Photography Tips for Absolute Beginners
- Lens aperture, which controls how much light is let in the camera
- Shutter speed, which controls how long the light is allowed to come in
- ISO, which controls how sensitive the digital sensor (or physical film) is to light
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Photography is one of the most rewarding hobbies you can try. It is a mix of science and math, skilled craft, and tons of creativity. New photographers are eager to find beginner photography tips since many are wondering where to start as a beginner photographer.
Instructions and tips on photography essentials for beginners will follow along that same breakdown of art, science, and craft. Don’t worry, there is plenty of fun to go around when learning photography for beginners as well.
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“Where do I start?” is what you may be saying to yourself. In our tips for new photographers, we’ll start with the basics that can empower you to consistently create great images while having lots of fun.
Note that this article offers a summary of photography tips for beginners. For more detailed information on each photography tip, please reference the tutorials linked throughout the text.
Exposure Triangle
Photography Tips Category: Science
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Some of the most important photography tips for beginners involve basic exposure calculations. Your camera can automatically do almost all of this for you for a huge percentage of your pictures.
Exposure automation modes on your new camera include aperture priority, shutter priority, and programmed modes. Other ‘modes’ can include manual settings and exposure compensation techniques.
The Exposure Triangle is an important concept for beginner photographers to learn and experienced photographers to continue to refine their techniques. The three parts of the triangle include:
You can see these properties in the graph below:
You can absolutely get very detailed into the math and physics of exposure if you’re so inclined, many find it a fascinating subject. If math isn’t your thing, that’s okay, you don’t need any higher math to understand and use exposure tips and techniques. Just follow the basic instruction and you can completely control all aspects of exposure.
Composition and Camera Position
Photography Tips Category: Art
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Photographic composition is where everything is inside the image area and how they all relate to everything included. Camera position is where you are as you capture the image. Both work hand in hand as part of the art of photography.
Photography tips covering composition often focus on the Rule of Thirds. This compositional technique is one of the most important in all of photography to understand and use well. Part of the understanding Rule of Thirds is learning when it applies and when it doesn’t, also how to incorporate other photography tips on composition such as S curves, leading lines, symmetry, and so forth as alternatives or in combination.
Camera position photography tips are included in this heading because where you are with your camera can change up the compositional balance of the image you’re creating. Moving one direction or another can either radically alter or subtly change the composition of your photograph.
Camera position can also give different perspectives of the same subject. As an example, you can simply point your camera at a small child or a pet and you’ll get an accurate view. But if you change camera position by getting down on the same level as the subject, the feel and impact of the resulting image can be dramatically improved. Try it out!
Hold It Steady
Photography Tips Category: Craft
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A common cause of poor pics is blur due to camera motion. There are two beginner photography tips that are easy fixes for this.
Holding the camera properly is a photography technique that applies to all levels of expertise. As a thought exercise, the next time you’re watching a sporting event, fashion show, or congressional hearing, pay close attention to how the professional photographers are holding their cameras. For the most part, they are using the same basic stance that my grandfather learned with his Pentax Spotmatic.
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Modern camera ergonomics with their built in hand grips and eye-level viewfinders are designed to be handheld very differently than smartphones are.
Another method used to hold your camera still is to mount it on a tripod, monopod, or some other type of mount. Tripods come in all sorts of types and sizes from tabletop tripods to lightweight travel tripods and large super stable tripods. Monopods and camera mounts are also good options for providing camera stability.
Maintain Focus
Photography Tips Category: Craft and Art
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Autofocus technology is one of the best features to have come to all levels of photography. It’s so good and accurate that some photographers, including pros, rely on it for the majority of their photography.
Autofocus can be fooled, though, in certain situations, requiring you to override it. Also, you may have a creative vision in mind that requires an advanced focus technique such as deep depth of field or selective focus. Or, you may be making images such as astrophotography or long exposure blurred water photos which should be manually focused.
Here’s an extra beginner photography tip, look up ‘back button focusing’ technique for an autofocus control method that combines focus automation with user control.
Basic Post-Processing
Photography Tips Category: Science, Craft, and Art
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Here is an interesting fact, all images get processed. A photographer may think they’re posting #SOOC (straight out of camera) pics for some sort of bragging rights, but that JPEG image file was processed by the camera’s image processor before being recorded as a JPEG.
Besides, there really isn't any superiority of an image file shared as-is with one that was post-processed on a computer or tablet. What is behind the SOOC mindset is the mistaken view that post-processing is some sort of artistic cheating or is always a major change from the reality of the scene.
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In reality, good post-processing technique is required for superior images. The good news is that it isn’t difficult to post-process for optimal results. Oftentimes, the processing is little more than a tweak of exposure or color balance which is actually presenting the image in a more accurate way.
This also puts you, the photographer, back in charge of how the final image looks instead of simply accepting what the camera manufacturer pre programmed into the camera image processor. Learn a few handy tricks for processing images in the video below by Jamie Windsor.
The latest post-processing programs are extremely straightforward in how to use them for all of the basic functions such as cropping, color balancing, and exposure adjustments. Some important beginner photography tips concerning which ones to use are non destructive editing and the low cost, instantly updated subscription models for current programs.
You Never Stop
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When it comes to the art, science, and craft of photography, we never stop learning and adapting. Some of the photography tips for beginners will discuss a lot about equipment choices and how to use your new gear. Other tips and techniques cover the artistic endeavors of photography.
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Another thing photographers should never stop is don’t ever stop taking pictures!
Everywhere you go, you are a photographer. You blend together science, art, and craft in order to create images for your own and other’s enjoyment. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
