Learn Digital Photography - Focus on These Three Things

Starting out with any new venture, or for that fact resurrecting an old venture, there are always the questions where do I start or how do I start? Although the urge is there to try something big, starting at the beginning is essential. Learn to take baby steps first.

If you've watched the old time classic movie the Sound of Music, it's "let's start at the very beginning". A very good place to start. So beginning your photography journey you need to look at three fundamentals in order to get going. 

1. Get to know your camera

Getting to know your camera is essential for your beginning in photography. A workman who is not competent with the tools of the trade is not going to get very far. I am not talking here of every single little feature but rather all the major features, settings or controls. You need to be able to operate without thinking and often times while you aren't looking at the controls. Know where they are by feel so that as you're looking through the viewfinder you can change settings automatically. Do this little exercise and you'll get to know them fast. Go through your manual and go through each setting on your camera. When you are finished go through it again; this time checking off all the settings you know. Then go through the manual again and learn those settings that you are not sure of. By logically working through your manual and getting to know the camera's features will be invaluable as you learn photography.

2. Shoot regularly and on every occasion

One of the major benefits digital photography has given us is the ability to take photos without the cost restrictions of film. The problem is that people use this to the detriment of calculated and thoughtful composition of their photos. But if used correctly, digital gives the ability to keep shooting without any constraints. The reason I see that shooting regularly is key to learning is because practise does make perfect. Through trial and error we learn about most things in life. Sometimes you do get a lucky shot amongst the rapidfire shooting sprees but this is the exception. The famous golfer Gary Player always said, "the harder I practise, the luckier I get." Use every occasion to practise and then compare images you have taken previously. Evaluation helps to examine your photos and find out where you can improve. But don't just stop there. Go out and improve the areas you need to and practise more in the areas where you have deficiencies. 

3. Focus on the fundamentals of photography

Learning the basics properly is key to anything you do. If you give yourself a good foundation and learn the fundamentals you are going to get off on the right foot and not make the basic errors which need correcting. Find a really good book or e-course take each element of photography and apply it. Don't try learning a bunch of keys and attempt put them all into one photo at once. Learn good composition before trying to shoot action photos. Rome wasn't built in a day but our instant society has taught us that we can everything and have it now. It doesn't work like that with photography. It has step be a logical progression as you learn one step then apply it and move on to the next step. Don't forget to keep on revising what you have learnt as you need to build on to the foundation of the previous step and so on.

These three steps are just some basics to get you going. There are many others that you gradually need to incorporate into your photographic learning journey. It's not all going to happen at once so you need to grasp just a few of the basics to start growing.