10 Photography Tips for Beginners

Here are a few photography tips I’ve learned and use.

1) Check your gear before leaving.

Imagine driving for 30 minutes to a location, seeing everything looks beautiful and you can’t wait to start shooting. When you switch on the camera, nothing is happening. Now you might wonder if you charged the battery? Upon opening the camera you see there isn’t even a battery in there! It’s still on charge at home.

This has happened to me. Twice.

Now, every time before I leave, I take a test picture just to make sure everything is working.

2) Charge your battery after every use.

I learned this the hard way. There were a few times where I went out to shoot with only half a battery because I forgot to charge it.

(If you can, buy 2 batteries.)

3) Before taking pictures/videos, check your camera settings.

I’ve taken pictures with a high ISO in broad daylight. This will definitely mess up the quality of your image. Now, before I even take the picture I go through all the settings to make sure everything is perfectly set up for what I want to shoot.

4) Rule of thirds

I only use it as a guide. Rules are made to be broken. Don’t allow it to place you in a box.

5) Take it all in before shooting.

I take a moment to collect the environment and what I’m going to shoot. Whether it’s a person, nature or an urban setting. I do it to ground myself and get my head in the right creative space, but also to relax and not feel pressured to take ‘good’ pictures. I want to capture my environment for what it is, and that can only happen when my mind is at ease.

6) It’s not about the gear it’s how you use it.

(A very common sentence on this blog that’s turning into a motto.)

7) Tell a story.

Like a painting or a poem.

8) Keep it simple.

Don’t overthink it. I’ve been guilty of this too many times.

I am sometimes amazed by the pictures my friends can take, even though they don’t own a camera or “don’t have any photography skills”.

Photography isn’t a skill, it’s an art.

I’ve learned from my friends to not allow all the technicality to cloud my creativity and just to allow it to be simple.

9) Perspective

When taking a picture of something, take a knee, sit down or even lie on your stomach. You might be surprised by how this small action can drastically change your pictures.

10) Stay original. Stay different. 

Confused by some photography terminology? Here’s a list of photography jargon.

If you found this helpful, here are 5 photography tips for beginners.

Learn about developing your eye for detail.

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