MISTAKES TO AVOID AS A BEGINNER
You will inevitably make mistakes when learning anything new, and digital photography is no different. Thankfully, people who have spent years learning the ins and outs of digital photography are already aware of several typical mistakes that novice photographers frequently make and may simply avoid with some advance information.
Below are most frequent technical errors made by inexperienced photographers, along with tips on how to avoid them, ranging from image blur to neglected composition.
THE NEGLECTED TOP SPOT
It’s critical to keep a laser-like concentration in the field. Selecting your focus point using the spot autofocus option on your camera is an easy way to ensure precise focusing. Make sure your subject’s eyes are your main focus while taking pictures and people.
Tip: Use your back button focus to lock on on your Nikon gear.
Step 1: Selecting your focus option from the custom settings menu (pencil icon) will be your only task.
Step 2: Choose “a-Autofocus.”
Step 3: Choose “a4 – AF activation” and
Step 4: After choosing “AF ON only,” “you’re finished 
”.
THE UNSTEADY FRAME
Another common mistake made by beginning photographers is not keeping the camera steady. It’s a simple reality that a camera’s shutter can never capture a subject as quickly as the human eye can, so if your hands are unsteady while you’re shooting, you risk getting a blurry picture and missing an opportunity to capture something truly “artistic.”
Using a tripod or setting the shutter speed higher than the focal length will help reduce or even eliminate camera shake. For instance, you should set your shutter speed to 1/100 of a second or faster if you’re shooting at a focal length of 100 mm. Initial data from the passing light and lens movement will be registered, and the digital image sensor will save and take the picture.
Alternatively, you can significantly lessen camera shake by arranging your body correctly when holding the camera. By striking the right pose, you can exhibit professional photography.
THE HIDDEN & BURIED EXPOSURE
Although shooting in RAW allows you a great deal of flexibility when it comes to post-processing exposure, there are obviously limitations. When you bring up the shadows in processing, they will appear gritty and discoloured if your exposure was too dark. Your highlights will be blown out and the detail won’t be recovered during processing if your exposure is too bright. A common rule of thumb is to underexpose slightly to preserve details in the highlights while not obliterating the shadows, and then brighten the shadows in post-processing, if you have a scene with a high dynamic range that includes very bright highlights and black shadows.
THE AWKWARD POSTURE
People will most likely find it awkward to be told how to stand, and your images will reflect this. It’s ideal to utilize the postures as a general guideline and concentrate on making your subjects feel comfortable through eye contact and light-hearted conversation, while also encouraging them to be themselves and have fun.
It’s a fantastic idea to look up poses online and test them out.
THE TREES BEHIND HEADS
Having a vertical object, like a mobile phone pole or tree, sprout straight up out of your subject’s head can easily destroy a wonderful portrait. Even while most of your attention will probably be drawn to the position and appearance of your subject.
It’s important to pay attention to the background as well. Make sure that nothing is disturbing, growing out of, or cutting through your subject, even if it is quite out of focus.
Tip: Look for distracting things that are sneaking in by quickly scanning the full image frame in the viewfinder.
A CHALLENGING COMPOSITION
It may take some time to figure out how to position the components in the frame of your camera. It’s simple to compose a dog’s breakfast shot when you don’t know what you’re doing, which will make the viewer look at your photo absolutely bewildered and confused. Fortunately, there are a few basic rules, like the rule of thirds, that can help you organize and control things in your frame according to how people see them.
Tip: You can use your grid overlay in processing to crop portraits according to the rule of thirds.
THE EXCESSIVE PROCESSOR
When you’re initially learning how to manipulate photos in post-production, it’s simple to get carried away. Adding excessive saturation and sharpening to photographs is a common processing error made by novices, leading to overdone and utterly unrealistic photos. Extreme HDR processing is another processing mistake made by beginners. It strips photographs of their highlights and shadows, leaving them looking, at best, surreal and at worst, appalling.
Tip: Make sure you have a black point and a white point.
THE FAILURE OF THE FILE BACKUP
The risk associated with digital photography is the possibility of technological malfunctions, including the hard drive where your picture data is kept. Your whole collection of image files will be lost if the drive holding them fails and you only have one copy of them saved.
That can cause you and your client’s great disappointment. Therefore, make sure you have a backup copy of your photos elsewhere, perhaps on an external hard drive or cloud storage platform.
The cost of external hard drives and cloud storage is falling. Have this as a fallback and live in peace.
Source
COLIN. P [March 6, 2017].8 Common Beginner Photography Mistakes. https://www.format.com/magazine/common-beginner-photography-mistakes [Accessed May 08, 2024].