Photography Tips for absolute beginners 

7 photography tips for absolute beginners

If you've recently unwrapped a camera, congratulations! Welcome to the exciting world of photography. We've got plenty in store to help you take your pictures to the next level and our Academy team will be on hand as soon as you're ready to learn more - but right now, there's lots you can be doing to get going with this exciting new creative pursuit!

Read the manual

We can't stress this enough: spending time with your camera's manual will help you out hugely. So many people just open the box and get shooting, but taking the time out to understand the basics and the function of your camera's buttons will mean you're more likely to use your new gadget.

Turn on grid lines

This is a bit of an odd one, but it's super effective: most modern cameras have the ability to display grid lines on your camera's rear display so you can see the photo divided up into squares or rectangles. This overlay will help you to get to grips with composition for better photos: placing your subject at the point where the lines cross (rather than dead centre) will make your photo more engaging to the human eye. Experiment and take a look at the difference!

Experiment

And not just with composition. Gone are the days of film photography, where new photographers had to send off their rolls of 24 shots and wait to see if their new technique worked - thanks to digital photography you've got limitless opportunities to test, try and seek out new ways of capturing your world on camera. Try a shot, or adjust a setting you're not sure about: if it's not worked or if the effect's not what you were looking for, delete it and start again!

Change your perspective

So many photos are taken from head height - so if you change your point of view, your pictures will immediately stand out. Lie on the floor, or jump up on a table (careful!) to get an overhead perspective. You might feel weird at first but if you stand out then chances are your pictures will do as well.

Take pictures of what you love

Don't limit yourself to a specific genre or style of photography: just because you love portraits doesn't mean you won't adore landscape as well! Take every opportunity to try new subjects and styles of picture-taking, and you might be surprised by the results. The basic rule to follow is that if you've found it interesting, you should take a photo of it - and of course, you'll always have your camera with you, won't you?

Set yourself challenges

A great way of keeping yourself motivated is to set yourself a target or challenge, such as a 365 (where you shoot a photo every single day for a year) or a subject-specific collection of images devoted to a single topic - such as a tree near your house which you capture in all seasons... We've got plenty of photography challenges throughout our blog - explore to get some inspiration, or take a look at our Instagram page for more examples of stunning photography.

Do more with your favourite photos

Once you've started to take pictures you're proud of, be sure to do something with them! Make photo gifts, or canvases, or at least print them out - that way you can watch your talent progress. And don't forget to show us your new work on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!