What's the #1 Best Advice You Would Give To Someone New To Photography!

As most of you know, I am new to photography and this site and saying I love it would be an understatement! I value everyone's opinion here and read each topic faithfully! I can't wait until my photos warrant posting so I can get some much needed and appreciated opinions and advice.


In the meantime, what would be the #1 word of wisdom you would give me? Would it be take an online class to start out ...if so which one or would it be practice makes perfect? Would it be equipment or subject matters more? Is learning post-processing more important than getting it right the first time? What about settings...rules of thumb for certain situations? Or would you suggest a "must have" for every camera bag?


To give some background, I have a Canon Rebel T1i, kit lenses (EF 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS, EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS) and the Canon EF 300mm f/4 L IS and EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro along with the two (large and small)tripods that came in my kit along with a 318AF Digital Slave Flash and UV and polarizing filters. I just bought a faster memory card figuring that was why my camera kept reading "busy" during shooting. With all ofthis, I am hoping to get great shots of birds, flowers, bugs, wildlife, my grandkids and my dogs to start.


So, what's your #1 word of advice to newbies?


Have a great week ahead and thanks so much for all the education you give me!


Denise

The #1 tip I always give people that are about to start is, photograph! Shoot lots and lots of photos, all the time and everything (which will be great with the nice range of lenses you have), and while doing this try to see what styles of shooting you prefer best and look critical at your photos, of course not TO critical, it still has to stay fun. ;)


This way you'll go through a nice learning curve, a bit of trail and error, and you'll see that you start to look at photos differently quite quickly.


Have fun!
Best regards, Jorund.

Hi Denise,


I am quite a newbie too, but my advice is:





1. Take as many photographs as you can. Practice a lot.


2. Look at as many good AND bad images as possible. critique them. this will help you a ton.


3. Bring your best SLR and an all-purpose lens (100 macro or 55-250) everywhere you go. Take interesting photos of what you see.


4. Mess with light. fun stuff!


5. Buy Photoshop and before using it, learn its inner workings. This will take a while.


6. DO NOT take boring images. Make them as eye-catching as possible.


7. Use fill-flash.


8. Buy a good general-purpose lens you can take around wherever you go (100 macro??).


9. Be active in a photo forum, such as this one. Ask questions and post openly.


10. Use a tripod.


Photography, in my opinion, is one fourth photographer, one fourth equipment, one fourth situation, and one fourth dumb luck. Without one of these components the result will be lacking.





Practice DOES make perfect, but I recommend a class with other, living people at your local camera shop. (mine offers classes, where do you live?)





hope this helps, and good luck!


brendan[H]

One last piece of advice that might get overlooked many times:


Your camera doesn't matter. It is *You* who takes great pictures. Don't waste a lot of time worrying "Is my lens sharp enough?". Just take the picture and don't worry.


If something is wrong, don't blame the camera. Blame yourself first.



I am teaching myself some serious photography with a Hasselblad. Manual focus and manual exposure settings only.

Experiment. Take lots of photographs in different ways. Photograph anything and everything. As you build up a collection of photographs, your own innate sense of artistry will begin to differentiate between pictures that satisfy you and those that don't.


Don't be afraid to be different. Just because it seems that one group of photographers favor a certain way of doing things doesn't mean that you need to do the same. Find your own voice, one that pleases you.

I always like to refer tho the Robert Capa quote:


"If your pictures aren't good enough,you aren't close enough"


Along with that, get a book that will teach you all the elements of exposure; aperture, shutter speeds, depth of field, etc. Then teach yourself the rest by shooting lots and lots of pics. Keep it simple and have a lot of fun.

1. Read your owners manual, understand how your camera operates. Once you do this you will understand what everyone else is talking about.


2. Learn to see as your lenses see. As Bryan Peterson suggests----put any lens on your camera, then shoot, shoot shoot, crawl on the floor, shoot from high above, shoot from knee level, try all kinds of different perspectives with each of your lenses.


3. Ask questions--lots of questions---I have learned more from sites like this than any book I have read.

#1 thing: Learn, understand, and constantly manage your color (i.e. white balance). If you can't take a subject from outside to shaded to indoors (and in let's say four different rooms) and have the subject's skin look the same, you have more work to do.


(#2 is to constantly believe that you can do better, and strive for that.)


(#3 is to have a reason for every element of the composition and every value of the settings. It's OK to decide that something should be automatic, such as shutter speed, but you should decide that.)

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Originally Posted by bburns223

8. Buy either a 24-105, 24-70, 17-55, or 16-35, or 70-200. Every serious Canon photographer NEEDS one of these lenses.

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I don't think they need pro lenses. If you were joking, I appreciate the humour. But the last thing new photographers need to hear is that they need pro lenses to take good pictures. Don't get me wrong - I'm sure all photographers have faced this dilemma at somepoint in their hobby, but it's not right to give them the impression that top-of-the-line gear is what they need to take good pictures.


Again, if you were just kidding, ignore this post - but hear me through on this.

Research it well before you buy it.

My top advice would be (and I've only been shooting for one year so take it for what it's worth).


- Shoot everyday. Keep at least one image a day on your computer. I started a blog to help myself stay honest shooting everyday.


- Get tough skin. Throw your stuff out online for people to critique. People here are always happy to provide [constructive] feedback/tips. Other people will hate on you. Haters gonna hate, nothing you can do about them. My blog also helped me accomplish this. (And I picked up a hater along the way!)


- Dont worry about your gear quality. Get the best images you can with what you have. If you're restrained by what you have, upgrade.


- Don't try to learn every aspect at once. Take your time and experiment with only one variable. When I started one year ago, I was way overwhelmed with ISO, aperture, shutter speed, stops of light, etc. After shooting [almost] everyday for a year, it (mostly) makes sense haha :) Learn every aspect of your camera, lens, computer, editing software (if you get something like Photoshop CS4, don't bother learning every nook and cranny of it. You won't use everything in that program).


Wishing you the best in your photography pursuits!


If you need anything, we're here at the forum and always willing to help! (I owe a great deal of my knowledge to people on this site!)


-Rodger

Frick. Double post. My bad.

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Originally Posted by alexniedra

But the last thing new photographers need to hear is that they need pro lenses to take good pictures.

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You are totally right, I never thought about that aspect, it's fixed now [:P]


...what else did I say that makes no sense[:#]

My #1 advive for a beginner is toNOT buying anything else beside the camera and its kit lensbeforehe/she understands exposure andthe camera.

Here's my two cents.. :)


Be one with your camera - know everything about it - it's capabilities and limitations...


And shoot lots and lots - there's no "wrong way".. - be creative... and try to have fun..

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Originally Posted by Sinh Nhut Nguyen

My #1 advive for a beginner is toNOT buying anything else beside the camera and its kit lensbeforehe/she understands exposure andthe camera.
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Oops ...guess I should have asked this question earlier!

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Originally Posted by ddt0725

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Originally Posted by Sinh Nhut Nguyen

My #1 advive for a beginner is toNOT buying anything else beside the camera and its kit lensbeforehe/she understands exposure andthe camera.
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Oops ...guess I should have asked this question earlier!

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Don't worry about it. There are still things I don't understand about exposure and the camera and I've been doing this seriously for years now and have a bundle of lenses.


You will never stop learning - if you think you know it all, well, you're not paying attention! [;)]

I would advise you to think of photography as a print-making craft (even in this digital age). By this, I mean think less about what your subject is, and more about how the final print will look. Think abstractly about composition, tonalities, colors, etc. Notice how your eyes naturally move about the final print. Powerful images do not require powerful subjects. It is all just light. From your subject list, I would start with flowers (using your tripods), being the slowest moving of the list. Once you have mastered slow deliberate compositions of light with a static subject, your eye will know how to see the same opportunities with your swiftly moving grandkids.

I'm going to vary from the beaten path on this one...


Go shoot sports. Anything you can find will do, but high school baseball, softball and soccer make great starter sports. There are usually fewrestriction on access andtons of games on all nights of the week.


Shooting sports will force you to learn a lot about photography. The light will vary at each event forcing you to learn every facet of shutter speed, ISO and aperature. You'll have constant changes of composition and all kinds of interesting color and movement. You'll also learn to get images quickly and work in a noisy, crazy environment.


The upside is you can work on candid portraiture by shooting the band, drill team and cheerleaders as well.


I've always believed my wedding skills came from my sports work. If you can shoot a running back coming straight at you in crappy light with 3,000 kids clanging cow bells in the stands behind you, weddings will look tame in comparison.

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Originally Posted by Dallasphotog

I'm going to vary from the beaten path on this one...


Go shoot sports. Anything you can find will do, but high school baseball, softball and soccer make great starter sports. There are usually fewrestriction on access andtons of games on all nights of the week.


Shooting sports will force you to learn a lot about photography. The light will vary at each event forcing you to learn every facet of shutter speed, ISO and aperature. You'll have constant changes of composition and all kinds of interesting color and movement. You'll also learn to get images quickly and work in a noisy, crazy environment.


The upside is you can work on candid portraiture by shooting the band, drill team and cheerleaders as well.


I've always believed my wedding skills came from my sports work. If you can shoot a running back coming straight at you in crappy light with 3,000 kids clanging cow bells in the stands behind you, weddings will look tame in comparison.

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I like this advice.

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Originally Posted by Keith B

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Originally Posted by Dallasphotog

If you can shoot a running back coming straight at you in crappy light with 3,000 kids clanging cow bells in the stands behind you, weddings will look tame in comparison.

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I like this advice.

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I particularly like this line haha.

I'm pretty new (one year) to slr photography too, but I have learned a lot by reading books. I tried to just start shooting, but all I got was garbage. And confused by all the buttons. So...


1. Get a book on the T1i. I have a XS, and Ben Fong wrote a great book on it. It covers every single button and setting, and in English, not owners-manual-poorly-translated-engineer-speek. Without this book, I'd probably still be on auto.


2. "Lightroom 2 for Digital Photographers" by Scott Kelby. After downloading trial versions of the Adobe software, I decided LR2 was for me, and almost immediately got this book. It stays by my computer. Postproduction work can make your photos pretty bad if you don't know what you're doing.


3. "Digital Photography" by Scott Kelby. I borrowed this one, so I'm paraphrasing the title, but it is an awesome book. Now that I'm typing this out, I don't really remember what I learned from it, but I read it at least four times, and really enjoyed it. He has a pretty corny sense of humour, which works for me.


4. Take lots of photos! Move around when you shoot. Move your subject around (if you can). Never take just one photo.


5. Look at other photographers work.Decide what you like, and why, and try to figure out what they did to get that look.


Enjoy!


Lewis

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Originally Posted by Dallasphotog

Go shoot sports. Anything you can find will do, but high school baseball, softball and soccer make great starter sports. There are usually fewrestriction on access andtons of games on all nights of the week.


Shooting sports will force you to learn a lot about photography. The light will vary at each event forcing you to learn every facet of shutter speed, ISO and aperature. You'll have constant changes of composition and all kinds of interesting color and movement. You'll also learn to get images quickly and work in a noisy, crazy environment.


The upside is you can work on candid portraiture by shooting the band, drill team and cheerleaders as well.


I've always believed my wedding skills came from my sports work. If you can shoot a running back coming straight at you in crappy light with 3,000 kids clanging cow bells in the stands behind you, weddings will look tame in comparison.
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Go shoot fires. Work with your local fire department (or find a website or scanner that'll let you follow them independently, but working WITH them will help grease the skids with the cops) and go shoot fire runs. At sporting events, you can get to the shoot as early as you want. At fires, you'd better have your bag/kit well laid out, memory cards loaded, settings preset, etc. If it's a house fire, you have at best 30 minutes of good shooting; after that, it's time for candids of the weary faces of the crews because your original subject no longer exists.


I used to manage a mini-website that tracked San Antonio FD's live dispatches (they now do most of what I was doing then at http://epay.sanantonio.gov/activefire/). I saw this apartment fire come in as I was getting ready to leave work. A ten-minute drive in evening rush hour (plus a few minutes of head-start for the FD) meant I wasn't as early as I wanted, but here's what I got: http://www.sanantoniofire.org/scene/...ec28/index.htm. Another night, I was leaving the bar at 0130, and saw friends of mine in a ladder truck heading the same direction I was going. Here's what I got: http://www.sanantoniofire.org/scene/fire_scene/2008_nov09/index.htm.


If you can shoot a fire in progress in crappy light (expect orange/red glow from the fire, red/blue glow from the warning lights, halogen scene lights, and lots of reflective striping to annoy your flash), sports will be easy. :)

Shoot lots and lots. It is digital and is virtually free to take as many shot as you like.


Next look at your shots and see what worked and did not work. Learn from your shots and learn your tastes and style and build from there. Have fun and play with lighting and points of view.


Reading 'how-to' books will get you 10% of the way there. Reading forums and analyzing photos will get you another 10%. Practicing photographic principles, lighting techniques, and software will get you another 10%. Doing in day to day situations, playing and having fun will get you the last 70%.


I have generated some impressive shot by just 'playing' and having fun.

im very new to photography, and the little advice i can give is what i've applied to myself.


1.Learn the camera and all it's functions. I've found it very anoying when i just shot something in manual mode with 3" of shutterspeed, iso of 1600, aperture of 2.8, no flash, and thungsteen WB.. and 2 second of auto shutter to avoid the hand shake. then i turn off the camera, and move to a different place hence a party, or a room in a house, or anything of that nature, and ppl want a fast picture, those settings need to go back to normal in less than 2 seconds to take a quick shot, and ppl dont wanna pose like 4 times for 1 picture.


2. Train your eyes, and your notions. I've found flickr to b quite helpful. I've seen the work of MANY, and they have inspired me to do something different. Always look at the exif data, since that's what u need to get an idea of what the photographer was thinking about when the shot was taken.


3. Put a tape on my flash, NOT literaly ;), but avoid using flash, specially at night. After you get the right colors and the nice shot, then play around with the strenght of the flash in order to light up certain things u want ONLY.


4. WB is not there to b auto, that's something that needs to b changed ALL the time when you change scenarios, so USE IT.





This is a little bit of what i've applied to myself in starting photography. It's not 1, but it's something that has helped me accomplish shots that im particular proud of. ;)

always like to refer tho the Robert Capa quote:


"If your pictures aren't good enough,you aren't close enough"


Agreed &amp; don forget Subject,subject,subject,Angle,

Shoot everything. Anything that catches your eye. Look at boring things, and see if you can make them interesting by narrowing down to a feature, coming at it from a different perspective, whatever. When you find a picture you like, try to figure out what it is that works. When you don't, try to figure out what fails.


Take criticism. Value it. Even if it's wrong, if you learn by identifying what you value and what you don't.


Exposure- Aperture/Shutter/ISO. How it affects depth of field, time lapsed during the exposure, what moves, what doesn't, and what that implies.


Think about light. Color temperature, where it's coming from, and how it affects what the camera sees (vs. what you see, it's not the same).


Field of view, how it affects what you can do with perspective, and what you capture versus isolate.


Just play with everything. Don't worry about taking pictures that suck. It's part of the process, even with experience. The more sucky pictures you take, the more good pictures you'll end up with. The more pictures that you end up with that are good, the more you can identify why they worked, and apply that to other things.


Just do it, ask questions when you've got them, and the path will unfold by itself.

My best advice (aside from the excellent suggestions so far)...


If you see a good shot - take it!!! Never let an opportunity to capture a great image get away.

This is great advice, I have some crap that sits and collects dust because I thought that you had to have it to be a professional photographer.


Learn your camera, learn what kind of pictures you want to take, then figure out what toys you need to buy to make it happen.

I want to thank everyone for the fantastic advice given! Looks like the #1 best advice overall is shoot...shoot...shoot and I am taking advantage of every chance I get and keeping in mind all the other wonderful suggestions given.


My #1 advice to myselfis learn something new every day by visiting the TDP website at least once a day without fail!


Thanks again and have a great night everyone! [:)]


Denise

Good luck Denise! I'm sure you're gonna have a fun time shooting, see ya later!

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Originally Posted by ddt0725

My #1 advice to myselfis learn something new every day by visiting the TDP website at least once a day without fail!
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Be careful, though. Bryan is responsible for my purchase of several thousand dollars of gear....


Jerk[:D]


Not that I regret it.

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Originally Posted by Sinh Nhut Nguyen

My #1 advive for a beginner is toNOT buying anything else beside the camera and its kit lensbeforehe/she understands exposure andthe camera.
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+1


And take lots and lots of pictures, and rarely center the subject in the picture. Use the rule of thirds. [:)]

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Originally Posted by ShutterbugJohan

And take lots and lots of pictures, and rarely center the subject in the picture. Use the rule of thirds. [img]/emoticons/emotion-1.gif[/img]
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I forget this rule a lot. Sometimes I need the center autofocus point because it's the only one that works well enough, and I figure I'll just go a little wide and crop later to taste. Sometimes I opt for the rule of some other ratio. Sometimes I remember it, and use it, and if it works out, am very proud of myself for becoming so smart [H]

enjoy taking pictures and enjoy what you shoot.

to me the most important feature missing from most photograph's is good composition work on forming well composed pictures.


all the technical stuff can be learned by simple reading over this site and others like it.

The best thing to do is just click lots of pics and choose some best photos you have click.You can take the help of your friends.Then look at and talk to your friends and take advice where you lack.One more thing you have a complete knowledge of photoshop.

Denise, shoot, shoot some more and shoot again. Enjoy yourself and experiment. Find subject matter which you have passion toward and that will translate into your artwork. View work you admire, no matter what the medium. Listen to music which will also inspire visions you want to create. You will eventually move from focusing on gear and settings to creating imagery that you and others enjoy. But the most important critic will be you. Welcome to what I consider to be the magnificent world of imagery.