Photography Tips For Beginners

When I bought my DSLR camera earlier this year, I had absolutely no previous experience at using one. I had been using a very basic point and shoot camera for a number of years and thought that it was time to move on and make the most of my photography. I am still very much a beginner when it comes to photography myself but I thought that I would share some tips that I have found most helpful, or which I wish i'd have known beforehand.

1) Keep your camera with you at all times. Often photo opportunities happen when you're out and about everyday so it is always handy to keep your camera in your bag at all times. You'd be surprised at some of the photos I've managed to capture at unexpected moments. It can be a really rewarding experience.

2) Learn the basics. DSLR's are fantastic and have the capabilities to take brilliant quality photos in any situation no matter what the lighting. Learn the three basic settings of a DSLR and how they relate to each other. The settings to grasp on a DSLR are aperture, shutter speed and ISO. Once you have these managed, the whole process of taking pictures will become much easier.

3) Don't always rely on auto mode. As much as DSLR's are fantastic the auto settings do not always provide the best photography results. Like I said above, once you have grasped shutter speed, ISO and aperture, you should be able to take photos in manual mode. You will thank yourself later, as in manual mode you are completely in control of how the camera reacts to the subjects of your photos. You will be able to get much better photos if you are in control, rather than the camera being in control.

4) Invest in a tripod. There are several inexpensive tripods on the market that are perfect for beginners. You don't need to worry about getting the latest, professional model out there, as long as you get something steady and substantial you'll be good to go. Tripods can help in all sorts of photography situations and you will 100% need one for taking photos using a slow shutter speed.

5) Consider shooting in RAW. Changing your camera mode from JPEG to RAW will give you much more control when editing your photos. JPEG mode compresses and partially edits the photo for you within the camera whereas RAW mode lets you have full control of how you want your photos to look. RAW files are bigger and take up more memory than JPEG photos so having a good memory card will be essential.

6) Use editing software. All photographers edit their photos when they've uploaded them to a computer so don't feel guilty for doing this too. You don't need to buy any expensive editing software like Photoshop or Lightroom if you don't feel like you need it. Often computer built in software is perfectly fine, especially for beginners. I use the built in software on my mac to edit my photos and I love it, it has everything you could possibly need to get the best results.

7) Have fun! The most important thing to remember is to have fun. Experimenting with all of your camera's settings and editing software is fun. Once you have grasped the basics, you will soon start to see your photography skills improving and it will be a very rewarding, worthwhile experience.