1. Choosing your camera
This question (along with which lens should I choose) is ranked as one of the most asked questions by photographers just starting their journey. Unfortunately, there is no magic answer to this question. Choosing your camera is a very personal decision. The honest answer is, the best camera for you is the one you have until it no longer meets your needs. Questions to ask yourself when looking for the right camera include:
-What is my budget? When starting out it is best not to go into debt trying to buy the newest technology or most expensive camera. Wait until you find your photographic rhythm and then you'll know what is ,most important to you in a camera. Keep in mind when buying your first camera that lenses are a much more important investment then the camera body. Much of the image quality comes from the lens and the lens will last you through several camera bodies (assuming you stick with the same system as you upgrade).
-What will be your main focus as a photographer? A wedding photographer and a travel vlogger will be looking for different features in a camera. If you will be travelling a lot then weight of your gear will be a primary consideration. You will prefer something lightweight and more compact. If you are a wedding photographer you may potentially be looking toward a full frame with dual card slots. Lens choice will also depend on your focus. Wildlife photographers will want fast lenses with longer reach (400-600mm), while a landscape photographer will be looking into wider lenses (16-50mm). Essentially, identify your goals in photography and then decide what gear will help you best reach those goals.
-What are your physical limitations? If you are unable to carry heavy weight for a prolonged period of time you may choose a prosumer (mix of a consumer/professional camera) or mirror-less system over a DSLR set up. It is also recommended, physical limitations or not, to go to a camera store or rent a camera system before buying so you can see how it feels in your hand. One camera may fit well into one photographers hands, but feel awkward and clunky to another photographer.
2. Read the manual
This is so important and often over-looked! Yes, in a world of instant gratification we often want to go online or ask Alexa what certain buttons do. Your manual is going to be the most important source of familiarizing yourself with your camera. It will show you where and what all your buttons are. Once you know where the buttons are and have familiarized yourself with the names then you can go to your favorite forums or groups and clarify how they work.
3. Familiarize yourself with the exposure triangle and focus
The exposure triangle is comprised of aperture, shutter speed and ISO. These three adjustments not only affect the exposure of the image, but will allow you creative control over the image. Once you have a full understanding of these 3 aspects of photography your images will be taken to a greater level. We will provide a very basic description in this post (otherwise it would turn into a book):
-Aperture:
Aperture is an opening allowing more or less light to enter through the lens. The smaller the number (referred to as F-stop) the bigger the opening, allowing more light in. The bigger the number the smaller the opening, letting less light in. A smaller F-stop will help result in a shallow depth of field (blurrier background), whereas a larger F-stop number will help to result in a greater depth of field (sharpness from front to back of a picture).
-Shutter Speed
Shutter speed controls the effect of motion in your pictures. Higher shutter speeds will help to freeze motion. Lower shutter speeds will record the action as a blur.
-ISO:
In film days it referred to how sensitive the film was to light. With digital photography, there is a lot of back and forth online whether or not this refers to the sensor's sensitivity to light. However, simply put ISO is a camera setting that will brighten or darken your photograph based on a set Aperture and Shutter Speed. For instance if you started at F2.8, SS 1/200 and
ISO 400 and changed only the ISO to 200 it would darken your image. If you increased that ISO to 800 it would brighten your image.
4. Get out and do
It is possible to watch YouTube or read tutorials all day, but it won't matter until you get out there and practice. The old adage "Practice Makes Perfect" applies to photography just as much as any other field. Have your camera near you at all times. One of the greatest aspects of digital photography is that you see what you get right away, and there is no wasted film, or money to develop the film while you practice. As you change your settings you gain real time feedback on how those changes affect your image. If you are sitting watching TV, take your camera out and play around with the different modes on your dials. Take pictures of a ceiling fan while you increase/decrease shutter to see how it affects the image. Take a walk around your block and challenge yourself to learn one new technique or mode on your camera. When you start seeing improvements don't stop, keep learning and refining your art.
5. Find learning resources that best suite you
First it's important to define your learning style. Some people can easily watch a video and learn, while others may prefer reading, and there is the population that prefers hands on learning. YouTube is a great resource for those who prefer videos. There are so many channels that cater to photographers, the hardest part is mining through all the channels and finding someone who you best relate too. Blogs are great for those photographers who prefer to read. Again, there are various great blogs! Please subscribe to our blog as we'll be continuously adding more and more contact. For those who prefer to learn hands on we recommend joining a local photography community and looking for a mentor. Meetup.com is another great place to look for local photographers to connect with and potentially learn from. Your learning style will greatly define which resource(s) is best for you. Whichever road you invest in to learn, the biggest thing to remember is that it does no good without practice and hands on experience. Do not get so involved in learning, that you run out of time to get out and do! Digital photographers have the instant gratification of knowing how changes to their settings affects the final image. Get outside, sit down and take a picture of a subject. Change your ISO and see how that affects your image, change your shutter speed and see the results, and what happens when you change your aperture. Learning resources will only take you so far, it's up to you to apply what you have learned in real life situations.
6. Set goals and challenge yourself
Setting goals help give you focus. Many photographers will take part in a 365 day challenge, and others in a weekly/monthly challenge. In fact, on our Exploretography community on FB we have a weekly challenge. If you are just starting out you may set certain weekly/monthly goals such as: 1) Gain a better understanding of Aperture. 2) Gain a better understanding of shutter speed 3) Download a free trial of Adobe Photoshop/Lightroom to learn some of their features. 4) Attend 1 local photo walk. 5) Submit 1 image to a FB photography group and ask for critique (and be open to the critique or feedback). Whenever you reach a goal be sure to continue to set new goals and keep learning! With the new year approaching this is a good time to write down your photography goals and how you will work towards reaching those goals. Please reach out on our FB community page if you need help or insight from other photographers.
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