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

[ddt0725]

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

[Jorundr-Jorgensen]

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.

[Brendan7]

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]

[ThomasJ]

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.

[musickna]

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.

[Keith B]

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.

[bob williams]

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.

[peety3]

#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.)

[alexniedra]

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.

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.

[Bombsight]

Research it well before you buy it.