Photograhy tips for beginners?

[luigiferrari]

Hi all,

 

I'm a beginner photographer apparently, and I'm looking for some articles/video to learn some photography tips. I've also followed some IG influencer and YouTubers... But still stuck in how to shoot beatiful pictures. Do you have any books or alticles recommend? Appreciate in advance.

 

Moderator Note: Link removed

 

Member removed because of repetition posting of embedded links as advertising and click bait to one specific sales site.

 

Apologies to those members who made time and gave effort to sincerely respond to this OP.

Edited March 13, 2021 by William Michael

[rodeo_joe1]

The "tips" in that link are far too vague and cliched to be of any practical use.

 

'Study or look at the light' - for example, is no help at all if you don't know what you're looking at, or for.

 

Light has two main properties: quality and direction. Direction is fairly easy. The light comes from opposite the shadows, and the shadows tell you how 'hard' or 'soft' the light is. The quality of light also involves its colour and any atmospheric interaction - like mist or haze.

 

'Soft' light is light from a large and diffuse source, like the sky or a big North-facing window. It casts shadows with a very fuzzy edge that are usually quite pale.

 

'Hard' light comes from a small source, like the sun, a bare lightbulb or a speedlight. Its shadows are hard-edged, well-defined and usually deep.

 

That's a start. Just scratching the surface of learning about light.

 

These are the kind of skills you need to improve your actual pictures. Learning to 'see', which is something never touched on in most schools.

 

The tips about business crap can wait until your pictures are good enough to sell.

 

"Shoot some film" - No, don't!

It's the worst possible medium to learn photography with. It limits experimentation and gives no immediate feedback on where you might be going wrong, or doing things right. That 'tip' shows that its author knows nothing about teaching or learning and should be ignored completely.

 

Those linked tips are basically page-filling and pointless BS.

I've also followed some IG influencer and YouTubers...

Unfortunately, most of that is inexpert BS as well.

Edited March 8, 2021 by rodeo_joe|1

[Niels - NHSN]

Set your digital camera to iAuto (or whatever “auto everything” is called on your camera).

If you want to shoot beautiful pictures you point the camera towards something beautiful.

Shoot from all possible and impossible angles.

Study your results: What works? What doesn’t work?

Compare with your photography idols, how did they handle something similar? Research, ask questions. Apply.

Repeat.

Enjoy the journey.

[Sanford]

Edit edit edit, crop crop crop, delete delete delete.

[SCL]

You don't say what is wrong with what you are presently shooting which makes it hard to know what to suggest. U Tube videos aren't particularly helpful in many instances. The first question I'd ask is do you know the fundamentals of exposure? If not get the book "Light, Science & Magic" widely available, to get you started on the technical side. Rodeo Joe, while he can be harsh sometimes, is giving you good advice on a different aspect, as is NHSN. Practice and developing an eye for appealing perspectives of common things and scenes, thru practice is really good advice. Become hypercritical of yourresults and study them for what they miss and what they reveal. Mostly...shoot, shoot, shoot.

[robert_bowring]

The best tip for beginning photographers is to look at photographs. Go to museums or galleries or get some photo books. You will figure out what photographers and what phootgraphs work for you. “Stare. It is the way to educate your eye, and more. Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long.” – Walker Evans

[David_Cavan]

Great advice here already. Rodeo Joe is absolutely right about understanding light. A long time ago a friend I travelled with who was a good photographer told me that his breakthrough was a simple understanding of the word "photography", which apparently was coined from Greek words by a British 19th century scientist, meaning "drawing with light". That's all we have to work with actually. It's light, and the more I learned about light the better I got at knowing if a photo would work.

 

The second part is what we call in racing "seat time". You get better when you spend time on the track, working through challenges. It's the same with taking photographs. I've thrown away far more than I've kept, but after a day of hammering away on a subject I'm always better than when I started that day. And digital is such an improvement on film, which was the first 35 years of my experience and where I still find the most embarrassment looking at old photos. Have a decent editor and a method for storing and finding photos, but I'd learn how to take good photos before learning how to become a great editor. And then, become a great editor because that only helps.

 

I find the comment in the tips article about natural vs artificial light to be the most interesting and least helpful. My suggestion is learn absolutely everything you can about natural light and the impacts that Rodeo Joe lists, and then start to consider how to modify the outcomes with artificial light. Your mileage may vary of course, and others will have a different opinion. And that's just fine - there are few rules in photography that actually matter.

 

It is truly about the light.

[samstevens]

What makes a beautiful photo? Not necessarily a beautiful subject. Might be a sad and ugly subject photographed with heart and soul.

 

Learning your camera settings, the light, compositional tips, etc. will all support what YOU want to do with photography. It may be getting good vacation pics, photos of your kids, making art, developing a unique vision.

 

Think about what and why you want to photograph and then learn, practice, and internalize the tools that will help you on your journey. There isn’t a standard “beautiful photograph.” Beauty is found in some very unlikely places, is not skin deep, and comes in many guises.

 

Beautiful is different from pretty.

[Jochen_S]

Books

1. Light Science Magic
   
2. Ansel Adams' Camera Negative Positive (could be oberkill or OT though)
   

Ask around & borrow other books?

 

Figure post processing out, if you have to?

It is hard to pack photographic advice into words beyond

Edit edit edit, crop crop crop, delete delete delete.

Shoot and learn to tickle something out of your RAW files. When you start to learn about dodging & burning, you are ready to learn lighting your subjects better.

While composition should happen in the viewfinder, it is easier to learn by cropping.

[Karim Ghantous]

There's probably so much I could write that I won't remember it all. However, Joe is right: for goodness sakes, stay away from shooting film until you become more confident. Digital is the best learning tool there is.

 

He's also right about light - get to understand it. When I'm out and about, like on an evening walk, I'm always paying attention to light. Sometimes I'll take meter readings with a phone app just for curiosity. Make it a part of your life. If you don't have a light meter app on your phone, I recommend that you get one.

 

I do have a few quick tips of my own, too.

 

One of the biggest mistakes that LOTS of photographers make is that they don't pay attention to the background. They think that only the subject matters, but in reality, the background matters at least as much as the subject. I say, it matters more. But I don't expect you to hold that extreme belief. If your background is too messy or distracting or ill-disciplined, the photo immediately loses impact.

 

Another tip is that a good photo usually has drama. I don't mean that in a simplistic way. There is such a thing as nuanced or subtle or quiet drama. Even a photo of a mountain or a grain of sand can have drama.

 

One thing I always suggest to beginners is to have a browse through this site:

 

[FILMGRAB]

 

The reason is that cinematography usually employs very, very deliberate composition. That's what people mean when they say a photo is 'cinematic' (lighting is also very deliberate). Photography can be a bit looser, but still, it's worth looking at cinema for ideas on composition.

 

Edit: As for books, I'd try and find books published in the '80s and '90s. They have a much different feel than modern publications. I mean, you already have the Internet at your disposal, and modern books will tell you much of the same stuff. So you may as well get exposure to authors and books from previous decades. IMHO.

[mikemorrell]

+1 for @Karim Ghantous's tip. In some Netflix series (Peaky Blinders, Outlander, ....) and films I've watched, I enjoy the cinematography just as much as the plot, characters and acting quality.

 

There are many different genres and styles of photography. Why you or anyone else considers a photo to be 'beautiful' - or even interesting or good - depends on your intent, evaluation criteria and the final results. But skilful composition (framing) together with basic camera and post-processing skills can help in producing good photos by design rather than by chance.

 

If you have the opportunity and the resources, joining a photography course is a great way to sharpen your awareness and your skills. Not only from the tutorials and assignments but by reviewing a wide range of photos with other people. As part of a course I once did (one evening a week for a year), students were asked to bring along one photo each week that they'd come across in the media that they really liked. One by one, each person explained what it was about their photo that had made him/her select it as a personal 'photo of the week'. Getting exposure to good photography is always a good way of learning. But asking yourself why you like certain photographs more than others and trying to figure out why that is, helps you learn most.

 

I've bought a couple of photography books over the years and I've found the the ones by Michael Freeman to be - by far - the most valuable. Especially the first ones I bought (one at a time):

- The Photographer's Eye (Composition and Design)

- The Photographer's Vision (Criteria for a 'good photo', Understanding purpose, Photographer's skills)

- The Photographer's Mind (Intent, Style, Process)

 

What I like about these books is that they're written with intention of helping readers improve their understanding of photography and develop their practical skills. They're full of (often annotated) photos that illustrate the points he covers. He shows a series of photos taken one after another and discusses why one photo stands out in the series and why. Or he shows alternative crops from a single photo and discusses why one or two work better than others.

 

He's also published a huge amount of books on specific photography genres and topics (colour, lighting, B/W ...), a few of which I've bought over the years too. Usually Dutch language versions bought at 2nd hand and 'bargain' bookshops. On Amazon - and probably elsewhere - you can even buy Kindle versions of his books at $4 each these days.

 

You might post a few of your photo's on the PN 'seeking critique' forum. 'Critique' always sounds more intimidating to me than "Review' but it's a good way of getting friendly feedback and suggestions/tips from members that might help you improve.

[za33photo]

My .02 cents worth (probably not even worth .02cents).

 

Learn to be comfortable with your Camera (whatever it is).

 

Learn your Camera's foibles, (all Camera's have them to some extent).

 

Take LOTS of pictures , digital Camera's make this possible at a relatively low cost.

 

DO YOUR OWN THING , experiment , and take pictures which please you , do not worry about other's opinions.

 

By all means look at the work of others.

 

BUT if you want to sell your images , then you HAVE to follow the herd.

[tonybeach_1961]

Shoot subjects/scenes that catch your attention. Practice shooting stationary subjects/scenes at different angles with different focal lengths and in different light. Find subjects/scenes you can go back to and explore. I found macro very helpful for managing light and perspective. Bring your files to an editing app (I use Photoshop CC, which I consider a bargain at $10 per month or about what a magazine subscription costs), and work with them, and it's definitely best to shoot Raw which gives you more latitude and editing options as you bring the files into the editing app. Look at what you did after you're done editing, and figure out what were the hits and misses, then go back out and apply what you learned and start over. I think it took me ten years of doing this to get to where I felt confident that I could previsualize what I want to accomplish, get the shot, and then make the photograph. Edited March 12, 2021 by tonybeach_1961

[tonybeach_1961]

I think there's a lot to be gleaned from the contributions you guys are making here.

There's probably so much I could write that I won't remember it all. However, Joe is right: for goodness sakes, stay away from shooting film until you become more confident. Digital is the best learning tool there is.

 

He's also right about light - get to understand it. When I'm out and about, like on an evening walk, I'm always paying attention to light.

 

I remember someone asking me last year what I was photographing and I quipped "the light." One thing I will do when setting up for a landscape shot is step back and look to where I have anticipated the light to arrive from (typically from behind a cloud, or sometimes a hill, tree, etcetera) and just take in the scene with my hand on the remote shutter control hoping and waiting for the decisive moment, and when it arrives I blaze away because truthfully what I think I wanted isn't always the best shot I could have gotten, so I try to shoot everything in sight and sort it out later.

While composition should happen in the viewfinder, it is easier to learn by cropping.

The tighter I attempt to frame the shot the more often I regret not having included more to work with later.

[Gary Naka]

For me a few things:

 

#1 - Start simple, or your brain will be overwhelmed with data.

Get A book or video, STUDY it, then go out and shoot, and try to apply what you learned.

Just keep in mind that what you are learning is only ONE of many methods, ideas, etc. And expect to change as you learn more, later.

 

#2 - GET OUT AND SHOOT. As has been said, you get better by shooting, and developing your eye. For me there is a BIG difference between book and video, vs going out and actually shooting.

Don't like what you shot? WHY? Go out and try again, with that knowledge.

 

#3 - Don't just concentrate on a few books or video. Be open to every place to learn from. Museums, art galleries, internet, post cards, etc. etc.

 

BTW, there is a difference between people.

Some will look at a scene and be able to compose a pic in a few seconds. These are the exceptions.

Others, like me, will have to spend a LONG time studying the scene to get a pic not even close to the person above.

And others in between.

[tonybeach_1961]

Edit edit edit, crop crop crop, delete delete delete.

I would be careful about the deleting, but that's a topic that inspires a lot of debate with both sides represented by knowledgeable photographers.

[samstevens]

I would be careful about the deleting, but that's a topic that inspires a lot of debate with both sides represented by knowledgeable photographers.

So would I.

 

Knowing whether and how to *take* advice is as important as the advice given. Those getting advice do well to be discerning, to realize that one photographer’s needs and processes may vary wildly from another’s, and to consider photographic advice like one best considers photographic rules, as *guides” rather then edicts and preferably as adaptable to personal and individual visions rather than as rigid idolatry.

[otislynch]

To be honest, it all depends on your approach to learning, how you prefer to acquire knowledge, and how you translate that knowledge into experience. Visual learners get more from graphic instructions and examples than from wordy tutorials. Verbal learners get more from explanations and tutelage. Kinesthetic learners need to get their hands on it and try.

 

One good approach is to walk around and take pictures of whatever strikes your fancy. Use a notebook or dictation app to describe everything you notice about each shot - what caught your attention about the setting / subject / etc, time of day, lighting characteristics as you define them (bright sun, overcast, etc), your thoughts about what the picture might say, etc. Make sure your camera is set to record all the metadata it will capture, so you’ll have all your settings when you analyze and edit a pic.

 

Spend at least as much time looking at each one as you did thinking about it. Try to visualize crops that isolate a “better” image as you see it. Use the rectangle select tool for this, copy the selected crop, paste it into a new image, and look at the two side by side to see what changes you actually made - what you removed, how the cropped shape affects the image, etc etc.

 

Play around with the exposure settings in the editor, just to begin to understand how each affects an image. The same changes in the camera will often (but not always) cause similar change in your shots. Again, be sure you can remember which change had which effect. Use copies or be absolutely certain that whatever you do is completely reversible and nondestructive.

 

If this approach works for you, great! Once you begin to be able to predict what a given change will do, you’ll start to compose and bracket in your brain. The racing analogy above is useful but incomplete. Seat time is great - but for every race lap I’ve ever driven, I drove 100 on the same track in my mind. This is called “bench racing” and it’s a time honored, proven way to get better. I walk every track before every meet and try to identify every visual cue I can find as a potential guide.

 

I approach photography the same way - look at everything! Eventually, you’ll relate specific patterns, contrasts, etc to things you can do to make pictures you like. But it takes a lot of “shutter time”, to coin a phrase. If my visual / kinesthetic approach doesn’t catch your fancy, maybe you’d do better with live (or live on the web) instruction or a video tutorial. Find what works for you - there’s no reason to struggle with a method that’s not for you.

 

Just enjoy whatever you do - it’ll come to you !

[Sanford]

Has anyone mentioned taking a class?

[c_watson1]

From a financial standpoint? Get out while you can...

[samstevens]

Has anyone mentioned taking a class?

Are the posts in this thread invisible? :)

 

Anyway, now you’ve got me pondering how to make an invisible photo. Think how much time it would save on scrolling through No Words threads!

[Gary Naka]

Has anyone mentioned taking a class?

 

I found it to be a TREMENDOUS benefit to have someone right next to me, helping me with a problem I am having.

That is the problem with books and video. If you have a question, what do you do, who do you ask ???

[otislynch]

Has anyone mentioned taking a class?

Yes -

 

maybe you’d do better with live (or live on the web) instruction or a video tutorial. Find what works for you

[Karim Ghantous]

Has anyone mentioned taking a class?

A class here or there can help some people. A lot of people don't need it, but we're all different. Same with the odd workshop. I would love to take a large format workshop someday.

[William Michael]

Please note changes to the Opening Post.

This conversation is closed.

Points made in this conversation may be continued in another new Casual Photo Conversations thread, should you desire.

Again, apologies to those who responded sincerely to the OP.

Edited March 13, 2021 by William Michael