I discovered photography over 5 years ago, and since I picked up a camera i’ve never stopped. These 99 things i’ve learned about photography have helped me improve a lot. I know a lot more about editing, composition, settings, but I know theres still so much more to learn!
- Never do photography to become famous
- Enjoy shooting in any situation
- Prepare yourself for every photoshoot, pick lenses you want and remember to charge up your camera battery!
- Always take an extra layer of clothing to keep warm or dry
- Find a goal you want to achieve
- Write tips about photography, so you can refer back to them
- Never go shooting without a tripod
- Be pleased with little photo success
- Build relationships with other photographers. Get connecting!
- Watch the place you want to shoot first, enjoy the scenery and the shoot with your camera
- Always stay relaxed
- Be still when photographing wildlife
- Perspective shots are amazing to view
- Dedicate more time into photography if its your true passion
- Join a photography community
- Keep your camera and lenses clean
- Never compare yourself to other photographers
- Find your own unique niche or style
- Compose your shoots, don’t keep hitting the shutter button
- Accept criticism, learn how to improve
- Do something new and creative
- Get inspiration from other photographers
- Critique your own photos honestly but respectively
- Get feedback from partner or family
- Don’t copy other photographers styles
- Be ambitious
- Use the golden ratio
- Use the rule of thirds as basic guidelines
- Take portraits of yourself
- Read online about photography
- Add an object into landscapes to give it a point of interest
- Pay attention to s-curves and lines
- Every shooting situation is different than expected
- Always shoot in RAW!
- Keep your sensor clean
- Discover objects you think are beautiful
- Practice makes perfect to become a good photographer
- The best equipment is what you use
- You can’t photograph everything
- Break the rules, but not your camera!
- Pay attention to how light reflects or falls
- Eyes move to contrast
- Clouds create atmosphere of landscapes
- Start a photography blog
- Accept praise and say ‘thank you’
- “Nice photo” is not a useful feedback
- “Brilliant” isn’t helpful either, write strong feedback
- Ask a question at the end of your social posts to encourage conversation
- Always find a solid focal point in your photo!
- Do a review of your previous photos and compare them to your latest
- Use quality over quantity
- Everyone starts with a small amount of equipment
- Your opinions on photography are important
- Leave a funny but thoughtful comment on photographers posts
- Try out some photo contests
- Optimise your image for great results
- Shoot some behind the scenes footage
- Shoot different exposures as much as possible
- HDR always gives a range of great colours
- Always remember why you love photography from the start
- Mistakes are allowed, don’t for get that!
- Think outside the box, try the ideas you think could work
- Understand histograms and why they are important
- Know your camera and all your settings
- Have a go a certain style such as Macro Photography
- Don’t be afraid to get dirty outside, take awesome photos!
- Look at the fine detail of your photos
- Believe in your potential as a photographer
- Be thankful for all the comments and feedback you get
- Never trust what the LCD sees, normally it is a lot brighter
- Provide enough computer space for your photos
- Find beautiful moments in photography that no one else would see
- Always arrive at least 1 hour before sunrise or sunset to give yourself enough time
- Share your posts on multiple social media platforms
- Ask your friends to help share your photos to new people
- Visit places as often as possible, scenery changes all the time
- Print your images to a big size and see how amazing they are
- Take some extra shots, even when you think you have enough
- Pay attention to how the sky changes the structure of the foreground
- Connect to your monitor and view live mode of your photos
- Don’t worry about how people judge your images, no one is perfect
- If you love your photo its worth publishing
- Learn from your mistakes, you’re only human
- Don’t become lazy, learn how to be disciplined with yourself
- Do your images expression emotion, colour, focus?
- Search for your mentor, or guru! Who is your go to for advice?
- Photography is about capture memories as well as good photos
- Don’t ever think you wasted time, bad days are ones to learn from.
- Don’t join a community where its not true feedback
- People will always find a negative, use it as motivation to succeed
- A famous quote to live by: “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst”.
- A more expensive camera doesn’t guarantee better image quality
- Always keep in mind how your images would look on print
- You will only grow with the quality of your images, there is not other way.
- Find objects that you can use on your lens
- Photograph images that you can use in a portfolio for future clients
- Always check your settings, it can ruin the whole photoshoot
- Find friends that you can do photography with on a regular basis
- Start from number 1 of the list and remember them all 😉
I hope these 99 things i’ve learned about photography, will also help you in the future! Follow my instagram to gain inspiration and find more tips and tricks.