I hear it every day.
In my Facebook Group, with my friends and students first starting out, photographers beginning on their journey struggle to get the images they want.
Or maybe if every once in awhile they get those images, they can’t consistently repeat it.
If you feel like this, realize many others do too and that you aren’t alone. Everyone feels this way at the beginning, and I did too!
The reasons you are feeling frustrated are usually the same for everyone. Today I am going to break down the 3 reasons you are not getting the photos you want, every time you take a picture.
Reason 1: You Are Using Automatic Camera Settings
You need to get that camera off of auto! I was terrified of manual mode when I first started out. I would do everything I could to avoid it until I realized that if I wanted full creative control over the way my images looked, I had to break free of auto.
You don’t ask someone to start building a birdhouse without them knowing how the tools work. You can’t fully understand how your camera works and until you shoot in manual mode: how ISO, shutter speed, and aperture work together.
Manual mode is where you get to tell your camera how exposed you want your image to be, where you want the focus to be, you get to control the end product! Once you learn to take control of your camera and learn manual mode, you will never look back. You will often wonder why you waited so long to grab The Manual Mode Essentials Ebook!
Reason 2: You Buy More and More Camera Equipment
You think that the more equipment that you buy, the better your photos will be. I was chatting with someone this weekend. She was telling me about all of the camera equipment that she had purchased, yet she was still not getting the photos she wanted. Don’t think that because you have the latest and greatest camera equipment, your photos will turn out like you want them.
Like I mentioned earlier, you wouldn’t build a birdhouse if you didn’t know how the tools work. Just because you have the fancy tools, it still doesn’t help if you don’t know how to use them. Spend your money on learning your craft rather than the kit.
Reason 3: You Are Shooting for the Location, Not the Light
You need to shoot for the light and not the location! My students hear me say this all of the time! If you learn how to use the light and make it work for you, you will never again think, “Oh, I can’t take pictures today, the light is bad!“
Light is where the magic happens in your photos. You can create amazing photos in low light. Light is used to help create mood and to tell your story in your images. Don’t ever shy away from a not-so-perfect lighting situation. All light is good if you learn how to make it work for you!
If you can relate to any of the reasons I’ve listed above, you are making things a lot more complicated than it has to be.
Do you want to get the photos that you want in weeks rather than years? Then take a look at The Manual Mode Essentials Ebook and see how easy it can be.
And know that every photographer starting out feels the exact same frustrations that you do, but you have already taken that first step, now all you have to do is keep going!
