How Do I Get Better?

I see this plea daily on FaceBook. Somebody with a new digital camera or a new-to-them old film camera posts a bunch of really bad images and asks for advice on how to improve their photography.

How bad could these images possible be? Well a lot of them are really out of focus. Some of them are ruined by the wrong exposure. A few are so horribly composed that it’s tough to tell what they are.

So step one is ensure your camera is working properly. The easy way to do that with a digital camera is take it outside on a reasonably bright day and on auto or P mode take a photo of the house. Why the house? First of all it’s not moving. Second it’s too big to miss. Third you know what it should look like.

If the image comes out poorly exposed or not in focus (on new digital Olympus some lenses have a manual/auto clutch that must be in the auto focus position to work properly. This trips up a lot of Olympus owners.) then your camera may have issues and will need service.

If the image turned out ok then step two is with camera in hand read the furbished manual (RTFM) and go through every control and menu item using FaceBook or Google to help explain stuff you may not know. This can take a coupe of days and might include the consumption of a glass of wine or a bottle or two of beer.

Once you’ve figured out your camera it’s time to start shooting in Auto, P-mode and using YouTube work your way through aperture and shutter speed priority modes.

For a lot of amateur shooting Auto or P-mode will get you started and should be producing decently exposed images. Images shot at midday especially on sunny days will likely turn out rather harsh. There’s a reason why a lot of professional photographers shoot during the “golden hours” at sunrise and sunset. Their images will actually have a bit of that lovely golden look. Start noticing the lighting conditions when you’re shooting.

To master exposure I recommend buying an external light meter. I own three and I use them all. Two are incident light meters (look that up on YouTube) and one is a combo that will do incident and reflected light meter readings.

As far as composition is concerned there’s a lot to learn and lot to ignore. Basically new photographers have a tendency to shoot from too far away. Fill the frame with your images.

A fellow professional shooter and teacher once said to a class we were teaching that every photo has a garbage can in it. I thought at first he was joking but the more images I see online the more garbage cans and other unwanted debris are cluttering up the background.

Learn the rule of thirds and all the other “rules” of composition are important but so is learning when to break these rules.

If all else fails go take some lessons. I taught group lessons for a national retailer for years and night school in my home town. These sort of lessons are inexpensive and very effective. Working one-on-one or in weekend workshops with a pro (I’ve taken a lot of workshops with pros shooting in other forms of photography than what I do has really improved my own shooting.) is highly recommended.