When I bought my first camera, I immediately began to study the manual for its use, I never parted with these leaves for a minute, I took them with me on a photo walk, read them before going to bed. I won’t say that I really liked this occupation, but I had a goal to become, and I knew that for this I had to learn a lot. I encourage anyone who wants to excel in photography to learn as much information as possible, and remember that the camera manual should not be the only source of your photography knowledge. In the process of my training, I made many ridiculous mistakes, I think this is typical mistakes beginner photographers, so I want to introduce you to them in this article, so that in the course of your self-study you can anticipate them in advance and successfully avoid them.
I gave up flash
If you've used a retractable pop-up flash before, you can probably understand why I made this choice. Whenever anyone asked me about it, I replied that I just didn't like flashes. Oh, how wrong I was. Later I realized why I didn't like my flash so much - it was the wrong kind of flash; unpleasant, harsh and flat light from above the camera itself. My dislike of flashes continued until a good photographer friend of mine insisted that I buy the right flash, which he had advised me for a long time. And then all sorts of types and lighting schemes burst into my photography world, opening up even more opportunities for creativity.
Incorrect focus mode selection
When shooting events that take place in close proximity to you, or when you want to capture something unique and unusual, there is usually no time at all to make all the necessary settings. In such cases, you have to compromise, hoping that later with the help of a photo editor it will be possible to correct some flaws in the picture. Remember that focus is one of those things that won't work.
If you choose the wrong focus mode, then your camera will either constantly try to refocus, or it will not track the subject itself or its movement at all.
Incorrectly set photosensitivity - ISO
I had 2 issues with light sensitivity, firstly I knew and didn't want to mess with it too much, so I set the level to 100 and didn't change it again. As you might have guessed by now, this made my photos very dark and underexposed, which clearly didn't add to their quality. My other mistake was that sometimes I changed the ISO level, for example, to 1600, and then, forgetting about it, photographed with the same setting in bright sunlight, so the pictures came out with a lot of noise. It's easy to overlook little things like this, especially if you're just getting started in photography, but constant practice will help you develop the habit of always checking your camera's settings before shooting. Now I use ISO 1000 even when I shoot with flash, so I can get more background details, like in the photo below.
Filmed only in JPG format
Even though the RAW format opens up a lot more possibilities, I will not agitate you to completely abandon the JPG format. Of course, it is convenient when, when shooting in JPG, the camera itself selects the necessary settings for white balance, sharpness, saturation and contrast, but there is one drawback - the image is compressed so much that it is quite difficult to make any changes to it during processing. And although I am not a big fan of post-processing pictures, because I do not find anything funny in this, but the loss of quality when compressing and resaving files seriously worried me - taking RAW and JPG pictures at the same time, you can see the real difference between 2 photographs.
I didn't know anything about Bulb mode
Perhaps for most of my readers this moment will not seem as important as it was for me. After all, not everyone is obsessed with night shooting. I used to be very disappointed by the fact that the maximum is only 30 seconds, then I still did not understand that by putting the camera in the “bulb shutter” mode, I could keep the shutter open for as long as I needed. In addition, this new discovery of mine was very useful to me for shooting with slow synchronization flash, allowing me to adjust the exposure time to my liking. But all this did not come to me right away, but only when I began to photograph on film again and noticed the setting 'B' on the exposure control knob.
I have never backed up
I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I'm one of those idiots who, due to a simple hard drive failure, lost all of their photos. And although my first pictures were significantly inferior in quality and all other parameters to my current “masterpieces”, and, looking back, I don’t worry about this at all, but in the depths of my subconscious there was still some annoyance from that loss.
Now I make backups as soon as I import photos, and then every month I delete them, transferring the original files to 2 external drives, this way I free up space on my computer's drive without losing anything.
I chose the wrong lens
I remember when I first saw an advertisement for an 18-250 mm lens from Sigma, I thought that this was exactly what I needed, what I was looking for, because now there is no need to constantly change lenses, there is one for all shooting occasions, - Great! But how wrong I was! The simplest lens with a fixed focal length of 50 mm may seem like an unusual choice to some, but if you are looking for quality and understand camera settings, then this will be exactly what you really need, something you will never regret. It would seem that there can be nothing good in a mediocre unremarkable "fifty kopecks", but I'm sure it will certainly charm you with its simplicity, compactness, large aperture and simply amazing image quality.
I uploaded photos to my computer via a USB cable.
I didn't really realize what I was missing until I bought a CF card reader - the difference in transfer speed just shocked me. I had previously transferred photos to my computer using a regular USB cable, but the whole process took so long that I just wasted a lot of time, battery power, and constantly encountered transmission failures. Since I had a card reader, I don’t even look at USB.
If you have a new model of SLR camera, then most likely there is an SD card slot, and the laptop has a built-in card reader for them, and there is no excuse for you if you do not use it.
White balance was on auto
One of the biggest mistakes beginner photographers make. At one time, trying to understand what white balance is, I could not find an intelligible explanation anywhere; all the manuals available at that time offered the same information as the instructions for the camera and the explanations used words whose meanings were not clear to me. Therefore, almost always on my camera was set to AWB (automatic white balance). But then I began to notice that when shooting indoors, the automatic mode did not always work, and some pictures turned out to be rather lousy quality with an unrealistic orange tint. Once you start setting the right white balance yourself, rather than relying on the automaton, you will soon see a huge difference in color, which will certainly affect the overall quality of your photos, and they will no longer look like amateur amateur pictures.
I used free photo editor
In the world of photography, this is a kind of crime. I used to manage my photo library with iPhoto, but that app almost destroyed photos when I tried to edit them. The biggest problem for me was that when processing, the pictures lost their sharpness, because the program did a pretty bad job with its tasks. Therefore, be sure to get a reliable program for work and make a backup right now, so you will not repeat my mistakes.
Hi all! Today I would like to discuss the mistakes of novice photographers and amateur photographers. In my article I will give the main seven mistakes and upload several videos, there will be additions, be sure to write about them in the comments and we will discuss them together. So let's go! 🙂
- Free services and dumping.
When starting out as a photographer, many people abuse the setting of very low prices. Hoping to initially attract customers very low prices, and then become popular cool photographers and start raising prices and getting huge money for orders. Any work and the rating of the performer depend on the quality and the time spent on the work, and, as you know, time is money. It is impossible to do work carelessly and receive huge capitals for it. The price of a photographer depends on the quality of his work, and on photographs High Quality and good processing takes a lot of time, in this regard, it makes no sense to take orders for a penny, because this will not bring income. The customer must respect his photographer and appreciate his time and work, if the photographer himself does not value himself, you should not expect this from others. The right customer is willing to pay for a good and quality product. And if not, is such a customer needed?
- Equipment not configured
The quality of photographs depends on many factors - this is the light, and the lens, and the flash, and the technique itself. Professionals don't shoot automatic mode, for each photo, each order, its own settings are lined up. No good photographer forgets to check the settings of their camera before shooting, and will never shoot the same model in the studio, sunset landscapes and a club party. There are force majeure situations when the settings dial is accidentally turned during shooting, so it is highly recommended to check the settings not only between shootings, but also during work. This is especially important to remember if you have a budget camera.
- Fear.
Few do not experience fear. But the fear must be justified. The fear of losing photos is a natural state and it is quite normal to make several backups. But the fear of being ready to shoot anywhere and anytime is a sign that a person will never become a photographer. True professionals keep their equipment always ready, and at any moment they are ready to shoot something interesting. In addition, there is a fear of working with people. And if you don't overcome it good shots will not work. Target good photographer make exclusive bright photos and meet the needs of any client.
- The camera's memory is running out, no memory card is inserted in the camera.
At professional photographers usually a huge amount of work, and memory cards are often full or on edge, and there is no way to transfer photos to a computer. The main rule of any photographer, if possible, to transfer files to a computer, is to carry additional memory cards with you. And also before any shooting it is worth checking the memory card inserted into the camera. We are all human beings and there is a huge chance that when the workload is heavy, it is easy to forget which card is in the equipment and how much free memory is left on it. And be sure every time you go to shoot, you need to check if the photographer has forgotten the memory card in the computer.
- Didn't make a backup.
Life is sometimes unpredictable and any photographer knows it. Any technique breaks down, cases are different, so it is impossible to be too careful in this matter. Therefore, it is always worth remembering that there should be at least two or three copies of information stored in different places. The worst thing that can happen is that the information will disappear without a trace forever and there will be no way to restore it. And it's okay if this is an order that has already been processed and received by the customer, but what if these are frames that are in work? Copies of pledge successful work professional and don't forget that.
- Dirty lens, dead batteries.
A good photographer is always ready for battle, or rather, for shooting. Therefore, his technique must always be charged, lubricated and polished. The result of the photographer's work, the quality and speed of his work depend on the condition of the camera and batteries. There is nothing easier than putting the camera on charge after each shooting, and wiping the lens in front of it. But for some reason, many people forget about it, as a result, spoiled personnel, nerves and reputation. Personally, I have already ordered spare batteries for the camera, and for the flash I bought it a long time ago.
- Broke the camera.
In order to avoid this, it is necessary to carry the camera on a belt, and in the case of transportation, even in a case. When changing lenses, you should also not forget about the belt, then the chances that the camera will fall and break in a hurry tend to zero. The camera is the main tool of the photographer and without it he is worth nothing. Therefore, to store and protect it is the basis of the foundations.
These are the main seven mistakes of photographers that I have identified for myself. Therefore, a novice photographer should pay attention to them. Below I decided to bring video recordings that are interesting in my opinion, which will complement my article with a vengeance.
Common mistakes made by amateur photographers Digital Photo School
Five mistakes, according to Alexander Ippolitov.
Not less than interesting video about ten mistakes from the LIKE photography school in Novosibirsk.
On this I will end my article, as I said above, be sure to write about your additions in the comments. That's all for now! 🙂
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Someone goes this way faster, someone a little slower, but the fact is that we were all once beginners and it's true. It's not just about photography, but about everything in general. It all starts with small and uncertain first steps. Then there are long trainings, work on mistakes and the next steps.
This article is dedicated to such first and even already meaningful steps that will help speed up your path in the world of photography a little.
Mistake 1 - embossed lights in the photo
The same problem is probably known to many as the "black earth - white sky" problem. It consists in the fact that in the photograph there are both very brightly lit areas and areas in deep shadow at the same time.
That. the dynamic range of the camera's matrix is simply not enough to record enough information in both highlights and shadows. As a result, we have to choose: to get a completely white sky without a hint of clouds and normal earth / grass / houses, or to shoot white clouds against a blue sky that fly over a black abyss.
new camera don't buy it won't helpThe solution here, as you understand, is not to buy a new camera with a wide dynamic range. Solution is to learn how to compose the frame in such a way as to exclude flare. You should also choose the exposure (our shooting parameters) for the bright areas.
Yes, while general photo will be dark, but we will fix this in post-processing (do you still shoot in RAW? Here's another reason for you to start doing it). It is much easier to draw shadows than highlights, all cameras store much more information in shadows.
The disadvantage of this technique is that on many cameras, and especially on amateur models, noise begins to appear in the picture when the shadows are pulled out. The more you pull the exposure up, the more noise there will be.
Mistake 2 - Posing Instead of Directing
This is especially true for portrait shooting, where the main characters are people. Beginning photographers often try too hard to guide their models, put them in some kind of pose, tell them where to put their hands, how to tilt their heads.
The problem is that such photos certainly have their place, but in most cases they are not natural and natural for the models themselves.
Communicate with the model, set the mood and direction of shootingSolution this mistake is to try to give the guys some kind of emotion and create a movement. If this is a love story, then ask the lovers to hug each other tightly, and separately ask the groom to tickle your soulmate at some point or say something quietly in her ear, maybe even some indecent word.
This will come as a surprise to her and will surely elicit a natural smile or laugh. Be prepared in advance and don't miss your golden frame at this moment =)
Mistake 3 - neglect of light
A very serious mistake. We shoot where we were asked, and not where and when we ourselves need it. Let's open the secret good photos is a good light. It is he who is at least 50% successful, therefore, without taking into account this factor (light, its direction, angle of incidence, intensity, color temperature), you will never consistently get high-quality photos.
Better all photos in one correct location than one photo in many wrong onesSolution for this mistake, the next thing is to spend as much time and effort finding good light and location as you need. Remember simple thing: it's better to find one decent place and shoot all the photos there than to change locations every 10 minutes in the hope of success. You will only waste your energy and you may never find a good place.
Standard beginner advice: shoot during the golden/magic hours of sunrise and sunset, if we are talking about plein air and outdoor photography.
The difference between highlights and shadows is small (remember the first point about dynamic range), the light falls at a good angle. If you photograph during the day, go into the shade (working with hard light is a separate topic, worthy of its own detailed analysis), to soft and diffused light.
Please write in the comments below - was this article helpful? What did you like and what was left undiscovered? Ask questions, we will try to help.
Every person who picks up a camera for the first time makes elementary mistakes when shooting. We bring to your attention several useful tips, which will help you understand the causes of common mistakes that beginners encounter at the beginning of their journey in the fascinating world of photography.
1 littered horizon
You see a magnificent sunset and it takes your breath away. You want to capture this beauty, and you take a picture. But, being under the impression of what you saw, you did not pay any attention to the position of the horizon. As a result, the “horizon is littered” and all the objects in the photo are “at random”.
The colors of the sunset are magnificent, but where does the horizon lean? There are several ways to return the horizon line to its place. But all this can be done later when you copy the pictures to your computer. Now there are photo editing programs that do this automatically. But it's better to do it manually using Lightroom or Photoshop.
To avoid such defects in shooting, enter the camera settings and turn on the "electronic level" function. In the English-language menu, the function is called virtual horizon. The "User's Guide" that comes with any camera will help you figure it out. The virtual horizon function can be set to live mode view (display on mode when photographing).
Many SLR Cameras have a virtual horizon function that helps to correctly orient the picture 2 Wrong white balance
Do your shots (or parts of them) look too warm or unnaturally cold? Sometimes these defects indicate that the camera is not fixing the white balance correctly. Auto white balance (AWB) sets the optimal settings for the picture. But in some cases, the white balance is better to adjust in manual mode.
For manual adjustment, you will need a piece of white or light gray cardboard. If they are not available, a plain white sheet of printer paper will do.
Set your white balance manually and you will get a completely different result when shooting. 3 Lens Distortion
Some lenses take pictures with distortion. This is due to the characteristics of the lenses. At the edges of the photo, objects or parts of objects appear distorted or unevenly colored. This effect is called vignetting.
So, for example, in portraits, the model may look unnatural, bulging, as if she is moving forward from the frame.
Lens distortion before and after correction There are ways to deal with the distortion that lenses create. This is, first of all, right choice lens for specific shooting conditions. In some cameras, when shooting in JPEG format, the camera does the distortion correction automatically.
The easiest way to correct distortion is to correct the image in Adobe Lightroom. The program allows you to straighten curved lines, even out color in areas adjacent to the edge, and eliminate chromatic aberration.
In Lightroom, expand the Basic tab in the right column if it is collapsed. Then click the Enable Profile Corrections button. The program will automatically detect the type of lens that was used when shooting, and you can make the necessary corrections to the picture.
Correcting image distortion in Lightroom Image distortion can be corrected using programs supplied by camera manufacturers. Owners Canon cameras can use EOS Utility, and Nikon camera users can make edits in Capture NX.
4 Wrong focus
When you use autofocus, the camera may focus on the wrong part of the scene. The camera will focus on objects closest to the lens, or vice versa, on the most distant objects.
In this photo, the key subject of the frame blends into the background, and the camera focuses on the foreground objects To ensure proper focus, do it in manual mode, or set one autofocus (AF) point in the settings. This setting will allow the camera to focus only on the area that is at the point of the frame you have chosen.
Changing the number of autofocus points, their selection and location depend on the type of camera, the procedure is described in detail in any user manual.
During portrait shooting, immediately after taking the picture, take a moment to check what is in focus. Use the screen of the camera to view, use the zoom when viewing the picture. If you're not looking for any artistic effect in your photo, focus on the model's eyes. Pupils should always be in focus.
5 Poor image sharpness
You've taken an amazing photo, but the image looks blurry. Lack of sharpness can be caused by a number of reasons (movement of the subject during shooting, camera shake, or incorrect focus point selection when using autofocus).
Subjects in photo appear blurry and fuzzy due to camera shake (1/15s) If you don't want to create an artistic blur effect in your photo, use the following sharpening tips.
- Increase the ISO value;
- Make sure the camera shutter is fast enough. Ideally, the shutter speed should be at least one divided by focal length. Therefore, if you are shooting with an 80mm lens, with a full-size sensor, the shutter speed should be at least 1/80 of a second. For a camera sensor (for example, APS-C), a focal length of 80 mm is equivalent to 120 or 130 mm (crop factor is 1.5 or 1.6). Thus, the shutter speed must be at least 1/125s to avoid the effects of camera shake;
- Turn on the image stabilizer, which will allow you to shoot at a slower shutter speed;
- Use a tripod where possible;
- Avoid shooting at wide apertures (such as f/1.8), as wide apertures can reduce the sharpness of the photo, especially if the focus is off-center.
6 Photos look dull and dark
Sometimes your photos look much darker than the actual scene. This is usually caused by incorrect exposure values. Such frames are called underexposed.
Fortunately, this problem is easily solved even for those beginner photographers who do not know what the metering mode is and how to set it up. The function is called "exposure compensation". In order to decrease or increase the brightness of the frame, you need to go to any manual mode shooting.
On the screen of DSLRs, compact mirrorless cameras, and smartphones (when you open the camera app), look for an icon that looks like a +/- symbol. This feature works the same for all digital devices for photography, including smartphones.
Some cameras also have a separate dial on the body that allows you to change the exposure value (frame brightness) while looking through the viewfinder or screen. In order for the picture to be brighter, we move the switch to positive values. To darken the screen, switch to the negative area.
This camera has a dial for exposure compensation. 7 Composition
Can be arranged architectural object in the center of the picture (sometimes you want to break the generally accepted rules), but neglecting the laws of exposure often backfires and the picture will not be as attractive as we would like.
The main subject of this photo is well placed on the grid line (remember the rule of thirds) One of the easiest ways to learn the laws of exposure in practice is to use the “rule of thirds”. Divide the image into three strips horizontally and vertically using four perpendicular lines. The main subject can be located along these lines or at the points where they intersect. Thus, you will get a high-quality image that impresses the viewer.
Some cameras allow you to overlay a grid on the screen to help you navigate when shooting.
To improve the composition of a scene, you can also apply selective cropping in post-processing.
8 Over-processing photos
When editing a photo, you should improve the look of the image and not degrade it. Excessive editing efforts can change the original source beyond recognition, and not for the better. Too sharp contrast, too much brightness and saturation, excessive settings in HDR mode can make the picture catchy, bright, and ... spoiled.
Does the photo look bad? Maybe the author overdid it with HDR settings and contrast? 9
Be creative and remember the little things
All photos are different in subject and intent, so avoid using the same filters when processing. For example, a landscape photo with more saturation will look great, which is not the case with portrait shots. It is unlikely that too bright colors will make the portrait better.
Before you set off on an exciting journey to capture new unique shots, check the battery charge (form the habit of checking the charge before each shooting) and take all the necessary devices with you.
Take an extra memory card (and check if there is a memory card in the camera) before you go out the door.
And the last tip: Don't forget to cover your camera lens! Even experienced photographers sometimes forget this, so train yourself to always cover your lens when you step outside.
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