They gave you a camera but you don’t know where to start? Are you undecided whether or not to buy a camera because you are afraid that you don’t like taking pictures?
There is no problem, let’s see together the 5 tips to start this fantastic adventure in the world of photography in the best way, I am convinced that at the end of this article you will be more charged than ever, LET’S GO!
1) You don’t necessarily need a big and expensive camera
You will hear this a million times: it is NOT the camera that takes the picture but it is you! You don’t need to buy the latest model of mirrorless or reflex camera or an advanced super compact, you just need a simple and small automatic machine or even a mobile phone.
Yes ok, with a reflex camera or a serious and expensive camera you can take pictures even in precarious light conditions and the quality of the shots will certainly be exceptional but there will be time for this, now you are at the beginning and it will certainly be enough to start with a very simple compact camera or an entry-level SLR. If you want to enhance your photography skills with a new camera, you can always opt to rent a high quality camera from Camera Rental Philadelphia and achieve great photos without spending big amount of money.
2) Learn the basics of photography and the rules of composition
Although most of the time you will be shooting in automatic mode, it is essential that you learn the basics of photography.
It’s not as complex as it sounds but you need to know what depth of field, exposure time, ISO sensitivity, and aperture are. These are fundamental basics that you will need later when you start getting used to your camera and start getting serious.
You do not necessarily need to enroll in a photography course to learn these basics, you are lucky to have the internet and you can find these notions anywhere by learning them quietly sitting on your sofa!
If you want, you can take our completely FREE online digital photography course by clicking on this link. I hope the course is useful to you and can lead you to get wonderful shots.
3) Read your camera manual
Take some time to read your camera manual from start to finish. The object you are holding is full of buttons, dials, and menus with many icons. It is essential to know how to best use your camera and to know what the keys in front of you are for.
4) Always take your camera with you
It has happened to me dozens of times to find myself in the right place at the right time but ….. to have nothing to take a picture, if not an automatic smartphone.
Know that it will often happen to you too, for this reason always goes out of the house (as much as possible) with your beloved camera.
5) Change the way you look around
I think this is a very important piece of advice. You have to learn to look with the “eyes of a photographer” and no longer with your own eyes.
If you are wondering what it means to “look through the eyes of a photographer” know that it is not easy and it will take time but when your eye is trained you will notice things that you would NEVER have taken into consideration before.
Look around you calmly and curiously, the world is chock full of inspirations. You don’t have to go far from home to find inspiration, just go out and look around. Do it with a critical eye and ask yourself how you would photograph that object or that building, turn it around 360 degrees and you will see that you will find the right point to immortalize it.
The image you see below was taken in Livorno on the wonderful Mascagni terrace. After having photographed it from all angles I was not satisfied and so I came across a particular street lamp. I started walking around it to find the right angle and eventually I got this shot.
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