Advice For Fledgling Photographers

A great article is 20 Photography Tips For Beginners by Spencer Cox on PhotographyLife.com. In fact this is a great site for many photography tutorials or articles. And not just for beginners - good tips extend to all levels of expertise. Following is a list of contents.

Another great article was referenced at 500px on tips and tricks for photography beginners by D.L Cade. Nothing earth moving - really just common sense. 

A summary follows. I have any of my additions  in italics.

1. Education First, Gear Second

Famed National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson once said “If you want to be a better photographer, stand in front of more interesting stuff.”

2. Shoot for Yourself, Not Everyone Else

To that end, if you’re shooting for Shares—or likes, or +1s, or comments, or whatever—you're doing it wrong 

3. Limit Yourself on Purpose

Setting limitations on yourself—whether it’s gear or time of day you’re ‘allowed’ to shoot or even limiting yourself to ONLY black-and-white for a month—is one of the best ways to grow. Master one at a time

4. Find Your Niche

You can’t master adventure, travel, street, and wildlife all at once… or possibly ever. It’s always better to go narrow and deep than wide and shallow.

5. Slow Down

Shoot as if you only have 36 photos at your disposal.

Is Facebook 2 Faced ?

 

Read some great Fstoppers advice from Dani Diamond for critically evaluating the credibility of Groups on FB and some helpful guidelines.  Because groups are comprised of humans one must expect some nefarious behaviour to creep into the occasional interactions. Most people will have an agenda of sorts, a motivation for joining the group. I am thrilled to have discovered the Focus - Australian Seascape And Landscape Photography group on both FB and Flickr. Although the group's original focus was primarily seascapes the interests and skills of the members are widespread. There appear to be no cliques, and to date I've seen no evidence of nitpicking or inappropriate comments. Although there is some occasional evidence of blatant self promotion. I believe this is unfortunately considered to be a necessity in this social media powered world in which we live. 

The group is dynamic and a large proportion of the members are very active. Above all else, it is an educational group where people are happy to share their skills, advice and recommendations. I've made some great friends and you're always assured of a shooting buddy.

You Have To Be Joking

 78 Photography Rules For Complete Beginners  was an amusing 'tongue in cheek' read. It was prefaced with the advice to not take it seriously. What was interesting to read was that some of the readers actually did just that.The examples provided should have been a warning

 What about all the crazy angles, looking at objects from new perspectives !

There'd be lots of great shots which would never have been seen

Have to love this one !!  - Only photograph beautiful people - or invest in a copy of Photoshop

This rule assumes the photographer is colour blind

Hmmmmm - that's food for thought

Perhaps it would be best if this particular runner was not visible

Non judicious cropping can also be terminal

Or sometimes not !

Some of these could be very inappropriate

Does give somewhat of a romantic effect !

There are loads more at the site. It's well worth the visit just to brighten up your day.

I thought I'd come up with some of my own. (tongue in cheek of course)

A. Don't take photographs outside - dust may interfere with the production of a clear image

B. Don't take photographs anywhere near water - most cameras are not waterproof

C. When taking portraits ensure the head of the subject is visible

D. When taking Macro shots stand within view of the subject

That was fun, but I'm bored with it now. For some, photography is a serious business- there can be no allowance for levity