PHOTOGR

APHY TIPS
1. WORK WITH YOUR
COMPOSITION
To take engaging photos, you need
to be engaged with what you’re
doing.
Don’t just fly by on autopilot.
Instead, put thought into your
composition and try to make your
photos as good as possible.
2. USE THE CAMERA YOU
ALREADY HAVE

Camera gear is not all that

important.
3. LEARN WHICH SETTINGS
MATTER
First, try practicing with camera modes
other than full auto. You won’t learn
anything if your camera is making all
the decisions for you.
4. DON’T OVEREXPOSE
HIGHLIGHTS
It’s pretty easy to keep your highlights
intact. But this is where shutter speed,
aperture, and ISO are so important.
5. PAY ATTENTION TO THE
LIGHT
Probably the single most important part
of photography is light. If you take a
photo with good light, you’ve taken a
huge step toward getting a good
picture.
6. TAKE YOUR TIME
It’s easy to make mistakes in
photography if you aren’t careful. The
best way around this is to slow down
and take your time whenever possible,
particularly when you are first
beginning to learn photography.
7. MOVE YOUR FEET
It’s easy to get stuck in one place while
you’re taking pictures. Don’t fall into
that trap. Instead, move your feet (or
your tripod) as much as possible. Climb
on top of things, change the height of
your camera, walk forward and
backward, do whatever you need to do
– but keep moving.
8. KNOW WHEN TO USE A
TRIPOD
Tripods are one of the greatest
inventions in photography. They all but
eliminate one of the trickiest problems
there is – a lack of light. With tripods,
you can shoot multi-minute exposures
and capture details so dark that they are
invisible to the human eye.
9. PAY ATTENTION TO THE
EDGES OF YOUR COMPOSITION
For starters, make sure that your subject
has enough breathing room so that it’s
not bunching up against the edge of a
photo. And certainly don’t cut off an
important element, like the top of a
mountain, unless you have a very good
reason.
10. KNOW WHEN TO USE A
FLASH
Flashes aren’t just meant for dark
environments.
11. CLEAN YOUR
CAMERA LENS
12. LEARN BASIC POST-
PROCESSING
Post-processing isn’t very high on the
typical photographer’s priority list, but
it definitely should be. Although
postprocessing cannot fix a bad photo,
it can turn a good photo can turn into
something truly exceptional.
13. BACK UP YOUR PHOTOS
FOR STARTERS, KEEP A BACKUP
OF EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOUR
PHOTOS.
15. GET ORGANIZED
Whether you’re an organized or messy
person, it’s very important that your
photos are easy to find.
It’s not just about speeding up your
workflow; if you don’t remember how
you’ve organized your hard drive, you
might end up deleting a folder that
contains important images without
realizing it.
 16. WORK WITH THE
SCENE IN FRONT OF YOU
17. MEET OTHER
PHOTOGRAPHERS
18. DON’T FORGET ABOUT YOUR
OLD PHOTOS
First, they help you fix your weak
points. Just ask yourself, on average,
why are your bad photos bad? Maybe
you tend to focus incorrectly, expose
too dark or bright, compose awkwardly,
and so on. All of that is very useful
information since it helps you improve
the problem next time.
19. SHOOT A LOT AND
EXPERIMENT
Practice, practice, practice. It’s a tip
that will get you ahead in any skill, not
just photography.
Cameras are complicated. So is post-
processing software, and so is
(maybe especially) the creative side of
photography.
20. HAVE FUN!
Photography is supposed to be fun.
Even professional photographers chose
this career, almost without exception,
because they enjoy photography. Don’t
let that spark die out.