When you're first starting out with photography, growth seems to
happen in leaps and bounds. You'll measure your growth by the changes
that you see in your work and photos that you make. Today, I'll share
some the things I've learned in my years of shooting and tips that I
think can help you expedite your growth.
Here are ten things I wish I knew when starting photography:
1. Your Vision Changes
When you start approaching photography seriously, you may never see
things the same way again. If your experience with examining things
critically is like mine, you'll suddenly become a student of every photo
and video you consume. I can hardly watch a movie anymore without
analyzing the cinematography and the way that shots are setup. Cinema is
a unique medium, but I still draw so much inspiration from how those
expert shots are put together.
Once you start chasing great images, you can count on changing your
lifestyle. Waking up early or staying out late to find unique lighting
becomes a routine part of life. You might catch yourself analyzing
photos for how they're lit and imagining how to recreate them.
Personally, I believe that this process of reverse engineering great photographs is a powerful way of growing your own work. Jumping into photography headfirst brings the right side of the brain alive.
2. It's an Expensive Hobby
Photography is an expensive hobby, particularly when you prioritize
buying gear. After buying your first SLR camera, you've committed
yourself to buying into a "system" of lenses and flashes that work only
within the walls of your own brand. After that commitment, it can be
costly to sell off your entire kit and migrate to another system (I've
pulled this costly maneuver enough times to know).
Avoiding the more expensive side of photography is a two part
approach: first, don't connect your success to the gear you use. This
means not buying into the mindset that one more piece of gear will
perfect your work. There are no magic bullets when it comes to gear; the
best way is to acquire gear is slowly and carefully.
Second, reduce cost in the ways that count. Buying used gear was a
bit daunting for me at first, but has proved to be a move that helped me
afford cameras and lenses that were otherwise out of my reach. Making
smart decisions like fast primes (more on that later) will help you
fight gear acquisition syndrome. Keep reading for more ideas on how to
make smart gear decisions.
3. Skip the Stops to Start
When I first started learning about exposure, one mistake that I
struggled with was trying to learn the exposure scale mathematically.
Measuring the stops of light and memorizing the f-stop scale, counting
geometrically, and all that stuff is a massive waste of time, at least
at the beginning.
More important is learning how the exposure triangle—aperture, shutter speed, sensitivity—relates,
and how to balance and approach exposure creatively. Don't get too
worried about counting stops and perfectly balancing light, when there's
so much more that's more important to learn, like how to pose people,
how to see good lighting, or how to find photographic moments.
4. Move to Manual for More Control
The sooner you begin to truly control your exposure, the sooner
you'll become more than a camera button pusher. This isn't always
easy—it requires learning plenty about metering, exposure, focus and
more.
Venturing outside of the automatic exposure mode is the single
largest step you'll take to transition from camera button pusher to
artist. When you begin to control the photo and can handle the nuances
of exposure, you are turning the exposure process upside down and
envisioning an outcome for the photo. You can learn to handle
backlighting, creative exposure, and many more scenarios than the camera
can handle on its own.
A great intermediate step is to learn to control one additional
factor at a time. First, understand ISO and the impact on image quality
as well as the light reaching the sensor. Then, you can branch out to
controlling shutter speed and aperture and considering the visual
outcomes of those settings as well. Jumping into shutter priority or
aperture priority is a decent training step toward getting to full
manual exposure modes.
5. Make Time for Shooting
It seems awfully basic, but I often found myself forgetting that the
only way to truly improve is to keep your camera in the hand everyday,
constantly making images. If there's one way that I continue to fall
short, it's blocking off time between school and work to make images.
One of the best ways to keep making photos is to challenge yourself.
When I have an assignment, even if it is self-assigned, I'm more likely
to get out and shoot. There are tons of shooting challenges across the
web that will keep you creatively challenged. If you thrive off
structure like I do, challenges and assignments are ways to keep the
creative juices flowing.
6. Prioritize Lenses
One key to avoiding spending too much money on photography gear is to
buy smart and get the purchase right the first time. Looking back, the
first two years of my photography hobby were spent leapfrogging from one
camera body to the next. I was in search of megapixels, more autofocus
points, and anything that I thought could improve the outcome of my
photographic work. In the process, I always had a way of avoiding what I
should actually upgrade: lenses!
As long as you are married to the inexpensive kits lens that comes
with the camera, you're going to limit your work. Although it's totally
possible to make great photos with the kit lens, it has its limitations;
typically it's an 18-55mm lens with a slow aperture. That slow aperture
limits you to well-lit environments. As you stop down the lens to f/8
or thereabouts, it can be very sharp, but can still be lacking.
This tip might seem to contradict constantly acquiring more gear to
make better photos, but there is some truth in upgrading the glass in
front of your camera. It's more important to make the right upgrade by
choosing faster (larger aperture) lenses that give you great value in
terms of photographic output.
7. Slow Down on Going Pro
After you've been shooting for awhile and have started to showcase
your work, chances are that you'll be approached with some shooting
offers. Whether it's a friend's senior portraits, some landscape photos
commissioned for print, or weddings (the most dangerous engagement of
all), friends always seem to be looking for someone (usually on the
cheap) to capture their precious moments.
Sure, it's attractive to suddenly monetize your hobby. It can help
you to get more gear and also help make ends meet. However, it brings
with it some nuances that are hard to measure. Dealing with difficult
clients who cancel at the last moment, risking legal liability and much
more are all parts of the professional process. No matter your
relationship with the client, you're always putting yourself on the line
when you accept money for your services. Slow down on going
professional and remember to tread lightly.
8. Take Your Camera Everywhere
You'll never make a good photo with your camera sitting at home. I've
had to convince myself that the day that I leave the camera at home
will be the day I miss the award winning photojournalism opportunity I'm
waiting for. Therefore, you'll rarely catch me without an image making
tool. Whether you have an SLR or an iPhone with your favorite imaging
app, make sure you keep a tool with you that you can make images with!
Furthermore, this "always be carrying" philosophy has greatly shaped
my recent gear choices. I won't buy another large camera that will live
in the bag, because I know that no matter how superior the quality, if
it won't get used, it's no good to me.
9. Get a Fast Fifty Now
If your current camera is an interchangeable lens type, I can't think
of a better "second" lens than the 50mm. With its fast aperture,
typically f/2, f/1.8, f/1.4, or it can help
you to tackle low light situations and also help you to control depth of
field in a way that the kit lens never can. If you're using an smaller,
APS-C sized sensor, a 35mm lens will create roughly the same field of
view as a 50mm lens on a full-framed camera.
For me, the greatest
creative control is the ability to control depth of field. If you aren't
familiar with the term, it refers to how much of the photo is in focus.
Wide aperture lenses like the 50mm f/1.8 allow us to limit the sharp
portion of the photo to a small portion that lets you isolate a focal
point.
10. Learn Your Camera Inside and Out
One way to improve your shooting is to understand the tools at your
disposal. When you don't have to think about the buttons to push and the
technical choices to make, you're free to approach photography as a
creative. You're thinking in terms of light, not spinning the dials that
control aperture. When you really learn every option, every setting,
every control of your camera, your camera becomes an extension of your
eye.
It seems unthinkable, but spending some quality reading time with the
camera's manual is one way to get acquainted. An even better way is to
shoot it every day and dig deeper and deeper in the settings.
Wrapping Up
As I look back on the four years that I've been shooting seriously,
it's hard for me to even count the ways that photography has shaped my
life. From the friends that I've met to the business experiences that
it's brought with it, photography can be such a positive force for
anyone from amateur to lifelong professional.
What are some things you wish you knew when starting photography? What have you learned throughout your shooting career? (Via tutsplus contributed by Andrew Childress)
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