Three Common Mistakes Aspiring Photographers Often Make
Photography is a fun hobby because there are no barriers to entry; you can just grab your camera and hit the sidewalk. This also means that aspiring photographers who are just learning often make the same mistakes. Here are three common mistakes that inexperienced photographers make.
First,asthis video from the Mango Street Lab team demonstrates, many photographers overestimate the highlights because they set the exposure according to the scene. And, depending on the particular photo you’re trying to take, it might be okay! But if you are, for example, indoors, this means that a bright window will fly out. Instead, you can expose highlights so you don’t lose detail outside of that bright window, and then brighten the rest of the photo in post-processing. (However, you run the risk of getting noise in your photos if you try to promote them too much in the post.)
Their next tip is about the direction of your subjects. Instead of forcing people to do outdated predictable poses, give them real direction. Tell them to try to convey emotion, or if you’re filming a couple, ask them to do something that triggers a reaction that reflects their relationship.
Finally, don’t forget how much time and location can affect the light in your photos. The so-called golden hour is always a good choice for great lighting, but even the harsh midday sun can work if you do a little research and place your camera in the shade. Or you can use high contrast mapping. It all comes down to making deliberate decisions to make the best use of your location, lights and objects.
3 Mistakes Aspiring Photographers Make Mango Street Lab