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Writer's pictureMuhd Ikmal Mohamed

5 EMBARASSING MISTAKES MADE BY NEW PHOTOGRAPHERS

1. Every photographer with a DSLR was a new photographer at one time. I would like to share to you 5 mistakes that I made when I was just starting photography. Sure you can laugh at it after it happened when you look back and think about it. However during that moment these mistakes could cause the photographer missing the crucial shot.


2. Yes they can be really embarrassing if your friends or even worse, your clients find out about it. To avoid embarrassment, just keep it to yourself. Well, I am sharing this so that new photographers reading this can avoid these silly mistakes.


3. MISTAKE #1 - You Forgot To Take The Lens Cap Off


As you prepare yourself to start photographing, you pick up your camera. You assess your environment and your subject. It was an easy and normal shot. You hold the camera towards your face and look for the focus point.


However you didn't see anything as the screen ws all black. That was the exact moment when you troubleshoot, what ws wrong with your camera and you soon foud out that your lens cap was still on. This mistake is difficult to hide from anyone knowing especially your subject because sh or she has taken time to pose ready for the picture standing in front of you.


4. MISTAKE #2 - You Forgot To Insert The SD Card


Most new cameras nowadays do not allow you to take the picture if you don't have the memory card inserted. The camera will prompt you a message '[E]' which means there is no memory card in the slot.


However if you are new you will be wondering what technical error your camera is experiencing now. You scratch your head for a few minutes while your 3 friends stand in front of you holding their smile to make sure they look good in the photo.


My advise is to standby a second memory card because your first memory card might still be in the slot of the laptop sitting on the table AT HOME.


5. MISTAKE #3 - You Forgot To Turn On Your Flash

This is sometimes a common mistake as the flash will go into sleep mode if you don't use it after a few minutes. You shoot and shoot, but suddenly feel the urge to check your photos on the LED Screen. Obviously all the photo that you took will be under exposed. If you are lucky, they can still be saved in post production. However if you are doing a shoot and burn photoshoot then that can be a loss to you.


6. MISTAKE #4 - You forget To Change The Camera Settings


If you are shooting in manual mode, then you need to be sensitive to the light condition before you shoot. Your camera settings need to be correct to ensure you get the correct exposure. As you move around the room or change location, you need to remember to change the camera settings.


It happened to me once when I was shooting in a room with the correct camera settings. Then I noticed a beautiful view outside and asked the subject to move and change location with a more beautiful background. I continued to shoot maybe 5 or 6 photos only to find out that the photos were over exposed. I forgot to lower down the ISO settings as I have moved out from the room. Those photos could not be saved in post production and there was no time to reshoot as the session has ended. Too bad... 7. MISTAKE #5 - You Forgot To Switch To Auto Focus



On some newer lenses you have the option to toggle between manual focus and auto focus. There are certain times where you will switch to manual focus to get a more precise focus on your subject. Then you move on until you find another interesting subject.


As you continue to shoot, you find out later that the pictures that you took were blur and not in focus. You wonder for a few minutes while you miss the opportunity of some important moments. This is critical during events where you are the only photographer there and you experience this moment, then it can be quite disasterous.


7. Well, there you go - my share of 5 common mistakes that a newbie photographer tend to make when they are just starting out photography. Leave a comment below if you experience the same mistake or you have made other simple mistake that is not on my list. Share with us.

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