Tips For New Photographers

Salam.

Shot after 2 hours of trekking deep into the Borneo rainforest

I have been observing a lot of people who have been indulging themselves in the world of photography, be it new, noob, pros or masters. But I'm not going to comment on any of that. My post here is for those who have just dived into the crazy world of photography.

When you enter such world, it doesn't matter what your gears are. DSLR, compacts, bridge or even smartphone, this is a world of endless possibilities and creativity. Let's start the lesson will ya?

Lesson 1 - Get Your Gears

You should always have your gears around you. Within your reach. So the possibilities of losing your shot can be reduced. Yes. You’ll never tell what’s going to happen. It would be better if you have it in your hand rather than in your pocket or around your neck. If you happen to see something interesting, get that shot. You can never tell if your shots are going to hit the jackpot.

Lesson 2 - Shy or Lazy is not an Option

You can never be shy or lazy. Damn it. If you have any of it in you, quit being a photographer. Just what kind dimwit are you? Being shy means lazy and vice versa. You just can't be one or both. You have a mathafaking-big-ass camera in your arsenal yet you mention something about being shy? You better throw your shitty gears to me baby.

Lesson 3 - Never Compare

“My pals got this mortar-like lens whereby I only got this tiny-cheapo bastard.” The faq do I care? Million-dollar lenses aren’t going anywhere if your creativity is down to earth. In fact, kit lenses are what you are going to shoot most of the time as amateurs. Those bazooka lenses are only for those who know what they are doing. You noobies should stick to your kit lens! FYI, even masters and pros uses kit lens most of the time. Yeah! Better believe me. Kit lens cover most of our shots focal length and in certain situation, it outperforms expensive lenses by tenfold! Way to go kit lens!

Lesson 4 - Shoot & Learn

Shoot random stuff and keep saying," Aww, my shots were bad!" Well then, just die. You shoot and never learn to improve. You expect to master photography without any learning. You think you're some kind of genius or something? Go and google amazing images on the net. Also check out the tutorials. Some would provide in-depth details of tutorial for everyone reading it. That will punch some ideas to that boring little brain of yours.

Lesson 5 – A Little Editing Won’t Hurt

Just because you’ll get amazing shot from you $10k cameras, you’re wrong. Sometime you just need to get that extra saturation, a little of white balance and also pieces of this and that. Editing doesn’t mean that you’ll lose that so-called naturality of the shots. Think of it as a way to enhance your shots. Just like injecting steroids up your shot.

Final words from me, just use your camera. Use it. Capture the moment. Some shots are worth millions of words. You got that 8GB cards and keep telling others you’re lazy. If you keep saying that, just pack all of your gears, put it back into the box and mail them to me. I’ll put them into good use rather them letting them rot in your coffin.

Salam.