Digital photography has brought a revolution with it. More and more people are taking photos now and sharing them online to get more likes and shares. Now, it’s easy to put the blame on a camera for a bad picture. But, all it takes are a few techniques to get the perfect picture. In this post, we will be sharing beginner photography tips as well as common mistakes to avoid while taking pictures.

Tips for beginner photographers

 

1. Picking the correct mode for your picture

Cameras have fully automatic modes to highly specific modes which cater to different surroundings including landscapes, snow and low light. But to get the most creative and different pictures, you should play around with the camera modes.

For instance, if you are shooting fast moving objects, you should slow down the shutter by going to the Shutter Priority mode and decreasing the speed. Or if you want to increase the speed with which the picture is taken, you can increase the speed of the shutter.

2. Pay attention to lighting

This is for sure one of the most important factors when it comes to taking pictures. Look around your surroundings before taking the pictures, identify the source of lighting and see the direction where it’s coming from. The person you are taking pictures of should never have his back towards the source of lighting. In case you are taking pictures of an object that cannot be moved, you can try activating the flash.

3. Getting the right white balance

Most of the cameras do white balance automatically but if your surroundings have mix lightings, it can be difficult for the camera to do white balance and make the picture look ‘natural’. And this is when you need to manually fix the white balance by going into the camera settings.

4. Using flash at the right places

If you keep your camera too close to your subjects and use flash, most of the people in your picture will end up with a ghost face. Only use flash where it is needed and if you get ghost faces, try moving the camera away and zooming in your subjects instead. If your camera has flash settings, you can increase or decrease its strength whenever needed.

5. Post-processing of the pictures

Capturing good photos is important but post-processing makes sure your photos are rid of any small imperfections. You can use any of the free photo editing tools available in the market to correct the colours, crop, remove red eye or rotate the image. Refrain from any heavy editing which could end up making your pictures look unnatural.

Major mistakes made by beginner photographers

1. Images aren’t as sharp

Blurring a part of your shot is definitely beautiful but you need to have a check over the sharpness of the picture. At the same time, make sure the camera isn’t automatically focusing on the environment.

2. Askew shots

Alignment is another important part when it comes to taking good pictures. If you are confused about the alignment, use an object in your picture as a reference – it could be a road or a lamp post.

3. Too much HDR effect

HDR is definitely one effect that has been overdone. While it does look good on a few photographs, using it everywhere just isn’t a way to go. This is because HDR removes all shadows and changes the white balance of the picture.

4. A background shot with no subject

Taking a random background shot with no subject will make your picture look lost. Add a subject to it and you have got the perfect picture.

Wrapping Up

With these beginner photography tips and common mistakes to avoid, you are sure to get some amazing photographs on your next trip.