured by how big the lens opening is. (f/2, f/5/, f/11, etc) The smaller the number is, the wider the aperture goes. A wider aperture means that more light comes in.  
  • Shutter speed: It’s determined by how long the shutter is open in seconds. (1/200 sec, 1/60 sec, 3 sec, etc.) The slower the shutter speed is, the more light comes in. Also, shutter speed affects the sensitivity to motion. 

The Rule of Third

Sun set using rule of third, Photo by Ahmed Nishaath
Photo by Ahmed Nishaath

One of the most important elements of photography is composition. As a beginner, you might not have a sense for composition. But just remember the rule of third. You simply separate the image into thirds, both vertically and horizontally. The crossing points should be your points of interest. For example, if you’re shooting landscapes, you could separate the sky with the thirds, and place your point of interest (e.g. sunset) at the crossing point. 

Don’t be afraid to change your perspectives

A woman holding a cigarette in front of the white building, Photo by Ilie Micut Istrate
Photo by Ilie Micut Istrate

Everyone feels tired and bored with an unremarkable photo where the subject is placed straight-on from eye level. To fix this, shoot from a variety of different vantage points! You could change your elevation, angles or distance. Once you get more experimental with your photography, you will see so much better results you could be proud of!

Post- processing

Using tablet to retouch images, Photo by Szabo Viktor
Photo by Szabo Viktor

Do you just leave your photos somewhere on your hard drive and never retouch them? Part of the fun of photography is actually editing images! Post-processing gives you a whole world of other possibilities and diversity of your photos. Whether you simply crop an image or turn a color photo into monochrome, it will offer you an opportunity to enjoyably manipulate your images in different ways. 

Shoot more often and everything

A man holding a camera and equipment outside, Photo by Charles Chen
Photo by Charles Chen

You must have heard of the saying: practice makes progress. This also applies to photography. There’s no other way to improve your skill. No matter how many YouTube tutorial videos you watch, or how many articles you read- If you don’t shoot actually, you can’t improve your photography. Experience is worth a ton of theory. So, just go out and shoot! 

love your mistakes

Ice cream on the street mistakenly fallen down, Photo by Pawel Janiak
Photo by Pawel Janiak

Taking an ideal photo can take time in the beginning. Every photographer has taken bad photos and had mistakes. Even if a photo doesn’t look right to you, think about what went wrong and use it as an example of mispractice to keep improving your skills. A simple technical mistake can be simple to fix by searching online or reading the manual. Mistakes give you an opportunity to think differently and challenge creatively. Make sure you don’t give up and keep working on your photography. 

If you’re looking for more inspiration and tips, click here to check our top 5 ways to optimize your product photography. 

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