Most Common Mistakes Of Photography Beginners

July 14, 2021

Have you recently joined the world of photography? Would you love to improve your skills and become a pro photographer? Wondering how all those professionals got there?

First of all, you need to know that all the photographers started as beginners. If you see names such as Cindy Sherman, Robert Frank, or Eliot Porter, remember that they weren’t famous until they’ve tried and failed many times. They weren’t “big shots” before they mastered photography skills. There is a reason for saying that practice makes perfect.

To make your journey easier, we would love to show you a couple of the most common mistakes photography beginners are making. Maybe you will recognize yourself in some or all of them. It doesn’t matter. What matters is to understand it is a mistake and to improve your performance.

Most common mistakes and how to avoid them

Based on our survey and the experience of many photographers around the globe, here are the most common mistakes of beginners. Also, we got some tips on how to avoid these mistakes and master photography art.

Not being close enough

If you are taking a photo of a subject, obviously, you started with a specific goal. You want to show your subject entirely or just some of the parts. Whatever the goal is, you need to know where to position yourself as a photographer. You need to include only the necessary elements in your photo. If you are standing too far, you might risk those other elements in the image will overshadow your subject.

In order to avoid using zoom and not pointing out your subject enough:

Take probation shots.
Stand where you think you should stand and take a couple of photos.
Analyze them and figure if you need to get closer to your subject or change an angle.

The missed focus

If you want to point out your subject or an object, you need to focus on it when using a camera. The most common mistake beginner can make is to let your camera choose the field of focus. As you know, many cameras nowadays have autofocus. Suppose you allow the camera to choose every time, high chance that your photos won’t look as you’d like. Therefore, you should select the field of focus yourself with the help of autofocus. If you are taking photos of a subject for portrait photography, make sure to focus on their eyes!

Blurry photo

If you’ve noticed that your photos turn out blurry and you have no idea why, check your shutter speed. When a shutter speed is too slow, your photo can turn out blurry due to camera shaking. Now, there is a simple rule – use the shutter speed that is at least equivalent to the focal length of your lens. Meaning if you use a 50mm lens, you need the shutter speed to be set at 1/50 of a second. Only then, your photo won’t be blurry.

Same shooting level

You see the world constantly from the same level – your eyes height. However, if you take your photos always from this exact angle, these photos will be dull. Anyone can take a camera, stand straight, and take the shot. Be different! Try to take an image from the downside or higher ground. Then look at how your photos are becoming more interesting to look.

Shooting in manual mode all the time

Probably you’ve heard many times that a real photographer should use manual mode only. If you want to be unique, you need to set it all up yourself. Alright, there is some truth in it. However, since you are a beginner, you might just mess it all up. Imagine having a great photo shooting, once in a lifetime opportunity for a newbie, and you mess it up because you didn’t make all the setups in your camera correctly. As a beginner, try to use Auto mode for a start. In the meantime, practice with manual settings, and by the time you will get there!

Hopefully, these tips were helpful, and you will be able to improve your skills. Do not worry if you figured you’re making all the mistakes aforementioned. It’s just a start, and it’s essential that you are willing to learn and improve your art!