7 Common Photography Mistakes Beginners Make and How to Avoid Them
I’ve been there.
I, too, was once a beginner. I have a number of disappointing moments because my image was too blurry, too dark, or just not interesting.
After over a decade as a photographer, I want to share 7 common mistakes that beginner photographers make and how to avoid them so you can skip all of the disappointments and straight into loving your images.
Ignoring Composition: Mistake: Before I knew about the rule of thirds, I always placed my subject in the middle of the frame, or I might not have even had a subject at all! Solution: Work on composition techniques like the rule of thirds and leading lines to create more visually compelling images.
Overexposure or Underexposure: Mistake: Not knowing how to adjust exposure settings, leaving your images looking “blown out” (over exposed), or too dark (under exposed). Solution: Knowing how to use your exposure compensation and histogram will tremendously help to achieve a more properly exposed image.
Using Auto Mode Exclusively: Mistake: When you rely solely on the Auto mode setting, you limit your ability to creatively manipulate aperture, shutter speed and ISO for desired effects. It can produce inconsistent results, especially in challenging lighting conditions that will lead your images to be over exposed, under exposed or poorly focused. Using Auto mode may not allow you to achieve specific effects, like motion blur, shallow depth of field, or intentional overexposure. If you’re photographing something that is moving fast, your images may result in a slower response time leaving them blurry, or missing the moment you wanted to photograph in the first place. Solution: Learn how to use your manual settings to understand aperture, shutter speed and ISO for best results. (Psst. I offer photography workshops for women to teach the fundamentals of photography, from Auto mode to Manual in one day).
Blurry photos: Mistake: Mistake: If you don’t know the fundamentals of what the minimum shutter speed can be if you’re hand holding your camera, or you don’t have a tripod to capture those soft waterfalls, then your images will be blurry. Solution: Use a tripod! Increase your shutter speed, or practice proper hand-holding techniques to minimize camera shake. So much of photography is about the focus!
Ignoring Lighting: Mistake: Mistake: Not paying attention to lighting conditions, leading to harsh shadows or flat images. This can make or break an image! Solution: Learn to read the light, artificial, natural and ambient lighting. Learn how soft lighting will look, and different times of day. Photography is the art of light. Use it to create interesting images.
Not focusing properly: Mistake: Missing the focus on the subject, resulting in a blurry or out-of-focus image. This is crucial when photographing anyone or animal that has eyes. Eyes are the windows into our souls. If the eyes are out-of-focus, you miss the essence of your subject and it becomes uninteresting. Solution: Switch to manual focus, adjust the diopter, or re-assign a button on your camera you never use to be your back button focus.
Ignoring White Balance: Mistake: Not using or adjusting the right white balance settings, resulting in colour casts or unnatural hues. We’ve all seen those winter photos where the snow is blue… that’s an incorrect white balance setting. Solution: Understand different white balance presets and learn how to manually adjust white balance for accurate colours and hues.
