get up, get out there and take photographs. Go out at every time of day, every day, and look for things. Don’t wait for the right opportunity to come along (but be prepared if it does!); go out and find them. Look for opportunities everywhere you go (whether you’re at the mall or on the other side of the world), and go to places to look for opportunities. If you can see something in your mind, chances are you can set it up and shoot it![4] X Expert Source David ZhangProfessional Photographer Expert Interview. 20 January 2021.
Look for colors. Or do the opposite: look for a total absence of color, or shoot in black-and-white. Look for repetition and rhythm. Or do the opposite, and look for something completely isolated from the things around it. Look for lighting, and the lack of such. Take photographs of shadows, or reflections, or light streaming through something, or of things in total darkness. Many people find ‘golden hour’ (last two hours of daylight) to be the ideal light conditions for photographs. This is due to the directional light it creates, which can create depth in a photo when utilized properly. However, that doesn’t mean one can’t photograph during mid-day and still find good light. Sun directly overhead can be viewed as harsh, look for foggy conditions or open shade to find nice soft light. But, rules are made to be broken, don’t take these guidelines too literally![5] X Expert Source David ZhangProfessional Photographer Expert Interview. 20 January 2021. Look for emotion and gesture if you’re photographing people. Do they show happiness? Mischievousness? Sadness? Do they look thoughtful? Or do they just look like another person mildly annoyed to have a camera pointed at them? Look for texture, forms, and patterns. Great black-and-white photographs are stunning because black-and-white forces the photographer to look for these things. Look for contrasts. Look for something that stands out from the rest of the shot. In your composition, use the wide end of your zoom (or a wide-angle lens) and get closer and make it so. Look for contrasts of all the things above: color amid dullness, light among the darkness, and so on. If you’re photographing people, try putting (or finding) your subject in a context in which they stand out. Look for happiness in unexpected places. Look for a person in a surrounding in which they appear out-of-place. Or ignore this and take them completely away from their context by opening your lens all the way to blur the background. In short. . . Look for anything that will hold a viewer’s interest which isn’t a traditional “subject”. As you find your niche, you’ll probably find that you end up going back to taking photographs of subjects again. This is fine. Looking for things which aren’t subjects will improve your photography no end—you’ll soon see a different world altogether.
Digital cameras give you immediate feedback on what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong. They also reduce the cost of experimentation to zero. Both of these things are invaluable to the new photographer. However, the zero cost of digital makes it far too easy to fall into the habit of “spraying-and-praying” and hoping a good photo comes out at the end of it. [6] X Research source Film cameras force you to be more careful about what you are taking. Even a millionaire would be reluctant to sit around on his yacht taking thirty-six photographs of his bathing towel on film. [7] X Research source The economic incentive to make more of the shots you take might lead to less experimentation (which is bad), but it does make you think harder before taking photographs (which can be good, if you have a good idea of what you should do before taking the picture). What’s more, the film still has a look all its own, and you can pick up professional-quality film gear ludicrously cheap as well.
Be brutal about it. If they’re not great shots to you, then never show them. Your standards will increase over time, and even the ones you might have once thought were passable will probably look pretty lame to you a few months down the line. If this means that all you had for a day’s worth of shooting was one or two photos, then that’s okay. It probably means you’re being just harsh enough. Don’t look at images full size. Ken points out that the most important parts of an image are those that can be seen when the picture is seen at thumbnail size. There are people out there who will pick at flaws they can only see in 100% crops of your photos. That’s okay because they aren’t worth listening to. Feel free to pass over anything that doesn’t look great when it takes up a quarter of your screen (or less).
Listen to artists. If someone has some great art work to show— photos, paintings, music, or anything else—then this is reason to take them seriously since other artists instinctively understand the visceral impact, whether it’s in their field or not (and if your photo doesn’t make an impact, it’s probably better deleted). Most non-artists do, as well, although they aren’t as well positioned to tell you what you’re doing right (and they’re more likely to be nice to you to avoid hurting your feelings). Ignore anyone who critiques your photos harshly and has no stunning photography to show. Their opinions are simply not worth listening to. Figure out what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong. If someone liked a photograph, what made them like it? If they didn’t, what did you do wrong? As said above, other artists will probably be able to tell you these things. Don’t be modest if someone likes your work. It’s okay, photographers love being complimented on their masterpieces as much as anyone else does. Try not to be cocky, though.
Still, it’s handy to have a working knowledge of shutter speed, aperture, focal length, etc. , and what effects they will have on your picture. None of this will make a bad photo into a good one, but it can sometimes keep you from losing a good photo to a technical problem and can make great photos even better.
You can be social by opening an account on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or other social sites. You may join Getty images. You can organize an exhibition for your vicinity.
