Top 10 Newbie Photographer Mistakes

Photography Tips

In this hilarious video, DigitalRev highlights some of the most common mistakes that newbie (and sometimes not so newbie) photographers tend to make. While learning, we’ve all been there, making some of the most atrocious mistakes that can be made with a camera and a lens (and sometimes without either of them!):

 1. Flashing from a distance

The ultimate flash fail: flashing from a distance and wondering why on earth the subject’s still dark.

2. Goofing up the mode dial markers

A is for auto, P is for photography and S is for super speed, right? Eh! I think I goofed it up big time. Kai says,

“To be honest, you don’t have to know what it stands for, just as long as you know what it does, right?”

3. Messing up the ISO selection

ISO 100 is best, right? So, even if it’s dark, choose ISO 100. But wait, why on earth are the pictures soooo dark? Change to ISO 1000! Just don’t forget to change it back when you go out into daylight!

4. Using the lens hood improperly

Are you guilty of using the lens hood backwards?

Really, some people would spend their entire day shooting with the lens hood backwards. Folks! The lens hood is meant to stop annoying lens flares. It is not going to do any good backwards! The analogy Kai uses is hilarious.

5. Leaving the lens cap on

This we are all guilty of on occasion: wondering why it’s so dark looking through the viewfinder only to realize with a grin smile that the lens cap is on.

6. Forgetting to change the white balance

This one’s a genuine fail. Forgetting to change the white balance and wondering why your pictures look  like “they were shot with a hipster toy camera with super trendy film processing.”

7. Goofing up the focus mode

How many times have you shifted to manual focusing and then forgotten to change back to auto focus? Blur, blur.

Don’t forget to switch to auto-focus after you are done shooting in manual.

8. Forgetting important pieces of hardware

We have all been guilty of forgetting the odd piece of gear: memory cards, batteries, lens hood. But how many times have you forgotten the obvious? Such as the lens and may be even the camera? Kai does not share any tips to counter short term memory loss. Too bad.

9. Loading film incorrectly

Film shooters, how many times have you been guilty of incorrect film loading, then shooting with it the entire day?

10. Forgetting to rewind

Beginner photographers have often found themselves guilty of not rewinding the film before removing the back cover. The result is unintentional double exposures! Oops.

Don’t feel bad if you’ve made any of these mistakes. Even seasoned photographers are not immune to these common blunders. What would you add to this list?