My Top 5 Tips For New Photographers

        People, especially beginners, ask me fairly often for photography tips, and most of the time I barely know what to tell them. Me? A stressed, exhausted high school student who happens to like photography? Qualified to give advice to people over the internet? I just sort of do stuff, how do I explain it?

But I digress, apparently people want my advice. And it would be unlike me not to help!

      Asking for photography tips is a pretty vague question to me, since I guess there are a thousand little details and things of varying relevance to your situation I could tell you, but after some thinking I pared it down to five general pieces of advice for newcomers to this whole photography thing, and anyone else looking for a few tips. Here goes!

5. Get to know your camera.

       This one's especially for you DSLR-wielding folks, but it's good to understand how to get the most out of your camera no matter what.

        Learn to stray from auto mode! I shoot half the time in aperture priority mode, and the other half in manual. Aperture priority is a great first step away from auto mode on a DSLR: you don't really have to get into the sticky stuff and end up with dark or blurry photos, you just get bigger bokeh(!), which is what you probably want if I'm the one you're asking for advice.

      Also, become familiar with ISO, shutter speed, aperture, and white balance, what they do and how to change them. It's really helpful if you're in weird or extreme lighting conditions.

       But, it's alright if you're using a small point-and-shoot camera or even an iPhone! (honestly the iPhone's camera is as good if not better than any small camera). Just play around with any settings you can in order to be really comfortable with it.

4. Find what inspires you.

        Look at other peoples' photos, pick favorites and figure out why it is you like them. I spend a lot of time on tumblr and pinterest creating collections of photos I like, and I'll often combine elements from multiple images into one photoshoot. (Check out the links on the top left to see what inspires me!) Having tumblrs, boards or collages of what you like will help you develop a style and have clearer ideas of what you want to do with your photography. And of course you can also look to books, movies, music, poetry and a lot of other stuff to give you ideas too.

        Just remember, don't copy other peoples' photos altogether. Either take individual elements from their photos, like location, clothing, makeup or poses, or try to emulate the style in general.

3. Experiment!

        Try lots of things. Try lots of camera settings. Try lots of locations. Try lots of angles. Try lots of poses. Try lots of styles. You may never know exactly what you want to do as a photographer until you try it! Don't feel like you have to commit to one style, and on the other hand, don't feel like you need to be jack of all trades. Just take photos of anything that inspires you.

2. Don't be afraid of looking stupid.

  Don't worry about what other people think. Go ahead and post your photos on instagram/tumblr/facebook/whatever. Those girls from school who talk shit about you for being a try-hard wannabe artsy person or whatever? It's just cause they have nothing better to do! Think about it. There's no way they'd have the guts to do what you're doing! (And chances are you may not get made fun of at all- and soon the compliments could start pouring in!)

        And this is especially for you self-portrait takers like me, but good for everyone to hear: don't worry about what passerby might be thinking while you're on a photoshoot. They probably don't understand your tripod or your weird makeup/outfit/pose/etc. Maybe they never will. But YOU WILL NEVER SEE THEM AGAIN ANYWAY. Don't let the fear of what some insignificant stranger might think keep you from getting what could have been the best photo you've ever taken. This inhibited me for a long time and took a while to get over/used to, but just bite the bullet. It did me a lot of good!

1. Take lots of photos.

      This, hands down, is my biggest piece of advice for anybody, newbies and experienced artists alike. Just bring your camera everywhere. Have photoshoots often. The more time you spend taking pictures, the more quickly you'll improve! It helps you figure out your camera, develop a style, and just practice photo-taking the way anybody would practice an instrument or a sport! If you take only one thing away from this post, let it be that.

Thanks for reading one of my more word-heavy posts, and I hope I could help you! If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to leave a comment. Honestly, just leave a comment anyway. Comments make my day.