5 HABITS EVERY NEW PHOTOGRAPHER SHOULD DEVELOP

NO PUN INTENDED…. BUT REALLY, THERE ARE A FEW BASIC THINGS ALL NEW PHOTOGRAPHERS SHOULD LEARN TO DO RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING TO MAKE YOUR PHOTOS RIGHT:

AS YOU BECOME A PHOTOGRAPHER, AND I MEAN, IN THIS CASE, A VERY BASIC PHOTOGRAPHER, EVEN ONE WHO USES THEIR CELL PHONE ALL THE TIME, THERE ARE A FEW BASIC HABITS YOU NEED TO GET INTO, TO TAKE DECENT PHOTOS WITH YOUR BASIC CAMERA.  I BRING THIS UP BECAUSE THERE ARE JUST TOO MANY LOUSY PICTURES I SEE COMING DOWN ON SOCIAL MEDIA THAT I WISH SOMEONE WOULD TELL PEOPLE THESE BASIC STEPS:

1- PLEASE CLEAN  YOUR LENS EVERY TIME YOU TAKE PICTURES

Every time you take photos with your cell phone, you must clean the lens.

AT LEAST WITH A CELL PHONE, THIS IS ALWAYS A PROBLEM.  BUT LOOK HOW MANY TIMES YOU HOLD IT.  YOU ARE GOING TO TOUCH THE LENS OF THE CAMERA WITH YOUR SLIMY HANDS.  BUT YOUR HANDS ARE CLEAN, AREN’T THEY?   OK, GO UP TO THE GLASS ON YOUR WINDOW AND TOUCH IT WITH YOUR FINGER.  DID IT LEAVE A FINGERPRINT?  YES?  OK, IT WILL LEAVE A FINGERPRINT ON YOUR LENS OF YOUR CAMERA.  AND YOU DO IT ACCIDENTALLY.  I AM NOT CHASTISING ANYONE, I AM JUST STATING FACT.  BEFORE YOU TAKE ANY PHOTO WITH ANY CAMERA, JUST CLEAN THE LENS.  THE BIGGER DSLR CAMERAS, YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE TO SO MUCH BECAUSE YOU HAVE A LENS CAP ON TO PROTECT THIS FROM HAPPENING OF COURSE, BUT, THESE SMALL CAMERAS, JUST GET IN THE HABIT.

2- LEARN WHAT YOUR CAMERA CAN REALLY DO FOR YOU

These new cameras are made to be easy to use, or do a lot of different things for you as well. Learn all the things your camera can do for you.

MORE THAN JUST SNAP PHOTOS, IT CAN HELP YOU TAKE BETTER PHOTOS.  YOUR CAMERA IN YOUR CELL PHONE CAN DO MORE THAN JUST TAKE PHOTOS.  IT PROBABLY HAS A FLASH, IT PROBABLY HAS DIFFERENT TYPE OF PHOTO MODES, SUCH AS ACTION SHOTS, PORTRAIT SHOTS, ETC.  FIND OUT WHAT YOUR CAMERA CAN DO FOR YOU AND WATCH AND SEE HOW YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY CAN CHANGE FOR YOU.

3- LEARN WHEN TO USE HORIZONTAL OR VERTICAL FORMATTING:

WHEN YOU TAKE A PICTURE, YOU SHOULD TRY TO FILL THE FRAME……WITH THE SUBJECT.  SO, IN THIS CASE, THE WOLF, OR ANIMAL SHOULD PROBABLY FILL THE FRAME HORIZONTALLY.  A PERSON, PROBABLY VERTICALLY.  2 LEGS  –  VERTICALLY HOLD YOUR CAMERA.  4 LEGS – HOLD YOUR CAMERA HORIZONTALLY.  FILL YOUR FRAME.  YOU WILL LIKE IT BETTER.

4- IF YOU LIKE TO TAKE PICTURES, LEARN FROM OTHER PHOTOGRAPHERS

SO YOU TAKE PHOTOS OF YOUR KIDS, GRANDKIDS, AND THAT’S ALL YOU WANT TO TAKE PICTURES OF.  JUST A HUGE AMOUNT OF MEMORY PHOTOS.  AND YOU LIKE TO SHOW THEM OFF TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND RELATIVES, RIGHT? 

Basic posing techniques of people will make all your people photos just so much more interesting.

WELL HOW LONG BEFORE THEY GET TIRED OF LOOKING AT PICTURES THEY DON’T WANT TO SEE?  IF YOU TOOK PICTURES THAT HAD GREAT COMPOSITION, HAD GOOD LIGHTING, HAD SOME GOOD POSING TECHNIQUES, WOULD THEY START ENJOYING YOUR PHOTOS MORE?  TAKE A LOOK AT PHOTOS THAT YOU ENJOY, AND YOU MIGHT START LEARNING FROM THEM.  TAKE A LOOK AT PROFESSIONAL PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHERS, AND LEARN HOW THEY POSE THEM, SEE THE LIGHTING, NOTICE HOW THE COMPOSITION IS IN THE PHOTO.  MAYBE LINK TO A GOOD WEBSITE TO LEARN HOW TO TAKE PICTURES ONCE IN A WHILE (www.123photogo.com).  That’s a good one.

5- LEARN HOW TO HOLD A CAMERA CORRECTLY

I KNOW THIS SEEMS REALLY BASIC, AND IT IS, BUT, IT JUST NEEDS TO BE A HABIT TO LEARN RIGHT AWAY.  I SEE PEOPLE ALL THE TIME THAT HOLD THEIR CAMERA IN THE STRANGEST POSITION, AND THEY GET BLURRY PICTURES.  OR THEIR ELBOW IS STICKING WAY OUT, AND THEY WONDER WHY THEY GET BUMPED ALL THE TIME.   OR THEY TRY TO DO IT ONE HANDED SOME TIMES AND WONDER WHY THEY GET BLURRY PICTURES. 

Here is how to hold a DSLR camera in the vertical hold position. This gives you stability vertically and you have total control of all your buttons.

THERE IS A REASON FOR TRIPODS, AND IT IS TO MAKE SHARP PICTURES, AND IF YOU CAN MIMIC A TRIPOD IN ANY WAY, THEN YOU CAN BETTER YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY.  

Because the button to take the photo is usually on the screen itself now for most cell phone cameras, this is probably the best way to hold a cell phone camera. This will give you the sturdiest way to hold a cell phone while taking a photo. No one should be bumping your elbow and you still have total control of the button, and any other controls on the screen. If you go horizontally with your cell phone, nothing should change.

ONCE AGAIN, LOOK AT A GOOD PHOTOGRAPHER, OR ASK HOW TO HOLD YOUR CAMERA.   IT WILL HELP YOU A LOT. 

Conclusion:

NOW THIS ARTICLE WAS MEANT TO HELP THOSE WHO TAKE A LOT OF PHOTOS WITH A CELL PHONE CAMERA, OR A DSLR CAMERA.  I HOPE YOU HAVE LEARNED HOW TO MAKE YOUR PICTURES BETTER.  I LOVE SEEING PHOTOS TAKEN BY A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER BY THEIR CELL PHONE, AND THEIR REGULAR DSLR CAMERA THEY HAVE FIGURED OUT HOW TO DO THE ABOVE STEPS.

Article written by Lanny Cottrell for 123PhotoGo

Now over 1000 blogs

Here are a few photos taken by photographers using good holding techniques (I am sure):

Photo by Felipe Parucker on Pexels.com


Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com


Photo by Maël BALLAND on Pexels.com

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.