David Koonar Gives Photography Tips for Beginners
There are many, many things for a photographer to learn about lighting, composition, the workings of their cameras, the nature of their subjects, and more. Here are David Koonar’s top tips for beginner photographers.
Make the Most of Your Composition
Taking engaging photos takes time, practice, and the willingness to take a lot of shots that you know you will throw away. Rather than going out insisting on getting the shot you have in mind. If you do get the shot you’re looking for, that’s great. But if not, you can improvise. Look for new angles you didn’t think of before. Keep your horizons level, and try to eliminate distractions, and don’t cut important things off at the edge of the frame.
Use the Camera You Have
Most cameras readily available today are pretty good. Today’s entry-level DLSRs are better than just about anything produced 20 years ago. The most important thing is to get experience, David Koonar, Windsor resident explained, and know that it is possible to take a good picture with a bad camera. So, rather than waiting to save up $1000s for an expensive professional camera that you don’t even know how to use, use the one you have ready to go.
Learn About Settings
In the beginning, it might be okay to use the “P” mode and let the camera do all the work. But before too long, you’ll see that you need to learn to adjust the aperture, exposure time, and ISO. You can spend weeks experimenting with these settings and still not master them. You need to know them by heart, David Koonar advises. So take the time to get to know what settings will produce what kinds of results. In time, you’ll find you don’t need to work with all the settings to get the results you want, but only experience can tell you what to ignore and what to embrace.
Understand Light
David Koonar says the art of photography is sometimes referred to as painting with light. That means understanding how light will affect your sensor matters. For a start, know that a bright, cloudless day is not good for shooting, contrary to the common assumption. It’s almost impossible not to get washed out images in such conditions. Most photographers will wait for near-dusk before heading out. This is something to keep in mind.
Shoot Liberally, Shoot Often
If you use image software to touch up your photos, David Koonar reminds us, you’ll quickly begin to realize that some images can be made better, or even salvaged. You should be fully prepared to throw away most of what you take. Shoot enough, and you’ll get some worthwhile images by mistake. This can help you to learn from your mistakes as well as from your happy accidents.
