Hello All!
I have not yet made an “educational” post, but I’m inspired to since I’ve had to sort through my older work from the past year and a half since I started shooting. It’s crazy to me to see some of my first images you’ll see below (that I used to love and be so proud of) are actually pretty terrible. I’ve compiled this list of 10 tips for a beginning photographer. A lot of this is geared towards an amateur who just started shooting, and is in reference to photos I took within the first 6 months of owning a camera. This would be a letter to my past self if that was a possible thing.
1) WORKFLOW!!! Organize your files and delete bad images upon import. For the love of all that is good in this world and the sake of your sanity….PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE get your workflow down early. Unless you want to be like me sifting through terabyte after terabyte of hard drive space because you were too lazy to get your act together when you started, I can’t stress the importance of having a solid workflow strategy. I know how exciting it is to have new images, how crazy it can be working between multiple devices, how challenging it is to have no real formal training in editing software and attending the University of Youtube and Vimeo. I didn’t really have a good idea of how Lightroom and Adobe Bridge worked and my files had no consistent organization. This was also a huge problem when I first started working with other photographers and editors if that’s where your goals take you someday. I think everyone is going to have their own workflow strategy, but find a book or a video or something and prioritize it. Delete bad images and images beyond repair upon import. I actually now use a method in Lightroom similar to the one described in this awesome video by Phlearn.
2) Look at lots of images you like, note technical details, and try it out. Something that really helped me as I shot and edited more was looking at lots of images by photographers I liked online, on pinterest, on Instagram and in print like clothing catalogs. I think this is a great way to practice color grading still images, learn lighting and how to frame your subjects for different mediums. It’s not a bad idea to try to mimic other artists’ work just to nail the technique. I’m all for creativity and coming up with your own style but trying out techniques, environments, subjects and lighting other than where your comfort level is, will help you grow. They end up just being one more tool to throw in your toolbox to use for your work. It was a lot easier to try a lot of techniques and stop doing what I grew to dislike, than to stay within my comfort level and let my style being dictated by my limited abilities at the time.
In between playing video games with my husband and eating pizza, our actor friend poses while I practice using strobes in my living room at 11pm on a Friday night (at a time when I was only comfortable with natural light).
3) Shoot RAW (especially if what you’re shooting means something to you). So…there were about 2 months of my work when I was shooting that I shot in jpeg because I had read somewhere to shoot in JPEG and not rely on shooting RAW because you get lazy or some such thing…so I tried it…because I try things all the time, and what the hell. Why not. One of the things that has changed the most is the way I color grade images and i have about 8 weeks of images I would love to re-edit (including a trip to Europe) but I was on my ‘shoot in JPEG kick’ so what I can do to them is limited. Plus…why let the stupid camera develop your image? If part of the magic of film is the type of film, and the way it’s developed in a darkroom, why not give your image the opportunity to let magic hit its digital negative. Hard drive space is so cheap these days.
A jpeg from said Europe trip with its original edit
4)Light is everything– I know you’ve probably heard this a hundred times, but it’s true. Light is everything. The light in a picture does not change with how expensive your camera is, or how fancy your lens is. Study light, where it comes from, and how it behaves. I think one of the most helpful books I read was Light, Science, and Magic . (Thanks for the fabulous recommendation Melly Lee!) I wish I found it sooner when I started shooting. I bought an old edition online for about 85 cents plus shipping. The awesome thing about 2015 is information is so easily available everywhere. You can even practice with an iphone. There are whole photography instagram accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers that use only phone cameras. The more you shoot the better you’ll get.
5)FOCUS– You can’t fix a blurry picture. You can fix color temperature, you can fix exposure to a degree…you can fix a lot of things but you can’t fix a blurry picture in post. Obviously the goal of post production is not to fix crappy photography, but the number one difference I see between stellar work and amateur work is an out of focus picture. If it’s blurry…just kill it forever. Delete it. Don’t try to save it. If it’s a portrait and the eyeball is not crystal clear, cut your losses and get rid of it. Don’t try to sharpen it. I know, it sucks, but you have to.
Early Picture of my husband at the fair…see how he’s not quite in focus?
Recent picture of my husband at Universal Studios, in similar light but in focus
6)Have a fast enough shutter speed in low light or indoors– Ok…on that note of photos in focus… I see now a huge part of why my images may have not been crystal clear back in the day is because my shutter speed was not fast enough! So bump your ISO up even though you hate grain, and make sure your shutter speed is fast enough. Quick tip to check if it’s fast enough…Invert your lens length! If you’re shooting a 35 MM lens…then your shutter needs to be a number faster than 1/35ish (1/40 for example since 1/35 is not a shutter speed increment) for a totally still subject. If I’m shooting kids or something moving I definitely double that at the very least, so faster than 1/70ish (for example 1/80, 1/90, 1/100, or 1/125). 90% of my blurry pictures were not a focus issue, but a slow shutter speed problem. Gotta pay attention if you shoot in Aperture Priority! This is not a rule of thumb but just a general guideline. You may need to shoot faster depending on your subject or slower if you have a flash to freeze the action, but this inverse concept helps. If you read a million forums that told you to shoot at 1/200 or 1/250 to shoot “fast enough” like I did, realize that most beginning photographers own a kit zoom lens of 18-55mm, or 18-200mm….so why do they recommend that? Flip that fraction…see? But now it helps to know you don’t need to be at 1/200 when you’re shooting at 18mm. If you can’t focus, it’s possible you are too close to your subject as well.
Picture of my niece with too slow of a shutter and too close to the subject
Picture I took for a client in similar conditions, with a fast enough shutter and appropriate distance from the subject
7) Watch your color temperature when you’re shooting and editing, and color casts. I can now see that pictures I’ve done early on were too blue or yellow, or had too much magenta or green in them. Sadly, back then I thought they were color corrected properly. This sometimes just takes time. It can also be helped by just shooting a ton of work and looking at a lot of images you like. My general rule that I abide by now is that I like to keep shadows cooler and highlights warmer. So if a subject is in the shade, I don’t try to force it to be a “warm” image. If a picture is indoors in tungsten light, I don’t force it to be daylight white at the expense of actual daylight looking blue in a mixed light situation. If you’re subject is on green grass or near a tree, try to minimize a green color cast with subject placement or in post production. A lot of color correcting and color grading still images is a style thing and takes time, but I had a lot of images that suffered from this problem early on. Also, I’ve found that less is more. Some pictures don’t look all that professional because they are edited so much it looks like someone slapped an Instagram filter on there (like ALL my early photos…but then again, Instagram feeds are very visually appealing and it’s a style thing.)
Early photo of my husband…color temperature is too blue, tint is too pink….and eek, I think I may have even desaturated the image too
Same husband, a couple months ago at Universal….look, he has skin tones like a normal person and the color temperature is correct
8)For candids, stand where the light would be good if your subject ends up turning to face you. This helps if you shoot candids for an event like a family party or holiday and you’re walking around snapping pictures. I’ve found that people actually tend to turn and face a camera, so why not stand in a place where you can take a well lit picture? If you’re shooting indoors, stand by a window. Like all of these points, this is not a rule to stick to because sometimes there will be activities during an event where you have no control over this. When you can though, try it.
Early photo I took of my niece in a difficult shooting environment with mixed daylight and indoor light.
Photo a couple months ago of my other niece in the same exact shooting environment, but I’m standing by the window instead.
9) Use stationary inanimate objects before people. I learned in an improv class, that one way to get better is to focus on one thing to work on, each show. It’s easier to pick one thing to focus on. People and living things can be hard to shoot in the beginning. Inanimate objects are much more forgiving…cuz even my dog hated me after awhile.
Early picture of my overworked and underpaid model
10) Shoot….a lot! The only way to get better is to practice! So bring your camera everywhere and shoot! Shoot! Shoot!
More tips to follow every Tuesday!
