Photography Careers List
Beginning Photography - 5 Common Mistakes To Avoid
Photography is a wonderful hobby or career that is accessible to almost anyone who is interested. The learning curve can be rough or steep depending on the methods you wish to learn, but for the most part everyone has the potential to pick up a camera and create interesting work right from the beginning. Then again, there are a few common pitfalls that you may wish to avoid if you're just getting started.
Gear Everywhere!
It's easy to get swept up in all of the possibilities for your photography gear. The list of cool photo equipment is endless- filters, tripods, extra lenses, lights, reflectors and timers and so many others. If you don't have a solid understanding of what you're able to do with your camera, you'll never be able to truly master the use of all of the accessories. It's best to start off small with a basic digital SLR (or 35 mm film camera if you prefer) if you're serious about learning photography. Once you've gotten comfortable with using your equipment and have goten some great shots, it's time to start looking at some new accessories.
One Missed Shot
In the beginning, it's common to miss a lot of great shots. In fact, not only will you miss a lot of great photographs, you're also going to mess up on photos you were able to take. For this reason, it's probably a good idea to take every photograph at least twice. This will help teach you about the subtleties of your camera's inner workings, as well as provide a bit of safety in knowing you won't miss the important things. Besides, in the day of digital the cost of shooting thousands of images is no more than shooting only ten.
Don't Use Your Flash
You don't need it. An automatic flash will at best teach you to ignore complex or difficult lighting situations and will at worse ruin your images. You should turn your flash off and get used to working with natural light and your camera's settings so you can further develop your photography skills. Cameras are quite versatile and can shoot in almost any environment, so try to be creative about how you use the light you're provided, even when it doesn't seem like enough.
Fix Your Framing
Although you see it done commonly, you don't need to center your subject in the center of the image. This can create unnecessary space in your pictures and make them less interesting. Picture the frame or viewfinder of your camera as a cropping tool so you'll always compose exactly what you want in your picture. Good framing is something that doesn't take long to learn and will improve your work for a lifetime.
Point and Shoot
Simple digital cameras with giant LCD screens on the back are certainly tempting, but if you're hoping to learn about the art of photography and challenge yourself to improve, you're probably not going to get anything out of a point and shoot camera. Many beginning photographers choose these cameras for their convenience and affordability, which works great if you're only planning to take pictures of family and friends rather than for artistic or professional purposes. If you want to understand photographs and the ways in which you can create them, you need to start with the right tool for the job.
Now that you know these 5 common mistakes, you can steer clear of them and focus your efforts on practicing and expanding your photography knowledge. When learning photography it's important to establish good habits and skills early on so you can continue to build upon a solid base of knowledge going forward. Just keep taking pictures every day and before you know it you'll be creating images that you'll be proud to display in a picture frame in your home or office.
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