When you look at Instagram and Facebook, it is brimming with beautiful shots of people, places, and things; not to mention about the versatile and up-to-date wedding photo booth which became a must-have in every special occasion. It’s more than enough to encourage everyone to buy a camera and start shooting. But cameras can be complicated. The professional photographers even took years to master their craft and even then they still say they don’t know everything about photography. But don’t let that discourage you. If photography interests you, then you should go and explore it. Here are a few tips to help beginners master digital photography.
- Start Small
It can be very tempting to get the latest and high-end brand of the camera especially when you have the means. But chances are, you wouldn’t know how to fully use all its features as a professional would. Not knowing how to use it can even discourage you from photography. So start with something inexpensive and simple and start shooting. The more photos you take, the more you’ll get the hang of how a photograph is composed.
2. Keep it with you at all Times
Now that you have your handy-dandy camera, bring it with you everywhere. You can never know what you might encounter in your day that would inspire you to document it. Having a camera on hand at all times means you will get to practice your skill at the same time. You can even use your camera phone to take note of interesting sceneries and landscapes you’d like to revisit with your DSLR.
3. Practice Outdoor as well as Indoor
Many professional photographers either focus on indoor or outdoor photography. Both of them have its challenges and merits but the truly great photographers know how to do both. Indoor settings offer you more control on a number of elements that an outdoor setting would, like the amount of light and shadow. But outdoor photography is more dynamic with almost unlimited subject options. Trying your hand at both will only hone your skills at being spontaneous and controlling at the same time.
4. Use the Internet
The internet is a treasure trove of free information for just about any subject, including photography. There are tons of blogs out there offering tips at composing an image, how to light a subject, landscape photography and many more. Use it all. The art of photography is a constant learning process.
5. Consider Getting a Tripod
When you start photography, your hands won’t have the dexterity to hold a camera steady enough to create a sharp image. Chances are, you’ll be filling your memory card with blurry images. So getting a camera tripod will drastically improve the quality of the shots you take as you get used to the weight of the camera on your hands.
6. Start with Exposure
In essence, exposure is the amount of light that’s captured in an image. An image can either be overexposed or underexposed. Getting just the right amount of light is something any newbie photographer learns the first time they start shooting. Aperture, ISO, shutter speed all work in tandem to create an image’s exposure. In order to get the right exposure level every time, it’s important to know how each one of these camera features is used.
7. Shoot as much as You Can
Practice makes perfect as they say and it applies to almost every aspect of life, including photography. You won’t get better waiting for the perfect shot to come your way. The only way to sharpen your eye on what to capture is to shoot as much as possible in any setting about whatever subject. Then, you review it and consider what makes it a bad image or a good one so you can be better at it the next time.