How to Get Started in Photography

Getting started in photography can seem daunting, however it doesn't take much these days. 20 years ago, before the luxury of digital photography, everything had to be done using film cameras.  These film cameras were expensive to buy if you wanted any quality photos, and your creativity was limited by the quantity of film rolls you had and could afford to develop.  Nowadays, these limitations have been removed by digital photography.  Most people have a digital camera, if not multiple digital cameras.  The big question is how do you get started creating great images for your family and friends or for your clients.  These next steps will tell you just that:

1. What do I need to get started?

Maybe you have a cell phone for photography, or you have a DSLR camera for your photography adventures.  Either will do and both have advantages to them.  (In a separate post I will go into more detail about equipment, but for now as long as you have a device that captures decent quality images that's all that matters.)  

• Make sure your camera is the proper resolution:

Make sure your camera has the resolution to capture at least an 8MP photo.  Its kind of like comparing 4K TV's to Full HD TV's.  A Full HD TV is about 2MP, while a 4K TV is about 9MP.  The quality difference is amazing and you want your photographs to look amazing, so start with making sure you shoot in the highest resolution supported by your camera.  

• If you are purchasing a camera, make sure to look for one that has some resolution to it, but then start to look at the other specs of the camera.  Read about its low light performance, focusing abilities, and lens compatibility and then compare between cameras made by different brands such as Sony, Canon and Nikon that are at your price point.

2. What can I photograph?

The next thing to do is discover where you passion lies for photography.  Maybe you want to improve your photography for capturing moments from family vacations and activities.  Maybe you want to capture images of nature.  Maybe you want to start your own portrait photography studio.  Maybe you want to provide photography services to companies.  After you discover your passion you will discover your drive to photograph.  

3. How can I share my photographs?

How you want to share your photographs is based on the reason you took them.  If you took them on family vacations, you could print some to hang up, share on social media or email them to family and friends.  If you are taking portraits with the intention to sell them to your customer, have priced packages set up that include printed photos and possible a reduced quality digital file of the photograph so you seem professional to your customer.  You can also promote your business on social media like Facebook or Instagram or even set up your own website.  

• P.S. to get photos off of a DSLR or point and shoot camera either use an SD card reader and copy them to your computer in organized folders or many cameras allow you to connect via USB to your computer to copy photos as well.

4. How to I make sure my photos are saved?

Making sure you save and protect your images is important no matter where your passion for photography leads you.  I recommend storing your photos on your computers main drive if it is large enough.  Depending on the amount of photos you take, you could need anywhere from a few GB of free space to a few TB of free space.  If your computers internal drive is near its capacity, purchase an external hard drive.  I recommend a WD My Passport Portable Drive.  These come in capacities ranging from 1-4 TB and are powered right through the USB used to connect the to your computer.  I also recommend you back-up your photos on another WD My Passport Portable Drive and store this in a safe location.  It is ideal to store this drive in a fireproof locking security box, but it isn't necessary.  Another thing to do is back-up your photos to the cloud.  For example Amazon has free unlimited photo storage for prime members and there are many other options for cloud photo storage with a small monthly fee.

These are just the basics for what is needed to get started creating, sharing and storing great photographs.  In future posts I will elaborate into more detail about equipment, capturing images, editing, storing and sharing.  Make sure to subscribe to my email list to keep updated!