When you start falling in love with it, you are enamored with the idea that you can just point your camera toward something that interests you and voilà, it is captured for all time! And, in fact, that is a bit of a miracle, rules – no photography mistakes.
It’s only when you start trying to do more than simply capture life that you start to realize how much there really is to photography. Suddenly, you’re not just taking shots, but trying to create them. And that’s when the images begin to not come out the way you want them.
Here’s how to avoid the most common photography mistakes make and a few tips on how to rise above them.
Top Photography Mistakes to Avoid
1. Bad Exposure
2. Forcing a Pose
Many amateur photographers want to show off their portrait skills by asking friends and family to model for them and making photography mistakes. However, these inexperienced models tend to pose unnaturally, and the beginner photographer doesn’t know how to direct their models properly. Instead of trying to force a pose you saw in a famous photo, instead let your models act naturally. Engage them with some friendly conversation, set your camera on a tripod, and take semi-candid photos.
Check also "10 Quick Top Glamour Photography Tips" by Fotium
3. Cluttered Background
This is probably the most common photography mistakes of all. Why? Because, it’s a common tendency to take photograph the moment you see something beautiful or interesting. So, what’s wrong with that you may ask.
Nothing. But have you paid attention to the background? Probably not. You are so overwhelmed by the subject, that you hardly notice anything around it.
A cluttered or distracting background plays the major role in ruining photographs.
Solution: The real photography starts after you choose your subject. Once you’ve done that, forget about it. Pay attention to the rest of the scene; include only those things that complement your subject and exclude everything else.
4. Poor Composition
Sometimes a central subject works, but normally it’s better to shoot it positioned to one side, as explained in the rule of thirds. Most cameras are capable of showing a grid in the viewfinder that can help us split the scene into thirds—horizontally and vertically. The main subject should ideally be positioned where the lines cross each other or in a full third, with the rest of the elements aligned with the grid lines.
5. Over-editing
Making photos unique to your style using filters or certain edits is totally fine, but most beginners are a bit too heavy-handed with their edits. One of the most common photography mistakes is to add too much saturation. This results in unrealistic colors that are far too bright. Too much of this can make an otherwise good photo look like it was edited by a beginner. Using vibrant colors is perfectly fine, but it’s easy to push a photo too far and blow out your colors.
6. Shooting in Auto Mode
Shooting in auto mode makes everything easy, and it’s helpful for beginners who just want to get out there and take photos. You can take a solid looking photo in auto mode, but there are many advantages to slowly learning the other modes. Aperture Priority lets you set your aperture, so you can get those sought-after blurry backgrounds, but it leaves all of your other settings on auto. Try playing around with this mode and seeing how adjusting your aperture manually changes a photo. This is a good gateway for getting into the other manual settings on your camera. Take your time learning, as it can be overwhelming, even to longtime photographers.
7. Going too fast
8. Shooting at Eye Level
