Fix These 5 Common Mistakes and Improve Your Photography Today
Today we’re going to cover some common beginner photography mistakes you need to stop making today.
These are small little tweaks that will make a big difference to improving your photography.
Some may seem simple and obvious in retrospect but when you’re first starting out, you might not know any better.
And if you do any of these, don’t feel bad, we all have at some point.
Let’s get into it.
Not Lining Things Up
Lining things up is a simple yet important component of photography composition.
It’s one of those things more advanced photographers do subconsciously and forget they’re doing.
Because of this, many people can forget to teach it because it’s so “obvious”.
Lining things up is how we get structure and symmetry to our photos, which helps them “feel right”.
Here’s how to learn it.
When it comes to lining things up, don’t be lazy and don’t wait to do it in post.
Of course you can use the rotation and crop tool to adjust your photo until things feel symmetrical.
This is necessary, everyone rotates, but it’s can also become a bad habit and we shouldn’t look at it as the primary solution.
Instead, we should try to get things as right as possible when we’re taking the photo, and then adjust later, if necessary.
That way we build the better habits to understand orientation and our photography gets better.
It’ll also save us the time and effort of doing it later.
To do this, I recommend learning to look for anchor points out in the real world to line things up.
This could be the walls of a building, the horizon line in the distance, or objects and subjects in your photos.
No matter where you are there is always a vertical or horizontal anchor point for you to latch onto and orient your frame.
All you have to do is look for it before pressing the shutter.
Then, just try to make these lines parallel or perpendicular to the outer screen of your camera and things will look better.
You can also turn the horizon line on in your camera, but I personally don’t prefer this.
It interferes with what I’m seeing, and for some images “true horizontal” doesn’t actually look right.
So you can look for anchor points in both the real world and in post to help you line things up.
The real world should come first, and post should be a back up, when necessary.
Cooking Your Photos
Photography isn’t just about taking photos - it’s also about editing them.
And if you’re the photographer who shoots only JPEGs, you can ignore this…
The common beginner photography mistake I see when editing is “cooking” your photos.
“Cooking” is a term we use to describe a photo that has been over edited.
This is very easy to do when you’re a beginner because you have no understanding of what is too little or too much.
Plus, when entering a powerful photo editing software like Lightroom or Capture One, it’s tempting to do more.
We see all the sliders, the color wheels, the layers, the masking.
And we think, because they’re there, we should use them.
And our photos end up as a discombobulated mess because we just did too much.
So remember, just because a tool exists doesn’t mean you have to use it.
Many of your photos aren’t going to need a zillion different touch ups to look good.
And as you gain experience you’ll understand what you can push and pull and which adjustments are needed.
But for now, just do a few small adjustments and move on.
Your photos will look that much better because they’ll simply be less bad.
Standing Too Far
Another common problem, especially in street photography, is standing too far.
I think beginners, myself included, are a bit scared to approach their subjects.
Therefore we take photos from afar, a bit nervous to get close, which leads to less intimate photos.
Now obviously, I’m not saying you have to be in people’s faces, but try taking one or two steps forwards.
It’s not gonna kill you.
If you’re having trouble doing so, just try reminding yourself to step closer before taking a photo.
Ask yourself:
“Would this look better if I got a little closer?”
Then take a few steps, take the shot, and compare later.
The difference in field of view might surprise you.
Not Utilizing Light Right
Many beginners have difficulty understanding light, understandably so.
This is because light does a lot of things in photography so it can be confusing.
And there isn’t one “right way” to make use of light.
For example, most people think of light as something to light or expose our subject.
But light is so much more than that.
Light also has shape, light draws lines, and light can be a subject itself.
If you want a more detailed explanation, check out the “Light” chapter in Photography Essentials - we cover the bases there.
But essentially, to understand light we must first learn to see light.
Which means paying attention to light and not all this other stuff that goes on in the world.
Here’s a practical photography exercise that has helped me understand light.
Change your camera settings to black and white and max out the highlights and shadows.
From here, just take photos as you normally would for a month.
It’ll be weird at first but you’ll soon start to get it.
Shooting in black and white helps us eliminate the distractions of color and focus on the framing and compositions of our photos.
Maxing out the contrast allows us to see light and shadow better.
Doing so will allow us to filter out the unnecessary stuff and just focus on light.
Little by little we’ll start to notice, see, and pay attention to light in the real world even when we don’t have a camera.
And once you begin to see light, you’ll begin to understand it.
Even if you’re not a beginner anymore, try it out - I find this to be a great exercise and recap for any photographer.
And you may learn something new about light that you didn’t know before.
Forcing the Photo
The final beginner photography mistake you need to stop making today is to stop forcing your photos.
This is a big one and it even affects many more advanced photographers.
People will see pictures on Instagram edited in a certain way and they want to do the same.
They want a style for their photography so they try to make every photo look like that.
They have a vision of what this photo is supposed to be so they’ll force the image to be that way, even if it doesn’t work.
The biggest lesson here is: stop forcing your photos.
Trying to make a photo look like something it’s not won’t work.
And you can’t polish a turd.
This is the unfortunate reality of photography.
Not every photo is going to look like how you want it to.
Different locations, different lighting, different subjects, different times of day can all change a photo.
And if you don’t have these variables controlled for, like much of candid photography is, you can only do so much.
I’ve found in my experience that trying to force a photo and make it look like something it’s not only leads to worse results.
And instead it’s better to work with the photo, not against it.
Pay attention to the light and time of day you already have for any given photo, and just emphasize on that.
Don’t try to turn a harsh midday edit into a beautiful golden hour shot.
Don’t try to pump up and bring out the saturation of a photo when there’s nothing colorful there.
Don’t force your photos.
Work with them, not against them.
You’ll be fine.
So here are 5 quick fixes that will improve your photography today:
Line Things Up
Find anchor points out in the real world and use them to compose your frame.
Doing so will give your photos structure and symmetry, and they’ll look better because of it.
Stop Cooking Your Photos
You don’t need to use every slider in your editing software.
Less is more.
Get a Little Closer
Just take one or two steps towards a better shot.
It’s a good habit to build.
Learn to See Light
Try the black and white exercise at least for a week.
You’ll start to see light better, and by doing so will understand and be able to utilize light better.
Work With Your Photo
Pay attention to what your photo is, but more importantly what it is not.
And don’t try to turn it into something else.
Work with it, for a more synergistic edit - you’ll get better results that way.
If you found this helpful share this with a friend who could also use this.
If you’d like to build a solid foundation with photography, go to Photography Essentials - it’s free.
If you want to support me, add to the travel fund or get a copy of my latest zine “The Sinking Sun”.
Thanks for reading, see you next time.
