Categories / Tutorials

5 Mistakes New Photographers Make

Creative Market Last updated: March 28, 2024 · 4 min read

New photographers have to take in a lot of information when they’re first starting out. They have to learn the difference between camera bodies, types of lenses, how to frame shots, how to focus, what types of lighting work best for different situations – and that’s only the beginning! It is fun to embark upon learning the art of photography but the prospect can be a bit daunting when you’re first starting out.

The good news is that getting better just takes practice. The more you shoot, the more you will learn and the more fun you will have with it. There are some basic facts you should know when you’re just getting started. After all, it’s better to learn from others’ mistakes than to learn by making the same ones yourself! Here are five common mistakes that new photographers make and how you can be sure to avoid them.

1. Shooting in Automatic Mode

Digital cameras are smart and the automatic setting can be great in many situations. However, shooting in manual mode is by far the best way to learn about how the camera works and how to produce the best shots in any situation. Manual mode gives you much more flexibility. You have control over depth of field and shutter speed, which are necessary settings to manage when you want to produce sharp, stunning photos.

2. Shooting in JPEG instead of RAW

JPEGs are fine for everyday shots, but when you’re ready to start shooting professionally, RAW images are the way to go. Shooting in RAW may require more storage, but the payoff is much more image data, making RAW images far superior in terms of post-processing freedom. Adjusting white balance is one key area where you’ll find that RAW images outperform JPEGs.

3. Shooting Tilted Photos

One surefire way to spot a new photographer is when all their photos are intentionally crooked. Although it might seem artsy, shooting photos that are tilted is generally a bad idea. Tilting your camera doesn’t always make for a better or more dramatic photo. It can be useful if you want to convey motion in your photos, but it doesn’t make sense to tilt the camera with a still subject. Instead, keep the camera pointed straight on in order to get a perfectly composed shot.

PhotographerMistakes-2PhotographerMistakes-2

4. Poor White Balance

Different light sources produce many different colors of light. When we look at these colors, our eyes and brain correct for most of these variations. A digital camera, however, needs to be manually adjusted to account for the source of light. Cameras have a selection of white balance settings that help adjust it to the lighting condition. Using the Daylight white balance setting will adjust the camera’s settings to be appropriate for shooting outside in bright or moderate daylight, for example. If you’re shooting in RAW files, you can also correct the white balance in post-processing.

PhotographerMistakes-3PhotographerMistakes-4PhotographerMistakes-5

5. Using Ugly, Built-In Lightroom Presets

Most of us are familiar with the Lightroom preset filters that automatically adjust the color, contrast, brightness, etc. of a given photo. These filters are generic and don’t account for the nuances of the photo, however. They can end up detracting from the quality of a photo instead of enhancing it. It’s better to purchase high-quality presets that are more sophisticated and do your photos more justice.

Use These Presets Instead

If you’re ready to upgrade your Lightroom presets, here are some fantastic sets for you to check out:








What Else?

These are five basic mistakes that new photographers make that can easily be avoided in order to enhance the quality of your photos. If you’re serious about getting better, just keep on practicing! Even if you make mistakes, you will continue to learn and get better over time.

What other mistakes did you make as a new photographer? Share your experience in the comments below.


Header image created using Analog Camera, Thirsty Script, and Eveleth.

Lettering Worksheets
Getting started with hand lettering?
Free lettering worksheets

Download these worksheets and start practicing with simple instructions and tracing exercises.

Download now!
About the Author
Author
Creative Market

Making beautiful design simple & accessible to all.

View More Posts
Go to My Shop
Related Articles
11 Comments
  • @Alyssa Graham great article and they used your photos as a good example! awesome job! 11 years ago
  • I think *not* shooting in RAW was the biggest mistake I made for a long time. The post-processing control of RAW can make all the difference between a good and great photo. 11 years ago
  • Here are some more: getting on the nerves of their facebook friends by posting each and every shitty photo, converting in grayscale all the time because colors are distracting due to wrong composition, thinking that a DLSR makes you turn pro directly after the purchase... And most of all: The bigest problems are the "XYZ Photography" Facebook fan pages that distort peoples sense for really good pictures and totally ruin the market for photographer because everybody is expecting to be able to hire a photographer for 10$ per hour! I know this is a little exagerated but don't we all have those "friends"!? ;-) [nice article by the way] 11 years ago
  • Don't get your white balance wrong, but run our filters to shift your white balance! 11 years ago
  • Kelley Johnson
    Ugh... I still shudder at my tilted photo days from years gone by. "It's so much more creative!" Blarg, how embarrassing. ::Blush:: 11 years ago
  • Anonymous
    I think 1. using a poor editing software (such as picmonkey, or Picassa) is a major mistake people use, because it diminishes the file size of a photo. 2. Selective coloring images to make something in a picture stand out more than another - especially if it's horribly done. 3. Being to generic - create a style of your own that makes you stand out and unique. 4. Not learning their camera - meaning, not changing the settings to fit the location and setting that you're in. 11 years ago
  • FilterGrade
    Made all of these mistakes more than once. I have a long way to go :) Thanks for sharing, and reminding me how to improve my work! 11 years ago
  • Anonymous
    I'am new so thanks for sharing these wonderful tips :) 11 years ago
  • @Jean-Luc Winkler - I have several friends that post every picture from the same shoot, even in the same pose. I hate it!!! 11 years ago
  • Anonymous
    Great article but the comments were even more helpful. Thanks everyone! 11 years ago
  • Anonymous
    Almost all of them! Tilted photos and poor white balance were the main things. Also, converting everything into grayscale. That gave some horrible results. But not as horrible as HDR - that was a long and painful time for me. Now my HDR looks nice, but it took over 1 year of experimenting. Huh. But the biggest one - not carrying camera with me all the time. 11 years ago