You can still amazing photos with any camera, however this blog talks about features that are really only on a DSLR camera. If you don't have a DSLR camera, no worries! The last four points still apply. Never give up your passion! Always keep taking photos! :)

Low ISO

The whole purpose of ISO is really so you can take photos in low light situations. Unfortunately the truth is that you need light to take good photos and there is no way around it.

If your ISO is too high then there will be "Noise," which makes your photos look grainy or dotted. There is a Noise reduction tool on Photoshop... but don't abuse it. The more you use it one specific photo, the more animated the photo looks. It kinda looks like everything is wrapped in plastic wrap?

Ideally, keep your ISO at 100 or 200. With that said, I have mine capped at 800. So I know life isn't perfect and sometimes you use ISO to get the shots as they happen.

RAW

I have heard countless photographers say, "Always shoot RAW!" and "There's no point in taking exposures if it's not in RAW format." I once even heard someone say: "If you aren't shooting RAW than you're not a professional photographer." I will admit that RAW is amazing and yes, you should shoot RAW. However, RAW has two downsides. One is that is takes up A LOT of room. If you are just starting professional photography and you are shooting a three hour hockey game for a birthday party, your 16 GB memory is going to fill up in the first 40 minutes. Then you are going to have to start shooting .jpg since your other chip is only 4GB. The second is that you can't give RAW photos to the majority of your clients; they will have no idea what to do with it.

So no, you don't ALWAYS have to shoot RAW... just most of the time. Better yet, set up your camera to shoot both RAW and .JPEG for every photo.

Blue/Yellow Colour Balance

You might not notice it at first, but if you accidentally set your colour balance off on your camera, then all of your photos will come out blue... or yellow. It's happened to me. It was embarrassing.

This is a problem for a few reasons, but mostly because it gets rid of "True White."

Composition

When you first start studying photography, it's best to try to stick with the rule of thirds. However, the truth is that the rule of thirds does not apply to everything. I have tried using the rule of thirds in portraits just to quickly learn that it really only works if the model is super flexible.

Just remember, no matter how advanced you get in photography, the goal of composition is make good eye-flow for the viewer. You can actually control what they look at first in the photo. While colour of subject matter might catch the viewer's attention at first. The composition is what keeps them viewing the photo for longer.

What is the Rule of Thirds?

For those of you who don't know, the rule of thirds is a general rule of where to place the main subject points on your final photograph. A common mistake for new photographers is to place the main subject point directly in the center. The problem with this is the viewer won't stand around to look at the rest of the picture. If the main subject point (usually what is in focus) is instead in one of the four corners of the center rectangle, then it gives an opening for the viewer to stand around and look longer.

An Example of a Photograph Successfully Using the Rule of Thirds

Subject Matter

Don't stress out too much about this one. It turns out that subject matter isn't actually that important. I have seen people take amazing photos in their house with just random objects. However, once you are done taking pictures in your house... go find more subject matter. It's fun!

Determination

The absolute most important aspect of photography is to keep taking photos. If you take a photo and it has lots of noise, learn from the mistake. It's raining and you don't want to get wet? Too bad, take an umbrella! (Just keep your camera safe.)

“Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst" – Henri Cartier-Bresson

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