Photography is the art of capturing light with a camera using a digital sensor or film. With a lens, you can focus on the light emitted or reflected by an object that can be created into a real image. Photography is a result of the combination of technical discoveries that allows the photographer to see a moment and create an image out of it.
When you start photography as a hobby or a professional career, you must think of the time when you have to capture any moment in your life. It can be either a party or while going on an adventure trip. Also, when you are learning photography, you might make mistakes that are common among professional photographers too.
Most Common Photography Mistakes And How To Avoid Them
Lens Cap On
When you take your DSLR camera out to capture different scenes, objects, and memories, you forget to remove the lens cap. As a result, when you take the photo, you realize that the lens cap is in place and then you lose the opportunity to capture the moment. This is a common mistake most photographers make.
To avoid this mistake, attach the lens hood and leave the lens cap removed. You can place your hand on the lens hood if you want to protect the lens. Also, you have to be careful on the roads in case a stone is thrown. When you remove the lens cap, you have to be extra careful about the lens because a single mistake can damage the glass of the lens.
Manual Focus
When you take photos, they seem to have a clear image with the right focus, but then you realize that they are out of focus. When you want to take photos at night time, the manual focus works fine but during day time, the image is sometimes out of focus.
Before taking a photo, always check the lens whether it is set to autofocus or manual focus. You have to check it during day time maybe you have taken night shots before. So before taking photos, make sure you toggle between auto and manual focus.
Images Are Too Dark
When examining an image, you find that the image is too light or too dark. This could be because previously you might have set the exposure compensation and forgot to reset it. Also, the shooting ambiance is not for the scene. If you are shooting in manual mode, you should always make sure that your metering indicator is correct.
You can avoid this mistake by considering taking pictures in an environment such as AV/A (Aperture Priority). In this case, the camera will automatically adjust the exposure settings. Also, you can reset the exposure compensation to default settings after taking a shot. While taking pictures in manual mode, the metering gauge must display the indicator in the middle to indicate the correct exposure.
Images Are Blurry
While taking pictures, the objects might be moving fast or your hands might be shaking. As a result, you get blurry images. It can happen in the nighttime when you want to take a shot without using a tripod.
To avoid blurry images, the shutter speed should be fast enough to take photos of moving objects or in action. For this purpose, the shutter speed should be more than for static objects. On the other hand, shooting at night might be difficult to take sharp photos without a lot of noise. To avoid blurry or noisy photos, you can use a tripod or adjust the night mode settings accordingly.
Spending All On Equipment
A luxury problem that not everyone complains about. On the other hand, is not uncommon for novice photographers to spend a lot of money on equipment to accelerate their success. Often beginners think that their expensive equipment will improve images.
To avoid this mistake, you should keep in mind that some equipment might help you to get better photos but not everything will. Most professional photographers end up wearing a small piece of their general gear each day. If you are really in need of better equipment, then you must benchmark a set of things. Otherwise, your old equipment is just working fine unless you need newer ones.
Shooting In Wrong Forma
Most digital cameras now offer a much higher tonal range than a JPG Image such as RAW format. However, beginners avoid taking photos in RAW format because the image files are much larger than JPG format.
To avoid shooting in the wrong format, you can choose the type of file you want based on what you are shooting. If you want to take photos and you want to highlight shadows or make adjustments in the image later, then shooting them in RAW format would be the best option.
Flat Battery
When it comes to new photographers, they should learn the behavior to charge the batteries on regular basis before going on a shoot. You get to a great place to take photos, start taking photos and then the battery warning light starts blinking. Before you know it, the battery will be dead and you won’t be able to take any more pictures.
To avoid this mistake, you must check the battery night before to see if it needs to be recharged or carry spare batteries. If you are shooting in winter, be aware that batteries can lose their charge extremely quickly. So, if you have a spare battery, then keep it in a warm inside pocket.
Not Learning Big Three
Shutter speed, ISO, and Aperture make up the Big Three and are the essential building blocks of any photography. Each of them is designed to control how light enters the camera and each has a different effect on the image.
Mastering these big three can help you to be an expert in photography. Also, in different scenarios, you can click perfect images with perfect light, color, sharpness, etc.
Missed the Golden Hour
You would expect to get great photos of sunrises and sunsets. When you don’t get to a good spot, the color is gone.
To avoid it, search online for the spot the best locations for sunrises and sunsets. Alternatively, you can use Google maps to find the right time of sunrise and sunset. Make sure that you reach the spot at right time to capture the golden hour.
Common Photography Mistakes – How To Avoid Them
If you are feeling frustrated in the process of learning photography, then you are part of the massive club of professional photographers. When you start learning photography, it starts easy and gets harder over the period. It is because you try to take perfect shots with different settings. After trying all different settings, you can reset them after usage.
Most photography mistakes can be avoided by organizing the equipment before shooting, such as checking all your gear, resetting all of the settings, recharging batteries, keeping the lens cap removed, using the three big, etc. You might make mistakes but it is part of learning to be a photographer. With time, you will be learning and understanding from different mistakes.