4 tips to make you a better photographer
Let me preface this with - I have been very lucky to have been around incredible photographers that taught me a lot and had the gift of working with them, however there is SO MUCH you can do if you don’t have access to tagging along with a pro.
So how do you become a (better) photographer?
A young girl sent me an IG dm a couple weeks ago, she was incredibly sweet and asked me what tips I could give her for becoming a photographer.
We talked for a bit and I told her the biggest thing was taking your camera EVERYWHERE and continually shooting but after thinking about it for about a week here are a few more tips that I have thought about that helped me and I think will help you too!
Start shooting on manual. The sooner you figure out how to use manual you will get into finding your own look and groove. This may be a controversial idea but the thought that there is a perfectly exposed or ‘right’ settings is a load of crock in my opinion. I tend to shoot what would be deemed ‘under exposed’ or ‘over exposed’ to give a dark and broody feeling, or a very light bright and airy feeling. I shoot on feeling and when I feel the feeling is right be it ‘too dark or too light’ the image is generally a banger. Now that isn’t to say that the feeling of ‘perfect’ hasn’t changed, as I learn and develop as a photographer that changes a great deal. However it was because of this principle of continuing to try different ratios in the manual setting, trying different angles and the beauty of digital is you can take thousands of shots and delete…. Keep going you will get better
Shoot all the time. My first camera was a Nikon d3400 dinky sure, did it do the job? Absolutely, one of the pictures still on my website was taken on that camera. You don’t need the most expensive gear to get started, in fact the cameras I use now would probably be a tad intimidating if I had started there. It was also a small enough camera it was light and I would take it to and from work and would photograph anything and everything all the way there and back every. single. day. Did I have a longer commute? Yea sure, but did I also see the same things every day so it forced me to get a big creative with the images I was taking? 100% Adam Scotti is the current Prime Minister of Canada’s photographer and he has the same person to shoot day in day out for - well years at this point and he continually amazes me at the portraits you can get. Having the same route or object isn’t a bad thing and certainly isn’t boring because you have the gift of expanding how you view things. That is what photography is all about, you are showing the world a different way of looking at something and giving a new perspective.
Spend time with photographers better than you. This was honestly such a gift and something that fell into my lap. Through an interesting turn of events I became friends with probably the greatest photographer I have ever had the privilege of knowing in real life. An incredibly talented individual, who I was able to spend time in the studio with while they were working on projects and was able to, learn about lighting and angles, and met other photographers there too. This is when I really got back into it and realized how much I LOVED the art of photography. It was the beginning, I built my foundation this way and then took off and made it my own. I remember walking through this very obscure part of Ukraine playing with the manual settings and realizing if I underexposed things it was actually such a vibe. It was the first time I really got into what was my look for awhile, and now it is overexposed and super vibey instead of dark and moody but that’s the beauty of art, you don’t have to stay in one place. Instagram has also made it so easy to connect with amazing people around the world, wherever you are going there are brilliant photographers there, meet up with them and go on photog adventures together!
YOUTUBE is your friend. Do you realize the wealth of knowledge on there? And it’s free…… need to learn what everything in manual setting does? Spend time diving into Youtube, I still have so much to learn and go there to learn new skills I need to improve and get better on, or learning a new style. All of it is at your finger tips
I hope this general direction really helps you, there are so many different styles out there, so following these tips will help you figure out your style what you like and how you want to shoot. You will grow along the way and I look forward to seeing what you create! Tag me in your work after you have learned something new! I’d love to see!
XO
Marley