Once upon a time, only people with money could become photographers. Equipment was incredibly expensive and therefore inaccessible. Today, however, with the advent of DSLRs, anyone can take up photography as a hobby and perhaps even find that they are good at it. However, there are a few things that you have to learn about in order to get the most out of your camera, whether you want to be professional or not. Shahriar Ekbatani has developed a number of top tips that complete beginners in the world of photography can use to see whether they have any talent.
Shahriar Ekbatani’s Top Photography Tips
- Get to know your camera. You probably already know that you have to press a button to take a shot, and which buttons to press to view and delete the pictures you have taken. However, a DSLR has many other functions as well. Usually, it will have some automatic functions set for your convenience, but it will also have some manual settings that you can play about with in order to really take some unique shots. One of the easiest ways to play about with this is to take the exact same shot in lots of different settings.
- You have to figure out the importance of lighting. Where the light comes from, whether that is natural or artificial light, is very important. In fact, you may want to invest in some extra light sources to take a really good picture. If you don’t have the money for this, or if you really are just beginning, experiment by taking a picture of a subject that has natural light behind them, and then another one with the light in front of them. You will quickly see that the first creates a dark picture, and the second a beautiful and vibrant one.
- Set your camera to macro mode and takes pictures really close up. A macro mode allows you to get up close and personal, or to take photographs of very small objects. Usually, the macro mode is a standard setting on a good DSLR. You may have to use manual focus as well.
- Take lots and lots of pictures. This is perhaps one of the greatest things about new cameras, as you no longer have to pay to have film rolls developed, only to find that half your pictures are terrible. Instead, you can take as many shots as you like and check them out on your camera or computer.
Anybody can learn to take great pictures. It is simply a question of trying things and experimenting, and finding what you like and what you’re good at. Yes, some people seem to have a natural talent. They just pick up a camera and take shot after shot that is worthy of a postcard. However, they aren’t truly good photographers if they can’t explain how they do it and teach others to do the same. You cannot learn talent, but you can learn photography.