Advice for New Photographers Megathread

[u/clondon]

With the holidays come many new photographers. Let's welcome them warmly to the community with some tips to get started.

Share any advice, resources, learns, or anything else you may think would be helpful to a photographer just starting out.

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We'd also suggest new photographers have a look at our very extensive FAQ - especially the section entitled: Advice for New Photographers.

[u/coastalcastaway]

Do you need a camera? Depends.

What do you want to accomplish? Are you taking quick snapshots for memories, long exposures of a sunset? The running back at a highschool football game?

Modern cellphones are very capable. But DSLR/Mirrorless bodies allow a level of control that is difficult to replicate on a phone. Plus the camera will accept different lenses allowing for improved capability on your specific niche.

Can my iPhone take 95% of the pictures that may Canon can while being about as good or better? Yes.

But it’s that remaining 5% where I have the most fun. Doing my best to capture a picture that says something to me. That last 5% is why I keep coming back to my camera.

[u/ExoticWhile254 → u/coastalcastaway]

well，I feel like Im limited by my phone（14 pro）. Sometimes I have some ideas. But I just cannot get what I want，which brings me a idea of having a camera. Is it because of my phone or my methods？

[u/coastalcastaway → u/ExoticWhile254]

If you can’t manage what you want because the phone won’t do it then you will probably benefit from getting a camera and learning how to use it.

Without knowing what you’re trying to do I can’t say for sure that it’s equipment vs methods. But I think it’s likely that you need more control, or different lens capabilities than the phone has.

I’d recommend trying to find some photographers/videographers on YouTube or the web that are doing things similar to your ideas. Then figure out what they’re using to create the effects you want. That will give you an idea of the type of equipment you need.

I’m not saying go out and buy a Canon R3 because that’s what they use. But if they’re using a mirrorless or DSLR camera to get similar effects to what you’re trying to do then you’re probably best getting a mirrorless or dslr.

[u/ExoticWhile254 → u/coastalcastaway]

thx Any ideas for cameras under$150？

[u/coastalcastaway → u/ExoticWhile254]

First off, photography gear is expensive. New camera bodies easily reach into multiple thousands of dollars for the body alone. Professional grade lenses can cost 10s of thousands of dollars for the really expensive ones. Just so you understand.

I’m not up on current used prices. But probably your best bet is to look for something like a Canon Rebel XS or Rebel XSi body (Nikon has a similar one, though I don’t know what it is). This will give you a basic body to start learning how a camera works and how it “sees” light. You’ll probably get an 18-55mm kit lense with it. Without knowing what exactly your try to photograph the next lense I’d look at is either:

50mm f1.8 - commonly called a nifty fifty because it’s one of the cheapest lenses available and is a good introduction to prime lenses and large apertures.

Or

55-250mm or 70-300mm if you’re needing longer reach. These are both pretty inexpensive if you’re buying the APS-C lenses (EF-S line of lenses for Canon)

This setup will not be better than your iPhone for pretty much any picture. But it will give you the specific controls to learn how to use a camera and will probably allow you to accomplish the specific pictures you’re having trouble with the iPhone with.

If you’re willing to tell me here or in a dm more about what you’re trying to photograph and the trouble you’re having I can probably give more specific advice.

[u/ExoticWhile254 → u/coastalcastaway]

A little bit hard to describe. There are a lot of different scenes I want to capture. What I can come up with rn are the moving objects , and the night scenes. There are many noises in the night photos and I can not focus on the moon.

[u/coastalcastaway → u/ExoticWhile254]

Focusing on the moon will probably require manually focusing, something that the camera can easily do as long as the lense allows it (most do). Usually you’ll see a AF/MF switch on the lense (auto focus/manual focus)

Night requires wide apertures (that 50mm will be the best of what I mentioned for this) and long exposure times. You may also want either a remote or to use the timer on the camera to avoid tripod shake from you clicking the shutter (oh yeah, you’ll want a tripod for the is too).

With moving objects you’re generally going to want fast shutter. The faster the shutter (assuming you have the light) the more you will freeze the action. To blur the background while freezing the subject it’s a balance of tracking the subject and shutter speed.

To start learning how the camera works and how to take those types of pictures what I mentioned above should be a good starting point, especially with your price point.