cover photo: “Vintage Photo Camera and camera film roll” by Bogdan Dreava.

If you’re anything like me, then you tend to learn things the hard way—through personal experience. I’ve learned that life will continue to present you with the same lesson until you learn it.

We took to Twitter to ask 500px followers: What’s the best photography advice you wish you knew when you were a beginner? The 500px community jumped at the opportunity to share their photography wisdom.

Hey photographers, What's the best #photography #advice you wish you knew when you were a beginner? #TuesdayMotivation — 500px (@500px) April 11, 2017

The advice we received covered countless aspects of photography, from gear to composition—as well as just some good old words of wisdom. Read on for some great tips.

1. “Always shoot in RAW.” Shooting in jpeg will result in smaller files, but it also significantly decreases the quality of your photo when it comes to post-processing.

@500px Rule number one: Always shoot in RAW. — Ahmed Saif (@Ahmedicos) April 11, 2017

READ: Petapixel ‘s great article “ RAW vs. JPEG: An Ultimate Guide “ in case you’re still not convinced.

2. “Master Your Light” …without light, you don’t have a photo.

WATCH: Ibarionex Perello’s “Light and Setting” video. I can listen to him talk about photography for hours. Check out Ibarionex’s podcast, “The Candid Frame” for some of the best photography conversations you’ll hear.



3. “Back up.” This is one lesson you definitely don’t want to learn the hard way.

@500px Back up back up back up your photos. — Sephie Ballesteros (@sephisoverlord) April 11, 2017

READ: Fstoppers ‘ “ Bulletproof Backup Strategies For Digital Photographers. “

4.”Resist the temptation of putting watermark on your images.” This might be controversial, but I totally agree that watermarks are over.

@500px Resist the temptation of putting watermark on your images . — Arun ?? (@arundahiya) April 12, 2017

READ: Jenna Martin ‘s article “ Dear New Photographer “—it’s full of insightful advice, including why watermarks should be avoided.

5. “Print your work!” Get those photos off of your screen and enjoy them IRL.

@500px Print your work! Be it a framed art piece, a fashion portfolio, or a personal scrap book, get it off the screen and into the real world. — Black Sail Studio (@jordancabot) April 11, 2017

READ: Eric Stowell’s gear guide for “ The Best Printers, Ink, and Paper for Photographers. “

6. “Choosing people like Tony Northrup & Chelsea Northrup to teach me (via Videos and books) instead of learning the hard way.” There are more resources than ever to learn photography.

@500px Choosing people like @tonynorthrup & @ChelseaNorthru to teach me (via Videos and books) instead of learning the hard way. — Mike Donaldson (@mdonaldson1957) April 11, 2017

WATCH: Tony & Chelsea Northrup’s great video, “7 Mistakes Photographers Make.”





7.”You don’t need to spend a lot to produce beautiful pictures.” There will always be newer, better gear, but don’t let that get you down.

@500px you don't need to spend a lot to produce beautiful pictures — Shereefa Elsawaf (@selsawaf) April 12, 2017

READ: “ Crappy Gear, Amazing Photos: Using An Old Canon PowerShot to Capture Dreamy Landscapes “ by Meagan V. Blazier .

8. Composition is key…

@500px Composition. Thirds, leading lines and foreground interest for landscapes — D A Thompson (@kampalakid) April 11, 2017

READ: “ The Rule of Thirds in Real Life: 21 Perfectly-Composed Photos “ on ISO.

9. “Always have your camera.” It may seem obvious, but how many times have you found yourself wishing you had your camera?

@500px ?Always bring a camera with you? — Streeto Sensu (@StreetoSensu) April 15, 2017

10. “The best camera is the one you have with you.” Chase Jarvis wrote an entire book about this.

@nerdy_parker13 @500px The best camera is the one you have with you. — braden (@BaronVonBooty) April 11, 2017

WATCH: Chase Jarvis’s video:





And once you get past the technical aspects of photography, it all comes down to you…

@500px Wonderful words from none other than Gregory Heisler, “People want a photographer who has a vision.” https://t.co/bInyeCeyAv — Gannon Burgett (@gannonburgett) April 11, 2017

@500px Shoot no matter the results and let the world see it. Is the best way to discover yourself. — Georgi Petrov (@georgippetrov) April 11, 2017

@500px Try something, try something else, then try another thing. Never stop this process. — TheVintageModernist (@TheVintMod) April 11, 2017

What’s the best photography advice you wish you knew when you were a beginner? Share your advice with ISO and the 500px community in the comments section below.