7 tips for photographers to turn a newbie into a pro

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

How to improve your skills and what you need to do to create stunning pictures.

1. Remember the exposure

The quality of the photo is directly dependent on the light. You can take a poor shot of a well-lit subject, but you never get a good shot in low light.

During shooting, light passes through the camera's opening shutter and lens, enters the sensor and forms an image. How exactly the light is captured and what the final photo will be depends on three important parameters that make up the so-called exposure triangle.

• Diaphragm affects the amount of light that enters the lens. It is measured by the ratio of the focal length to the size of the aperture opening and is denoted as f / 2, f / 5, f / 11, and so on. The lower the aperture value, the more light will be in the frame. This parameter also affects the depth of field.
• Excerpt is the time during which the shutter remains open. It is measured in seconds (1/200 s, 1/60 s, 5 s, and so on). The longer the shutter speed, the more light. The shutter speed also affects the clarity when shooting moving objects. At high shutter speeds, they will be blurry, and fast shutter speeds will allow you to get good photos even of fast moving objects.
• Photosensitivity - as the name implies, this parameter affects the sensitivity of the camera sensor to light. Measured in ISO units (for example, ISO 100, ISO 400, ISO 6400). The higher light sensitivity allows you to shoot in low light conditions, but at the same time it causes the appearance of noise - the characteristic graininess of the image.

The essence of the exposure triangle is understanding these three aspects of shooting and choosing the parameters appropriate to the situation and your vision of the frame.

2. Hold the camera correctly

The next thing for all beginners to learn is to hold the camera to eliminate or minimize hand shake. When shooting, the shutter opens and light hits the camera sensor. If you move while the shutter is open, the beam of light seems to spread over the sensor and the photo is blurry.

Your first photos will suck. You may have to take thousands of shots before you get the one you like. But each of them - even the most terrible - will be one of the small steps to mastery. Practice will not only help to use theoretical knowledge, but will also allow you to better study your equipment, will give you an understanding of how different shooting parameters affect the final image.

7. Don't blame the camera

Good equipment is really important for shooting, but not as much as you think. An experienced photographer will be able to make great shots even with a cheap camera, while bad shots will not work even with the most expensive equipment.

It is much more important to rely on correct exposure, work with perspective, composition and use the tips discussed above. If you learn all of this, you can take cool photos with any camera. Even on a smartphone!

Of course, all equipment has its limitations, and over time you will "outgrow" your camera, lens and other accessories, but the bottom line is that buying an expensive camera, you will not become a professional. And the sooner you understand this, the faster you will achieve success.