Almost everyone has used a camera at some point, but not everyone has used a camera correctly. Photography can be a really satisfying hobby or you can make a successful career out of it if you have the patience and willingness to learn. If you give yourself enough time, you are sure to see a vast improvement in the quality of your pictures. With today's digital cameras, you can literally shoot thousands of pictures and if you don't like them, you only have to press the delete button. Having a digital camera can really shorten the practice period for any budding photographer.
It's probably safe to say that almost all professional photographers started out with photography as a hobbyist and then moved forward as they learned the basic techniques and then became more creative. One of the most creative ways to take beautiful photographs is to learn the art of identifying the right lighting for each picture you take. For example, if you're shooting a photo of a landscape, it will look dull and flat if you shoot it at high noon, so use the golden hour(s) to your advantage. What are the golden hours? These are the hours when the sun comes up in the morning and when it sets in the evening. In the morning the sun's rays emit more blue and in the late afternoon and evening, you'll notice more golds and reds.If you're shooting a photo of a person, make sure they're not looking into the sun (so that they don't squint), or that the sun is at their back. That will create darkness on their face because your camera will compensate for all of that back light. I suggest getting them into a place where there is some indirect light, which will give their skin a more evenly lit effect.
If you can't find some good indirect light and find yourself out in direct sunlight, you can use a reflector panel of some sort. These can be purchased at a camera store, online, or just about anywhere photo equipment is sold. Go online to see if someone is selling some used equipment. If you can't find one, you can always improvise by using a white poster board, which will reflect the light to fill in shadows on your subject's face. Have them hold the board or reflector on the side opposite of the sun's light so it's not in your viewfinder but close enough to their face to reflect the light. Take a picture with it and one without it to compare the difference. Practice with this and you'll be thrilled at the results.
One of the best ways to learn photography is to simply focus on your subject. I've always referred to this as "fill the frame." What that means is this: don't have a lot of background in your picture if you're photographing a person or a pet, for example. If you're at an event and you want to capture the essence or flavor of that event, then it's fine to have a lot of things going on in the picture. And don't forget to practice with your lens, moving it forward and backward to see what the shot will look like up close and further away.
Photography is a fun activity to learn and improve your creative skills. If you give yourself enough time, you will love the feeling of taking an excellent picture.
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