5 mistakes I made as a beginner
Introduction
There are many different angles you can look at when it comes to mistakes to avoid as a beginner but in this blog I want to share some conceptual mistakes to avoid which will hopefully shift your mindset and help you get further in your journey. I hope they will be of use and that they will provide a different perspective as a beginner.
Not investing enough in learning
You’ve probably already spent countless hours on YouTube and photography pages trying to learn photography. And that is also how I started, by learning from YouTube videos which is by far the easiest and best way to get going.
However, there is only so much a jungle such as YouTube can do. And that is because there is SO much information but it is chaotic, unorganized and in most cases barely scratches the surface of a particular topic. What I believe YouTube and other free learning sources are amazing at is to help you define what it is you need to learn more about and identify the areas you struggle with the most.
For me, learning has been (and still is) an absolutely crucial part of building the right foundation for succeeding as a landscape photographer. But the true learning happened for me when I invested in getting access to comprehensive courses on different photography topics, from the basic photography concepts to composition or editing.
Investing in these courses may seem like an unnecessary expense when there is so much free material out there but a well put-together course or online class will provide so much more value and elevate your learning by:
Providing a clear learning curve from basics to advanced
Providing a thought process and structure
Providing a deep understanding of a topic by going into the details
Providing clear examples and detailed explanations
I believe there are great benefits from taking a methodical approach to studying photography and although this isn’t necessarily the most fun part of the process, it is definitely a very needed part without which growth cannot happen.
I can really recommend finding your favorite photographers and purchasing their courses, e-books or webinars as they will most likely provide a much higher value in the long term. It is a great way of supporting them as well as giving you an accelerated progress in your photography journey.
Tip: I like to take my own notes from courses like these and write things in my own words on paper. I also like to take my own photos as examples and try to apply the learnings on them, which usually makes me understand a topic a lot better.
Areas of study which helped me:
Sony camera manual and recommended settings for landscape photography
Basics of photography concepts
Composition masterclass
Editing masterclass
Drone photography course
Understanding the weather for landscape photography
2. Not getting enough practical experience
Learning is all great and it’s rather easy to purchase a course and study the theory. The tricky part always comes in real life where you have to apply all your knowledge.
What happened to me in the beginning was that I had all these theoretical concepts I knew, but I was going out with my camera very rarely. When I did, all that knowledge went right out the window. And that’s because I was overwhelmed by the environment and the excitement of the moment, that I forgot all about what I needed to remember.
Practical experience is absolutely invaluable and for me, the amount of it has a direct positive correlation to the quality of my work. No matter how many courses you take or books you read, if you don’t go out often enough, all that knowledge will not be worth anything.
Repetition and practice is truly what makes the theory stick. Although practice is very individual, I can share some pointers that helped me:
Go out with one single goal in mind; practice one thing at a time
Go out as often as you can. As simple as that.
Focus on the areas you struggle with (even if it’s not as fun)
Try to be mindful in the field and make a point to think about applying the theory you learned
Take your learning material with you in the field (e-books are easy to read on the phone)
Take an analytical and critical approach to your photos - what worked, what didn’t? And most importantly, why?
Ask for constructive feedback - but be careful to distinguish between objective feedback and subjective preferences.
3. Not going outside my comfort zone
This is probably the hardest to do because as with anything new, it’s difficult to be brave when many things are unknown and we don’t feel confident in our actions. But if we stay in our lane, nothing extraordinary will happen.
In my case, I had a really hard time getting up early for sunrise in the beginning. I also had this innate fear of going out in nature all by myself in the dark due to growing up in Romania where doing that came with risks, depending where you went and especially as a woman. However, I had to (and still have to) constantly push myself to get over the difficulty of getting up early and rationalize being out alone in nature in Denmark, where I am completely safe.
You can also get very surprised by how well you handle things if you just give them a try. For example, I neglected getting a drone for a long time because I thought I would never be good at flying it. And how wrong I was! Although I still have much to learn about it, I’m a pretty confident and relaxed drone pilot and feel great about being able to maneuver this new tool which opens up so many opportunities for me.
Whatever you struggle with in terms of photography, whether it’s getting up early, flying a drone or hiking a difficult mountain, it’s important to go outside your comfort zone every now and then. It’s a very needed part of the process.
Think about what areas you struggle with the most with photography and what you want to be better at. Then prepare yourself as much as you can to be able to handle the unknown and go out there and give it a shot - you have nothing to lose!
4. Getting too influenced by other people
It’s a natural thing to aspire to be like some of the great photographers out there and be inclined to reproduce the same images in your own photography. However, it can easily become a slippery slope if you start copying someone’s style too much.
This however comes with a caveat which I have to recognize. It is both really hard to be original these days and hard not to be influenced by others when social media is flooding us with other people’s work that we constantly compare ourselves to. I am guilty of this too and constantly have to remind myself to stay true to what I like to do as a photographer.
BUT…with that being said, I do think it is possible to free yourself from that burden and be creative when you are in the field. The idea is to get inspired from others’ work but not let it take over your style and approach entirely. Take the parts that you like from what you see out there and discard the rest. Use others’ work as a toolbox and combine it with your own imagination and vision.
And most importantly…don’t be afraid to try something new.
Things I do to stay true to my own style:
I always try to take a different angle or composition than other photos I’ve seen of a place. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes not. But I always try.
I explore new places when I can and go off the beaten path
I never use someone else’s editing presets and always edit an image from scratch.
I try be mindful out in the field and do what’s best for the scene in front of me instead of how I want my feed to look like
I always take the photos I like - whether it’s mainstream or not.
I try to observe a lot more these days before I jump to take out my camera. Observation makes you see what others may have missed…
Doing all these things is definitely not easy and requires a lot more work than if you just stick to a single recipe that “works”. But it’s the only way I found that I can be myself and grow as a photographer.
5. Not trusting the process
My last mistake I want to share in this blog is not trusting the process. By that I mean not accepting that there is no shortcut or magic formula that will make you an incredible photographer overnight.
This also includes the feeling that if you don’t see exponential progress rather quickly, it must mean that you’re not good enough to do this.
There are very few people who are naturally talented and somehow nailed this thing from first try. And those people are the exception. The rule however is that it all takes time, effort and failure and the more of that you put yourself through, the quicker you will improve. Also remember that most people showcase their absolute best work on social media (I do too) and rarely show the countless failures and the thousands of photos that didn’t work.
You need to work hard, be equipped with tons of patience and be fine with failing, while learning from it all at the same time.
Although we all know it, it’s really hard sometimes to accept this process and I am of course struggling with it myself too. But I learned to not let it get me down and keep going.
If you have days when you want to give up, remember why you started this (probably because you love it) and just ignore that little voice in your head telling you there’s no point. Because nothing great ever happened to those who listened to that voice.
I hope these mistakes offered a different perspective and helped set a more productive mindset for your photography journey. I for sure benefit from reminding myself of these things constantly as I move forward through my own photography journey.
With love,
Alexandra
