5 Common Mistakes New Photographers Make

When you are a new photographer, you have a ton to learn and take in all at the same time, and it can be easy to go wrong at different points. If you are new to photography and want to improve, check out this excellent video tutorial that discusses five common mistakes that beginner photographers make and how to fix them or avoid them entirely. 

Coming to you from Mango Street, this great video tutorial talks about five common mistakes beginner photographers make. By far, one of the biggest I see is not having a strong focal point in your images. It is easy to see an interesting scene, but what is interesting to the eye does not always translate to a good photo. If you frequently find yourself excited in the moment when you are taking an image, only to come home and be disappointed by the results, there is a good chance you are missing a focal point. Forget that you took the photo for a second and try to approach it as if you are just seeing it for the first time. Is your eye immediately drawn to anything in particular, or does it tend to wander a bit? If the latter, consider working on finding a focal point as you compose your images. Check out the video above for the full rundown. 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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4 Comments

Sigh! Can we stop with the "list of 5 or 10 common mistakes" new photographers make? Haven't we seen enough of these articles/vlogs? Is there nothing else to write or vlog about? Is there no more creativity out there? Asking for a friend.

Yep there is plenty more to write on VFlats and may be start another round of 100 articles related to the R5. Rotation, rotation...

I wish it were obvious that the clickthrough would lead to a video. I detest watching videos. What’s wrong with having a written piece once in awhile?

There's a play icon on the thumbnail on the front page to indicate that. You can read full written original articles here: https://fstoppers.com/originals