7 Photography Tips for Beginners

Whenever we see something beautiful— be it a person, a scenery or an object— we get the tendency to click a photo. It is our way of capturing something that we know would not last forever.      

There’s something very magical about being able to hold on to the fleeting emotions of a moment in time; about being able to preserve the fading beauty of a flower; or being able to bring out the extraordinary from an ordinary day in life.

All of the above things can be achieved through photography. That is perhaps one of the biggest reasons why photography is such a popular hobby among the masses.

Photography is also a great passion amongst many people around the world. If you are venturing into the world of photography, then the following photography tips are for you.

Seven photography tips for beginners—

1. Understand the nuances of lighting.

One of the most important aspects of photography is lighting.  Lighting can influence the tone, mood and the whole look of a photograph.

Lighting is not just about the source of light that is being used but also the type and technique of lighting that is being used to photograph an object, a landscape or a subject.

Two different types of lighting can be used during a photo shoot— natural light and artificial light.

Ambient light, back light, side light, rim light and front light are different types of natural lighting.

Soft light, hard light, key light, butterfly lighting, loop lighting and Rembrandt lighting are various types of artificial lighting.

Broad lighting, short lighting, split lighting and three-point lighting are few of the many lighting techniques.

For clicking alluring photos, it is very important for you to figure out which type of lighting and lighting technique is to be used in which instances.

In order to get a great photograph, it is crucial for you to balance the intensity of the light between the subject you are clicking and its background or foreground.

While trying to capture a sunset, if the foreground is completely dark, then the photo is as good as ruined.

So, when the question is How to take the perfect picture? The answer is— pay attention to lighting.                

2. Learn how to compose a photograph.

You might have heard the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words”.

In order to produce a photo that speaks a thousand words, you need to put some thought into it. Don’t run on autopilot and just point and shoot.

For your photos to evoke the right emotions and for you to express thoughts and ideas through your photos, you need to click engaging photos.

And to click engaging photos, you need to learn proper composition of photographs.

One of the most basic things to keep in mind while composing a photograph is that there should be a sense of balance and simplicity in the photograph.

If there are too many objects cluttered at one side, while the other side of the picture is completely empty, it might feel a bit imbalanced; in other words, not good.

Another rule of composition in photography is that you need to keep the horizons leveled up accurately.

You need to remove any distractions in your photo by modifying your composition.

And make sure that you don’t chop off important parts of your subject with the edge of the frame.

You may not get the desired result at first, keep trying. Change your composition, keep experimenting with different frames till you get the photo you had envisioned.              

3. Try not to overexpose the highlights.

This is an important photography tip for beginners. Try your best to avoid overexposing highlights in a photograph.

Along with the flash settings, the ISO, shutter speed and aperture are crucial for adjusting the brightness of a photograph.

Exposure compensation is a major setting that can be used to change the above-mentioned variables and determine the level of brightness in a photo.

For example, while photographing the sky, if the brightness is too much, the sky would look like a giant blob.

But if the brightness is altered, the sky’s texture and colour would be more visible. The photograph would look more lively.

If the camera you are using is mirrorless, it might have zebra settings or histogram settings.

Enabling those settings would help you in fine-tuning your exposure and clicking photos that are properly exposed.          

4. Get familiar with all the settings in the camera.

Wondering how beginner photographers start out? After arranging for a camera, the first step is to gain an understanding of the camera settings.      

As there are a lot of different settings in a camera, it would take some time to get them right. So, keep practising.

While starting out in the field of photography, try shooting with various camera modes rather than shooting in full auto mode all the time.

Take your time to explore and find out which camera settings are most important. And also, which camera settings work with which type of photography, so that you have the best possible outcome from a photoshoot.

What else? Shoot in Raw as much as you can. It would make editing your photos easier.

Though JPEGs may look good on camera, the files don’t have much scope for editing during post-processing.

5. Learn the proper use of a tripod.

In the world of photography, a tripod is perhaps one of the best inventions. It is certainly one of the most helpful.

Tripods assist you with various problems that you might face during a photo shoot.

By putting the camera on a tripod, you can shoot multi-minute exposures and capture details in low light that are usually not visible to the human eye.

Tripods are great when you are trying to improve the stability of your compositions and take sharp photos.

In photography tips for portraits, it is always advised to use a tripod. So, when else can you use a tripod?

When the subject of your photography is stationary, then using a tripod is a given. Stationary subjects include landscapes, still life, buildings and bridges etc.

Another situation where you can use tripods is while indulging in macro photography.

When you are greatly magnifying a subject of photography, even the in-body image stabilization (IBIS) system is not able to make up for the uber low light and long exposure that are needed for distinguished macro work.

While photographing events or actions, it is best not to use a tripod as it can slow you down. The same is applicable for travel photography as well.

6. Be careful about the edges of a photograph.

In photography tips and tricks, this one is obvious but also much underrated. While composing a photo, you need to pay attention to the edges of the frame.

The subject in the photo needs to have some breathing space and should not be pushed up against the edge of the photo.

Unless it is unavoidable, try not to cut off a vital part of a subject, such as, the top of a mountain.

The edges of a photograph and the elements that are captured in those edges can shape the whole look and feel of a photograph.

So, while determining the frame, take extra care of the edges of a photo you are about to click.            

7. Keep moving!

Ever asked yourself the question, how should a beginner practice photography? The answer— keep moving.

You might have noticed that generally, when we take photos, we just stand at one place and click multiple pictures of the subject (person, object or landscape) that has caught our eye.

Guess what? You don’t need to do that. In most instances, you have the option to move around.

Move your feet a few inches (forward, backward, left to right and vice versa), move your tripod, climb on things (tool, chair, ladder); do everything you can to keep moving while taking photos.

Doing this would let you take photos from different angles, producing different results and bringing some variety to photos of the same subject (person, object or landscape).

When you move around, you can also change the positions and the relative sizes of various objects in your photograph.

While clicking a landscape, if there’s a rock that you feel is creating disruption in the photo, then you can simply move around till the rock is too small to be distracting or it’s completely out of your composition.

For wildlife or animal photography, remember that animals usually look better when they are being photographed from their eye level.  

Which means that you and your camera need to be at eye level with them.

An added bonus of this technique is that it creates greater subject isolation by covering a bigger area of the background.  

FAQs

What is the 20-60-20 rule in photography?

The 20/60/20 rule in photography states that when you’re taking photos, you need to spend the first 20% of your time getting the safe shots, then you need to spend the next 60% taking photos that expand and strengthen your technique; and finally, spend the last 20% trying to get that once-in-a-lifetime shot.              

Can I self teach myself photography?

Photography is something that you can definitely teach yourself. You need to familiarise yourself with the concepts of shutter speed, exposure, aperture etc.

If you want to learn photography by yourself, the first step is to buy a camera and some accessories.    

What are the 5 rules of photography?

In short, the five rules of photography—

• Embrace the lines.
• Create depth with a clear foreground, middleground, and background.
• Avoid too much negative space.
• Obey the Rule of Thirds.
• Simplify the scene.                                      
  

What is shutter speed?

Shutter speed is the speed at which the shutter of the camera closes. A fast shutter speed creates a shorter exposure, while a slow shutter speed creates a longer exposure.        

What are leading lines in photography?

In photography, leading lines are the lines that guide a viewer’s gaze towards a specific point of interest in a photo. The leading lines can be real or implied.

Leading lines are created by various items or elements such as buildings, fences, roads, rivers and people.

Leading lines can be vertical, horizontal, diagonal, straight or curved.