For starters

Photography is a widespread hobby. It is easy to start, but might be hard to learn. Without a flying start, you might become demotivated. This blog isn't meant to teach all photography skills - I wish I had them all - but just to get you going!

I bought my first DSLR back in 2010. After starting off with much entusiasme, my camera saw a lot of the inside of a drawer. A lot of captures weren't as nice as I wanted them to be. But I did want to capture those valuable moments!

Follow a course

“It's quite a no-brainer: follow a course! A skilled photographer can teach you the tricks you want to know much faster then you can read a book."

It's quite a no-brainer: follow a course! A skilled photographer can teach you the tricks you want to know much faster then you can read a book. Don't get me wrong, you will have to read your (superthick) manual! You will have to shoot yourself. But a little help from a professional might improve your workflow, so that it becomes a second nature and you won't have to struggle with the basics, time and time again.

In my hometown Groningen, bijvrijdag.nl offers a nice variety of course, also a beginners course, consisting of several evenings. I think a course of one day doesn't work very well. For me, learning more each week and getting in the field each week and practise (practise, practise) taught me the basics like riding a car. Showing your best shots to other students and the teacher also created great feedback and learned us to look at photo's as a photographer.

Learn

Like I said: get to know your camera. No really: get to know each button and menu on your camera, by heart. You do not want to stand in some field, with a couple of minutes to capture that unique moment, fumbling with your 1000 euro camera. Look at your camera, look at the buttons, know what they do, look it up. Scroll though the menu, know what each option means. You didn't spend a couple of hundred euro's, just to shoot on auto-mode, or did you?

Can't figure out how it works? Google it! No really: get on YouTube, find some tutorial, fill in your camera brand, etc. Or get on some of the best photography website, E.G.

https://digital-photography-school.com/

https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/

https://improvephotography.com/

They contain a huge, huge amount of information, for beginners and pro's, for shooting and photoshopping.

Practise...

“Practise makes you reach perfection”

You know your manual inside out, you watch hours of YouTube tutorials, but your harddrive still isn't filled with photo's. Get up, get out and shoot!

Repeat, practise, repeat some more. Our brains are something special: when we repeat something, it creates natural pathways to the brain and to our handling. We develop muscle memory. This is really important in sports and physical activity and, to a degree, it affects your skill-learning with photography. You will have to think and struggle less after every time you practise: everything comes more naturally.

You will have to be able to interprate the light around you and your subject, know which f-stop to choose, which lens to use, etc. In some next blogs I will tell you which basics you should understand. This will not make you a pro, but it will help you to become a steady amateur photographer, with more shots that reach perfection in stead of your windows bin.

...and don't buy stuff!

You scroll to Instagram, see all those near perfect pics: they must have the best equipment! To a certain degree: yes, a lot of them own a 1000 dollar camera, a 1000 dollar lens, a 500 dollar tripod, a 200 dollar ND-gradfilter set, etc. But what they also own is: skills. Each and every pro can shoot a impressive pic with a 30 year old Polaroid instant camera or a basic DSLR. I bought too much stuff myself. Way too much. The only thing you might want to consider is a lens-upgrade, but only if you really, truly understand why you want to upgrade.

Good luck!