Photography Tips

Just about everybody fancies himself or herself to be a photographer. As soon as somebody gets a camera, they start clicking away. And they start looking for photography tips. Which is great - you get tips on how to take photos underwater, you get photography tips that tell you how to get rid of reflection on window panes - you even get photography tips on how to take great pictures when you are skydiving.

So, how often do you plan to take photos underwater? Or when you are skydiving? Or paragliding, for that matter. The one big photography tip that everybody ignores, that should be the first thing to do is - read the manual. Read the manual, from the beginning till the end, and do not imagine that you can just figure things out as you go along. Making it up as you go along does not work with photography.

Once you read the manual, you will have a fairly good idea of what kind of adjustments to make - what size aperture to use for what kind of photos, the exposure time, the mode you should use - the basics. With digital cameras, you can do a lot of things very easily.

Once you are through with that first important step, the next important photography tip you have to keep in mind is that you have to start small. Start with familiar objects. And, this is important, start with familiar objects that stay still and are not thousands of miles away. Those are for the experts. Now, you might, with time and practice, become an expert, but you have to give yourself plenty of time and get plenty of practice.

Start with inanimate objects, and try to capture light and shadows. This is a little tricky, but once you get the knack, you can do it. The trick is to know what it will look like as a photo when you look through the viewfinder. This, again, takes practice, but with some trial and error, you can get there.

From there, you can move on to portraits, because portraits, when done indoors, give you the chance to control the lights and the setting, and this is quite important for somebody who is just starting out.

Of course, once you have done that, you can challenge the sun, on your terms. The key to good photography is persistence - learning from mistakes and a good eye are, of course, great, too. Most important, do not expect perfection the first time around. If you caught rather more of your finger than you wanted to in your first photo, do not get discouraged. After all, there is no way to go but up!

Manuel Wiggins is an accomplished niche website developer and author.

To learn more about photography tips [http://photographyforbeginners.info/photography-tips/] visit Photography For Beginners [http://photographyforbeginners.info] for current articles and discussions.