Tips For Beginner Photographers
You’ve got an interest in photography - but there’s so much equipment, technology, and information available that can overwhelm the aspiring photographer. No one wants to look like they don’t know what they’re doing, so some of the basics of photography may never be asked for fear of looking naive. However, as with most skills, the basics of photography are vital to understanding the advanced concepts and fully comprehending their reason and importance.
It's important to understand is that there are no hard rules. Amazing photos have been taken when the rules are broken under certain circumstances. Every photo is unique and many factors make them dynamic. While certain rules may help you with structuring, lighting, and focus, these rules can be successfully broken to produce something unusual and interesting. You must understand what those rules are first - then you can break them when educated discretion is pulling you to do so.
Structuring the photo.
When organizing a photo, having a focus point is key. In photographing people, you will most often want their eyes to be the focus. When photographing a landscape, you want to avoid objects that distract or take away from the organization.
You want your eyes to flow smoothly through an image without being distracted by an unwanted object. However, objects add more a more interesting feel to landscape photos to prevent the photos from looking boring. For example, if I took a photo of a field, it may look boring without an object to capture my interest. While my eyes will flow smoothly through the photo, there’s nothing of interest to look at or create an emotional response. While it may seem obvious, you want interesting objects, not distracting objects in your photo. Be equally mindful of what you don’t want shown in the image.
The Rule of Thirds.
There is a special “rule” in photography, which is used often to produce an aesthetically, well-arranged photo. Break a photo into three sections, either vertically or horizontally, and you will want to have the different parts of your image fit roughly within those sections.
Look below at the image of the temple in Japan. This image is horizontally broken into thirds – the water on the bottom, the temple in the middle, and the sky on top. Additionally, have interesting objects in your photo located at the intersection points of where the lines meet when breaking your photo into thirds.
Lighting – Finding a Balance.
With lighting, be mindful of how bright and how dark all sections are within the photo. You want the subject to keep its detail in bright areas. If the image is too bright, the subject starts to blend into the light and lose definition.
Clarity in the dark parts is equally important – you want as much definition as possible in your photograph. While photo programs can help bring up definition in the shadows and also tone down brightness, it’s best to work with a well-exposed photo.
Cameras have settings that will automatically expose the photo for you, so you won’t have much trouble with lighting if you begin with these settings. However, if you have low lighting or bright light coming from a single source, you need to be mindful of the created contrast. Unless you desire a high-contrast look, make sure bright and dark areas of your photo are well balanced.
Aperture and Shutter Speed, and ISO
These are the essential 3 things that create a photo. A lot can be said of these three things, but for the sake of simplicity, I’ll explain only the most important aspects.
Aperture is how large or small the lens is open when taking a photo. A larger aperture allows more light in, and also produces a more specified point of focus. A smaller aperture allows less light in but produces a larger range of focus. Generally speaking, a larger aperture works well with portraits and a smaller aperture works well with landscapes and architecture.
Shutter speed determines the speed in which a photo is taken. A faster shutter speed is needed for catching fast action, as required for sports or wildlife photography. A faster shutter speed means less light is allowed in the camera. If less light is allowed in, then either the aperture needs to be larger to compensate for it or the ISO needs to increase. Slower shutter speeds can allow for higher quality photos.
ISO is how sensitive the camera is to the light. You want a low ISO because the quality will be best. The higher the ISO means the more sensitive the camera is to light but the quality of the photo will begin to suffer. Keep the ISO as low as possible to produce the highest quality of photo.
Conclusion and Further Reading
While many cameras have features that automatically take care of the technical details for you, it’s important to understand the details. As you gain experience, you’ll want to start experimenting with the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO, to get the results best for you. Your camera may be smart but it’s not perfect. It doesn’t have human discretion or instinct, so there are times you want to have more control over what the camera is going.
This will be a great starting point for you to develop as a photographer. Read How to Work Effectively as an Artist to learn more about what it takes to be successful, make a strong impact, and maximize your potential as an artist.
