Tips for taking good photos if you are a beginner

Starting from the basis that taking good photos has a high percentage of subjectivity, it is important that you stop every so often to analyze your photos and assess whether you are on the right path, at least your correct path.

How do you get a good photo?

A good photograph does not depend on the latest SLR camera, the lens you save on your wish list, or even the configuration settings. For example, a photoshoot in high key will have a histogram that doesn't look like a correct photo at all, but still is.

What is true is that at the beginning, there are a series of guidelines that can help you until you discover for yourself which methods work best for you and how to take good photos your way.

Place items in the frame

In your first steps in photography, having a guide to place the elements in the frame, such as the "rule of thirds," will allow you to get more attractive images. Later you will learn other forms of composition, but it is important that you are curious from the beginning to order the elements and ask yourself where they should be.

The vast majority of photos taken by people without photographic concerns are taken at eye level and from the first position that is closest to them. The simple act of rethinking the placement of the subject or the main elements will already make a difference.

Sharpness, the lost ark

It seems that getting a sharp photo is an example of taking good photos, and of course, this is not the case at all; we could find thousands of examples of photos that are not very sharp but with brutal force. Yet, it becomes an obsession to zoom in on them and look closely at the edges to see if they are perfectly in focus. Several factors influence the sharpness of a photo:

Learn as soon as possible what depth of field is and know how to calculate the hyperfocal. Choosing the wrong diaphragm aperture and not knowing what we are doing can be very desperate.
Choose the shutter speed well for each scene, a landscape at 1/125 is not the same as a car rally.

Using the tripod when the shutter speed is not very reliable, for example, from 1/100 - 1/60, we run the risk of losing sharpness when shooting hand-held.
An unstable tripod in windy conditions or sandy ground is a problem for sharp photos. Consider getting a sturdy tripod if you are going to move in these situations, such as photographing the Milky Way, landscape photography, photos on the beach, etc. As a temporary solution, it is advisable to hang weight from the hook that they usually have in their central column and reinforce the legs with stones.

Shoot in RAW + JPG

The eternal advice of any blog or photography book, shoot on Raw.

But since we focus on your first steps with the camera and the key to taking good photos today, I cannot recommend that you shoot only in RAW.

Why? Well, because shooting in RAW requires editing the photograph later on the computer, and you may not yet know how to do it. You only wanted to take photos, and now it turns out that you also have to learn Photoshop, Lightroom, Camera Raw, etc.

The recommended thing in your first days is to configure the camera to shoot in RAW + JPG, in this way, two files will be generated for each photo, one with the contrast, sharpness, brightness, etc. settings already configured (JPG) and a file « plane »that will give you more freedom when editing the photo in Lightroom or any other photographic program you use.

What do you get out of this? Do not be discouraged, because if you see the result in a RAW file when you get home, you may lose motivation, since the photo will not look anything like what you had in front of your eyes until you edit it.

Different angles, different photos

Try to go beyond the first idea that comes to mind, turn the camera, duck, get in the car or a tree, whatever. Maybe the great photo you are looking for is from another angle and not where you are now.

It is highly recommended that in your first photographs, you value other points of view, later on, you will be able to simulate the photographs in your brain without having to try various angles, but for now, do the test and tell me in a while.

Shoot several photos of the same element or scene by changing the angle and analyzing them at home, it is important. Analyzing your work will give you a critical view of yourself, and you will realize why some photos you like more than others.

Maybe it's the light, the lower horizon, a new element that enters the frame and makes it more interesting, etc.

Once you choose the photo you like the most, you can ask another person for an opinion and rate each photo, it is interesting to know what others think about our work.