Photography 101 – Common Mistakes Beginner Photographers Make

You bought a camera, you put the hours in, but you’re not seeing any improvement. Don’t worry if that sounds like you, because beginner photographers tend to make a lot of tiny mistakes which hampers their progress over a longer period of time. We have compiled some of the most common mistakes that beginner photographers make, and how you as a beginner photographer, can avoid those mistakes to make you a better photographer fast.

#1: Quitting Too Early

This one is probably the biggest reason that a lot of amateur photographers don’t become pros. When you just start, in the first few months, the photos you take tend to get a lot better, and then suddenly you’re stuck. You’re not getting better, you start thinking photography isn’t for you, that you aren’t creative enough or that you have learnt all you could and that you don’t have the artistic-ness to become a pro. Quitting too early is the worst mistake you can make as a photographer, and if you’ve come to this post, thinking that if the tips don’t work out you will quit, please don’t. Art is all about putting in the hours, and it takes time to learn how to make your photos better. The fact that you can tell that your photos aren’t good enough, the fact you know that they can be better, that makes you a perfect candidate for a pro photographer. In the first few months or years of starting to take photos, don’t beat yourself up when your photos aren’t getting better. As long as you keep putting in the hours, and reading out photography tips, you’ll be able to become a better photographer.

#2: Not Trying Hard Enough

A lot of beginners just don’t put in as much effort. Whether it’s not moving around or shooting from different vantage points to see what angles work best. Or taking an extra little bit in post and editing that photo to look exactly how they want it to. To become good at anything, you have to put in the work. The fact that a lot of beginners will settle for something mediocre because it takes them a little less work is what keeps them from advancing their craft. This comes back to my favourite tip I like to give everyone that’s trying to take better photos – Experiment. Not experimenting enough is one of the worst things you can do, and if you just keep on trying new things, you’ll slowly get better at taking photos.

#3: Not Knowing How to Use Your Camera

This is another pretty common mistake beginners make. A lot of times people will go out, buy a camera, maybe watch a quick YouTube tutorial for it, and then that’s it. Learning how to use your camera to make the most of it is a lot harder to do than you think. Especially when using a DSLR or Mirrorless camera, where you can make thousands of adjustments and change every little thing. This can be overwhelming to learn, and that’s why a lot of people just ignore it. Playing around with the settings and menus, toggling the shutter speed and aperture or maybe just talking random photos to learn how your camera works is the best way to improve the relationship between you and your camera. This doesn’t mean that you should only care about the technical aspects of the photos and forget everything else (more on that later), but you should learn how to use the hardware you have to complement the more artistic side of the craft. The best way, as previously mentioned to learn this is to just play around with your camera, the menus and its settings and all the little things once in a while. And you will be amazed to see how effective spending an hour a week with your camera, just getting to know it and its intricacies, can be when you are out and about taking photos.

#4: Not Using Light to Add Depth to Your Photos

Have you ever had one of those moments, where you see something stunning, but when you try to take a photo, it just doesn’t look that good? Maybe the image looks too flat, maybe the colours don’t pop out, maybe the photo has the same composition but just gives a whole different feel. We forget that cameras can only see in 2D, while we can see in 3D. Learning how to use light in your images to give them a sense of depth is key to taking good photos. We have a whole article on how to use light in your photos, click here to check it out.

#5: Not Composing Your Photos Properly

Composition is one of the main important parts of any art form. Learning how to compose your photos and how to make your subject pop out and catch the viewer’s attention is a very important part of taking excellent photographs. We have a whole article on how to compose your photos, that you can access right here!

#6: Not Taking Photos

Beginners often go through a period when they buy their new camera, and they go around snapping pictures of everything in sight, and then suddenly, they stop. One of the most common excuses that beginner photographers make is, “I don’t have anything to take pictures of”. We forget that even the most boring household objects, can make for fantastic photos if we help the viewer look at them from a different perspective. Not taking photos, waiting for that once in a few months outing, and worrying when your images aren’t getting better because you aren’t practicing isn’t going to cut it. Learning and practicing by taking photos of the most boring everyday things in our lives, is one of the best ways to develop our craft. Taking portraits for family or friends or pets, or doing anything to give yourself an excuse to take photos can enhance your learning experience and help you learn a lot better in the long run.

#7: Rushing and not taking enough time

Patience is probably the most important tool that you can acquire to become a better photographer. A lot of beginners will just go to a location, snap a lot of pictures for 5mins, and then go to the next or go back home. However, it takes time to get to know where you’re shooting, to be able to take in all that detail that you want to add to your photos. Taking that extra time to shoot at different settings, and try out new angles or a different lens, can make your images look so much better. Even the professionals take their time and experiment and then decide which photos look best later. Try to take in the landscape, maybe walk around, and then take your time with the shots and play with the camera as much as you like. It’s very hard to make fine art in a rush, and because photography is an art, being in a rush isn’t your friend.

#8: Blaming your camera

A lot of beginners (even me in the past) will blame their camera and make as many excuses as possible. I’ve known so many people that think that a more expensive camera will automatically make your photos look better. I’ve known a lot of individuals that blame their camera, simply because they don’t know how to use it. They haven’t put in the hours getting to know it, and knowing how the camera will react to different settings. We forget that the camera does exactly what we ask of it, and if you don’t know what questions to ask, whether you have the best or the worst camera doesn’t make even a bit of difference. Now I’m not saying that a better camera will work exactly the same as a beginner camera will, but unless you know how to use a camera in the first place, both of them will give you photos that aren’t up to your expectations.

#9: Not Editing Your Photos

Many beginners I talk to think that editing an image is changing it up completely or making it look significantly different from what it was before. Some people I talk to even compare it to cheating! However, editing isn’t about changing the image itself, it’s about enhancing it. Editing can be used to bring out the best in your images and make them look more professional. Just a quick editing session can drastically change how your photos look and can make them look seemingly more professional. Editing is one of the best ways to learn how to take photographs too because once you realize what type of images you want after experimenting with them in post, you can try to create images like that straight from the camera. The software you use doesn’t matter as much as you think it does, and there are plenty of free versions out there to get started with. You can also use pre-sets, pre-sets are a great way to make your photos look better even if you can’t edit at all. Editing is one of the most important parts of photography, and I try to convince everyone taking photos to consider trying editing out sooner than later.

Conclusion:

Those were some of the most common mistakes that beginner photographers make, and how you can avoid those mistakes to get better, faster. The mistakes mentioned might seem pretty obvious, but it’s pretty common for beginners in the industry, and you might likely have made one of these mistakes at one time or another. Let us know any common mistakes we’ve missed in the comment section down below, and we hope you enjoyed reading this article.