Shedding Light on the Common Misconceptions About Photography

There are a lot of misconceptions about the art and craft of photography which hinder a person from being a better photographer. We have excuses we tell ourselves when a photograph does not come out quite like how we pictured it and these mistaken beliefs could be major obstacles to getting great shots.

Here are some common preconceived notions and why we should throw them out the window:

1. I am too young to learn how to use a digital camera – believe it or not, but children as young as 5 or 6 can take good photos. With guidance and patience from a parent or relative, children can learn quickly and you would be surprised how much creativity and imagination can appear in their shots. They are at that age when the whole world is still new and wondrous and photographs taken by children are a great way to see how their minds work. Your old cheap point-and-shoot will be ideal for children to practice on and under your supervision, they can grow up with not just fantastic photography skills but they will also have a deep appreciation of the world around them.

2. I am too old to learn how to use a digital camera – is your vision still decent enough? Do you have enough strength to lift the camera and press the shutter button? Is your mind still sharp enough to retain information? Can you still appreciate the beauty in what you see around you? If you say yes to the above questions, most likely you are not too old to learn how to use a digital camera. First of all, the average point and shoot is so simple that all you have to do is know how to turn it on, point the camera towards what you want to shoot, press the shutter button and the camera will do the rest of the hard work for you. This might be too simple an example, but really, a compact camera is very simple to use. Now the extra effort comes from the desire to take more than just a dull snapshot. If you still have the desire to create good pictures, no matter if you are old and it takes longer for you to learn new things, then do not let this excuse stop you.

3. There are too many buttons to press and settings to figure out - compact cameras these days are designed to be extremely easy to use and convenient to bring around. Features are still advanced but are usually automatic so one does not need to worry about them. Face recognition, autofocus, anti-shake, red-eye reduction, all these are readily available in most point and shoots. Not only that, the quality of these cameras remain high and one can take sharp and clear shots without even trying. If you feel that the buttons and settings are overwhelming, steadily learn how to use each button or setting by testing it with practice shots. There is no better way to learn how to your camera works than to fiddle with it and to take lots of shots. Ask a photographer friend to help you or find out through photo books or online how the basic features work.

4. My camera is to blame for my terrible shots – A high-end DSLR camera can produce ugly shots while a primitive phone camera can present award-winning shots. The bottom line is it is not the camera that dictates how good or bad the image will turn out but rather the photographer using the gadget. Certain cameras have limitations but it is your job to know how to work with it, adapt to it and push it to create good images. If you want to stop having terrible shots, stop using your camera as an excuse and instead practice honing your technical skills and artistic expression.