In this article, I explain how you can become a better photographer – just by following a few simple guidelines.
Specifically, I share my 12-step plan that’ll help you develop both your technical skills (i.e., settings, composition, editing) and your artistic skills (i.e., your personal photographic voice).
If you read this article carefully, if you follow my plan, and you put in the work, then you will become a good photographer.
Most folks, when trying to become great at photography, look straight to their camera settings. They dive headfirst into technical features like aperture, shutter speed, and autofocus modes.
And it’s true: Those settings have their place.
Yet in my view, starting out with camera settings will actually confuse you – because the camera is just a tool that can record light.
Instead, when you go to take photos, the first thing you should think about is light, not your camera. Get in the habit of asking yourself a series of questions every time you walk outside:
What time of day is it?
How strong is the light?
Is it sunny or cloudy?
What direction is the light coming from?
Where are the artificial light sources and what colors do they give off?
Pretty soon, you’ll constantly be aware of the light. You’ll know its quality and its direction. That’s a really good place to be in.
After all, light will affect how you shoot and the settings you use. Even a slight change in the direction of your light source can completely change how an image will look. You can’t learn how to use your camera properly if you do not first understand the light.
So start with light. And only then should you move on to the next step…
Every image exists at the confluence of a half-dozen (or more!) camera settings, including:
Aperture
Shutter speed
ISO
Shooting modes
Autofocus modes
Metering modes
White balance modes
Learn what each of these settings means, and learn how to adjust them on your camera. In the beginning, you don’t need to know literally everything about each setting, but you should understand how they’ll affect your photos and which settings work well as starting points.
That way, when you see an opportunity for a great photo, you’ll know how to adjust key features, such as sharpness, depth of field, brightness, and more. And you’ll get the shot you’re after.
It sounds like a lot of work just to take a single photo, and it is. However, if you start out shooting this way, it will eventually become second nature. It’s just like learning a basketball shot or a golf swing. Doing it the correct way might feel unnatural and weird at first, but eventually it will come naturally and quickly, and you will be better equipped to get great results.
A quick tip for moving forward with settings:
Get your camera off Auto mode and experiment with Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, or Manual mode. Aperture Priority is often a good place to start because it gives you control over exposure variables while letting the camera do some of the heavy lifting. But if you’re eager to really understand exposure, you can try switching over to Manual mode right away.
Now that you’ve familiarized yourself with key camera settings, it’s time to get into the slightly more artistic part of becoming a great photographer:
Composition.
Most new photographers have a bad habit: they look up, see something interesting, photograph it quickly, and move on. On the other hand, seasoned photographers often examine an interesting scene for many long minutes, deciding what precisely to include in the frame. Only then – once they’ve determined the best composition – do they take a photo.
Now, composition can be tricky, especially when starting out. And there’s no need to go it alone; instead, learn compositional aids such as the rule of thirds, the rule of odds, symmetry, leading lines, and so on.
Then, when faced with an interesting shot, take a breath. Think about different compositional variables. Where should you stand? Where should you place your main subject? Should you add other elements for a more complex composition?
Always remember that the difference between a snapshot and a work of art is thought. In fact, the difference between a decent image and a great image could be as simple as moving a step to the left.
Once you’ve taken a photo, review it on your camera’s LCD, and review it on the computer at home, too. Think about the composition. What do you like? What could you have done better? Over time, your compositional skills will flourish, and you’ll see interesting compositions everywhere.
Color, or a lack of color, is a very important element of photography. If you can learn to use it to your advantage, your photos will instantly be elevated. But how do you develop your color “sight”?
Start by looking at a color wheel. Study how the colors work together. Which colors look nice together? When you combine them, what effect do you get? Also, what do different colors represent? Which colors make the viewer feel calm, and which colors make them more agitated?
Then, when you’re out and about, look around. Notice different colors as you pass them by. Think about how they work (or fail to work) together.
Also, try to see how the light changes colors. Light can be cool, it can be warm, and it can even be green. Learn to identify these color casts and learn to determine how they affect the scene.
You may not want to hear this, but if you’re serious about becoming a good photographer, then you need to become a great editor along the way.
Editing is vitally important to developing your vision, and the best photographers combine their photo skills and their editing skills to produce stunning final results.
I suggest subscribing to Lightroom Classic, as it is the industry standard and it works well for so many photographers. But you can also check out Luminar, Capture One, and ON1 Photo RAW, all of which offer plenty of tools for the up-and-coming shooter.
Note that editing your photos will involve lots of experimentation, especially at first, so practice constantly and don’t get upset if things don’t go your way. Simply do what you can to learn from your mistakes! For a fun challenge, try to recreate the look of your favorite photos to get a feel for how the editing was done.
Finally, be diligent about organizing your archive. A little time spent each time you upload images will save you so much time in the future. Star your good images (Lightroom allows one through five stars) so they are easy to find, and create Collections based on ideas that you develop over time. Viewing your work in an organized fashion will help you improve your skills much faster than if you have a messy archive!
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