Your 5 best tips for newbies

[Greg McCary]

I have noticed a few newbies in critiques and I thought it would be cool if some of the, cough, cough, old timers or veterans would share their five best tips for better photography. Try not to use old cliches, like it's the photographer not the camera thing but more hard facts.
Here's mine,
1) Patience is your friend. Don't force the issue. If the lighting isn't right wait til it is. Think ahead and learn to watch the weather. Let it be a factor in when and what you shoot.
2) Do everything you can to get it right in the field. Exposing the shot right to start with and don't leave thinking some post processing magic is going to save your image.
3) Shoot RAW and learn how to process a shot. Don't give the camera the benefit of doing it for you. There is really no such thing as "out of camera". Learning how to process an image will help create style and individuality. The old timers worked their magic in a darkroom we can do it on a computer.
4) Study. Find a photographer(s) you admire and learn from them, composition, timing ect. Don't copy them just learn. My favorite photographers are not famous, yet.LOL They are internet buddies that I really learn from. Kind of like the Beatles learned from Chuck Berry and Elvis Presely. They studied them but still done their own thing without being a copy cat.
5) Follow your heart, practice relentlessly. Nobody ever got good at something without putting the time in.

I am looking forward to hearing from some of the ,cough,cough,old timers.

[Liz]

Great thread idea!

One thing I would add from my own experience:

Read the manual

.......or at least look through it. And if you run into something you don't seem to understand or you can't "get it" look it up in the manual. With some cameras there is a big learning curve (I almost gave up using the E-PL1 as it took me a long time to figure it out).

I am not fond of reading the manual as soon as I get the camera - my fingers "itch" to start using it. However, if I can, I look up a pdf version of the manual on the internet (google) before it arrives, and am amazed how much I learn. And it makes it more fun waiting for UPS!

Liz

[Grandpaw]

All the tips listed are all good but I would like to add five of my own.

Number one tip.....Check all your camera settings before each photo outing. Discovering the white balance is set on tungsten or florescent after taking a couple hundred shots out in the sunshine is not a good surprise. Or finding out the ISO is set real high from the night before after taking pictures and they come out grainy is also a bummer. Any of the setting being left from the last time you used your camera and not match with current conditions can really mess you up. Some can be fixed if you shoot in RAW but not all.

Number two tip..... Make sure you have ALL the equipment you will be needing such as tripod, lenses, filters, memory, batteries and any other equipment you may need . Getting there and finding out what you need is still at the house makes for a bad outing.

Number three.... Make sure your memory cards have room on them and are not still filled with files.

Number four.... Make sure ALL batteries in the camera, flash, and anything else that is battery operated is fully charged.

Number five.... Take along your imagination, it is one of the best tools you have.

Greg, has given you 5 very good tips and I'm sure you will get several more but I would like to say that without the five tips above the rest may not matter, Jeff

[SmartWombat]

1) watch the edges of the frame
2) don't use the centre autofocus point (if your subject isn't centred)
3) go and read the strobist blog
4) know when your camera is lying (exposure compensation)
5) sometimes the "rules" can be broken, but you have to know the rules first

[zerodog]

1. Read your manual. Even for your point and shoot
2. Know your camera. Know what the buttons do. Know the AF modes and special features. You bought em, use em.
3. Know the effects of ISO, Shutter Speed and Aperture. Look at a scene and know what you will use to get a picture.
4. Know your computer. Digital photography is only half the battle.
5. Don't be afraid to use your camera. So many people say they are afraid to take it out and damage it. You didn't buy it to sit in your house, get out there and take some pictures.

[jetrim]

Hmmm, pretty good list so far, not sure if I can come up with 5 more...
1)Don't waste money on gear. 1 body, one long lens (70-300) and one short lens (28-80) will get you surprisingly far. Once you learn how to use those effectively, what you need next will be self evident (you'll know why you need it as well as what it is)

2)Look at tons and tons of photos from other people, you'll start to understand why you like certain images and not others, this is the foundation of your personal style. I still tear stuff out of magazines and toss them in a folder to use as inspiration for my own work.

3)Shoot at every opportunity you get.

4)Not so much a tip, as just something to remember - From Didache's "15 truths about photography"
Most of your pictures suck...
but don't be dismayed, so do most of everybody else's

[WesternGuy]

Great thread!! Greg, thanks for starting this :thumbsup: , it is interesting to see the things that others feel are important aspects and best tips for newbies, but I am sure even some of us cough, cough, old timers or veterans, can also learn from the reminders...I know I can...that is what I find so great about photography as a hobby, there is always something new to learn, or at least remember from the cough, cough, good, old days - some of us even remember when film was all we had - LOL.

Regards,

WesternGuy

[Skyman]

1) Learn to use your camera in manual mode without a zoom, even if you later switch back to full auto.

2) Learn the rules of photography especially exposure and composition, but realise that they are more guidlines or starting points than fixed rules.

3) Buy the best gear you can afford, it will last you longer and save you money in the long run (when you realise that your kit lens isn't good enough and you "need" more) but don't ever blame your gear except maybe tripod and don't buy the latest and greatest just because the new model came out.

4) Print out your photos bigger than normal (at least 6x8") and put them up so you see them daily. change them everytime you get used to them. You will be amazed at the things you don't pick up on the screen or in small prints and you will be subconsiously improving your compositions. You can even try to sell them once you have taken them down.

5) don't be afraid to forget everything you learnt and just have fun. A camera can mediate or modify your experience buy only if you let it.

[LeeIs]

Or finding out the ISO is set real high from the night before after taking pictures and they come out grainy is also a bummer.

'
The amount of shots this ruined for me. lol.

my five points.

1. love your camera, don't always try to get a better one, use the one you have as it is most likely more than adequate.

2. shoot what you love shooting regardless of repetition.

3. time is your ally. you'll look back 5 years from now and see a huge improvement. don't give up just keep on keeping on.

4. try to find the best time to shoot your favourite subjects. like macro flowers on overcast days for example.

5. don't forget the night night photography rocks!

[armando_m]

what a great thread

my tips
1. learn to us your camera as best as you can, be patient with yourself it does take time, the same applies with new lenses, it takes time to get the best of a new lens
2. learn to hold your camera steady
3. when time allows you, look at the whole viewfinder, check at the composition , look for distractions recompose to eliminate them
4. learn to use the histogram so you can quickly adjust and obtain the best exposition
5. read this forum , put your photos up for critique, imagine yourself taking shots even if you don't have your camera with you at that moment

[Anbesol]

1. Know your meter, and what it does and means.
2. Know white balance
3. Crop your frame as tightly as possible.
4. Think and shoot beyond and outside the conventional.
5. Have fun.

6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 - Get a fixed, fast lens.

Err. hard to pigeonhole some 5 best tips, as different beginners have different styles and natural inclinations.

[Axle]

1. Always have your camera on you, best way to learn is to use it.
2. Practice and Patience, you won't become the next Ansel Adams in a day
3. Know the rules...then break them.
4. Shoot from the heart, from your imagination, not from the head.
5. Sunny-16, learn it, use it.
6. Good Glass will last forever, bodies change, invest in glass first.

[CaraRose]

1. Shoot early, late, and often (just like how us Chicagoans vote...).
2. Learn to understand the relationships between shutter speed, aperture, and exposure. Learn to understand the relationships with aperture and depth of field, and shutter speed and stop motion and camera shake.
3. Beware of the flash. I'd argue that the ability to understand how to use a flash without destroying your shot is one of the hardest things to master (and I admit to not being there yet).
4. Learn to think about light and the quality of light, but if the only time you can get out to shoot is 12 noon in direct sunlight, get out and shoot. Actually trying to shoot in different light conditions will teach you more about how light effects your shots than staying at home reading a book about it.
5. Good glass on an okay camera is better than poor glass on a great camera.

[Loupey]

I'll offer just one: start at the very beginning and thoroughly UNDERSTAND the concepts and interplay of shutter speeds, apertures, and ISO.

Go to the library and check out an old book on film cameras. Newer books tend to distract with too much emphasis on digital techniques.

[Danbaileyphoto]

1. Know your equipment inside and out.
2. Study the works of others.
3. Wait for better light.
4. Put yourself out into the world and into new opportunities.
5. Don't get so focused on one subject that you miss the rest of the world and other photo opportunities that are going on around you.

[Greg McCary]

Great tips everyone. I love "you need to learn the rules to break them."
I am also trying scale focusing for the first time. It is good to study your lens and it's DOF. I am using a manual camera with scales of course. But the technique really teaches you a lot.

[racedraper]

1, if you cant afford the best lenses then rent them.
2. do not adopted the philosophy that I can fix it in photoshop, take your time do it right the first time.
3.watch youtube videos and go in flickr and look at their data and write it down.
4. use manual camera setting, dont rely on auto
5.just dont shoot from the hip. look and study the subject, look at it at different angles .

[freygr]

1) Do not waste money by purchasing an expensive camera system to start with especially if you are a beginer. Purchase a camera which has available manual controls and focus with 3-5x optical zoom.

2) Do not skimp on a tripod and head. Just wait before you purchase a tripod, you may be able to get one loaned to you for the first few times, then you will have an idea of which tripod system you like best.

3) Under stand the exposure relation ship between F stops, shutter speed, ISO and light. Along with that an understanding that HIGH ISO and electronic noise do go together (the newer the camera the higher the ISO can go before noise happens)

4) take a lot of photos - and post in the forums.

5) do not get mad about comments about your photos - try to understand why the comment was made.

[n8]

Here's my shot...whether or not I'm qualified is a different story.
1. Stop calling yourself a newbie or anything related. You're learning like everyone else.
2. Forget about Photoshop when you're shooting and do it right the first time.
3. Ignore #2 and keep in mind that some great work comes when pp is considered when shooting.
4. Learn and love Raw.
5. Always keep charged batteries on hand.

[JamesV]

Thanks Greg for starting this thread. A lot of great comments.

James

[Grandpaw]

Another tip I would like to add is this! A while back I wanted to take get a good picture of a magnolia and found that with the sun hitting the white petals they were almost always blown out and had loss of detail from the direct light of the sun. After several days of shooting, it dawned on me that the answer was as close as my car. I went over and got my large golf umbrella and suddenly had shade anywhere I needed it. The answer was simple and was there all the time but I just hadn't thought about it. This really improved my shots, Jeff