Photography Tips for Beginners: Camera Settings, Light, and Composition

So my girlfriend had been wanting a DSLR camera for a while, after much research I found one I thought would be a really good beginner camera and I bought it for her.

She has had it quite a while now and she is really struggling to understand even the basics of photography and she's finding it quite frustrating. I bought her a book which she didn't get on with and she has started watching a series of YouTube videos but it's still not sinking in. I have tried to explain to her the way I understand what the book and videos are saying but I know nothing about photography so I either can't explain it well or I don't understand it properly myself.

Other than splashing out on an expensive face to face photography course does anyone have any tips or advice? I just want her to be able to understand the basics so she can use her camera without getting frustrated because it makes her give up really easily

Edit: didn't expect so many responses, thanks for all the great advice, the general consensus seems to be to put the camera in aperture priority mode and just focus on composition

My advice is to put the camera on auto or program mode and go out and shoot.

Get a bunch of art books that focus on composition and understand why the human brain likes what it likes.

Sit your GF on insta, Flickr or similar and scroll through those images. If she likes them ask why and write it down. Also for those she don't like

Your GF should critique her own work using the stuff she's learned.

She will then start to understand how the camera can help her produce images that she likes. It's an incremental and iterative process that it is never complete.

The blunt and honest question here is, does she really want to put in the effort to learn the tool, or is she "frustrated" because she thought getting a nice "real" camera would be an instant step up in her images and has no interest in the technical skills that it requires to work a dslr competently?

Hi! I'm 18 years old, and I'm planning to start a photography gig. I've loved taking photos since I was young, and recently, on my birthday, I was gifted a Sony a6400. I'm trying to be independent and start making my own money. Any tips?

Hi, so I’m a beginner photographer and I’m just looking for some critiques on some recent grad photos, I’ve taken

Edit: thank you so much everyone for the suggestions you’ve all been very helpful these were my first two shoots ever using my own camera. And I completely understand most of your criticisms

Beginner question here. How do you actually start photography?

I mean, I have been watching videos, reading about photography, and want to start… but how?

Do you just go out and start taking pics, or you decide what type of photos you want to take and specifically search for them.

How do you decide what photos to take? Is it just that you shoot whatever is there, or wait for hours for that one moment to get the best photo.

I keep having these questions in my head over and over again, And hence thought of asking.

If this is not the right place to ask for this question, do let me know, I’ll delete the post.

I tutor photography and photo editing. The basics are pretty easy to teach. I'll give her a free hour, which should get her started. Send me a DM.

The best photos ever taken were with a camera that's worse than yours.

Everyone only shows their best work. All of still take some shit photos.

Hello everyone! I'm new to this subreddit, so please be nice :)
After a lot of time thinking about it, I decided to search for and buy a used camera.
I've always wanted a really nice camera, so I bought this! A Canon EOS 1100D. I know it's kinda old, but I just paid 54€ for it! It works perfectly, and I think that for the first steps, it would work perfectly for me! It has no scratches (just some signs of use on the plastics around, of course).

Can't wait for the weekend of 7-8 November, when I will try to take some nice moments of the WEC 6H of Monza :)

I already played a bit with it, but until now I just used the automatic mode. Is it a bad thing?
What should I do to be a better photographer? Are there any tips and tricks?
Let me know what you think, and just tell me what came out of your heads :D
Feel free to DM me too for a nice conversation!

Enjoy your day guys! Stay safe

Get closer to your subject

I always liked photography and enjoyed get the perfect photo out of the perfect moment but never expanded my knowledge, I don't understand the camera specs I should get or what I should be taking photos of at times. Any help would be very much appreciated

photos don't look professional

Makes sense to me. Professionals would be in trouble if anyone could just get the same results right away as a beginner.

I'm a nature photographer, I'm a beginner, what are some basics that I need to know to improve my photography, it's quite difficult sometimes for me to find a perfect angle. And photos don't look professional.

Nothing beats shooting a lot, looking intently, reviewing your own work, and shooting a lot more.

Also, critiques often suck. A lot of people are willing to give advice, but not all people willing to provide critique do it well, so part of the process is learning how to understand and use critiques to improve your work towards your own vision.

Learn composition. Then lighting.

A well composed, but poorly light photo may still be a decent photo.

But a well light, but poorly composed photo is a poor photo.

Firstly, I get where you’re coming from. But if you reframe it from being a massive disorganized pile of things to try to learn into a sequence of topics you can learn one at a time then you won’t be so overwhelmed! And almost everything on your list depends on a few fundamentals, so that’s where I’d start:

1. Learn to see light before anything else. Not settings or gear but light. The direction (where's it coming from), quality (hard midday sun vs. soft overcast or window light), and color (warm golden hour vs. cool shade). This will help you go from "this picture looks nice" from "I understand why this shot works so well". Most beginners skip this for years, and it makes a huge difference.

2. The exposure triangle - aperture, shutter speed, ISO. Learn what they let you achieve creatively and how they interact with one another and what the trade offs are: aperture controls depth of field (blurry vs. sharp background), shutter deals with motion (frozen vs. blurred), ISO can cause noise. Get off auto. Shoot in aperture priority, shutter priority, or manual so you learn the triangle like the back of your hand.

3. Composition, beyond the rule of thirds. Leading lines, framing, layering foreground and background, negative space, and using light and shadow to direct the eye. A lot of "great composition" can boil down to great light placement, which is why it comes after my number 1.

4. Editing - correction first, then grading. Color correction is making the image accurate: white balance, exposure, contrast, clean and neutral. Color grading is making it expressive - mood, a look, a feel. Always correct first because grading on top of a miscorrected image will be a fight. Learn to develop a RAW file from scratch. it'll also teach you to “see” better when you shoot.

5. Then, and only then, pick a genre. Your fundamentals transfer across all the styles you listed, urban, nature, portraits, cars, cinematic, wedding all run on the same light, exposure, composition core. Don't specialize early. Shoot all of the photography genres, notice what you can't stop shooting, and thats your genre, or maybe multiple! You learn this by shooting and there’s no other way to learn.

On your other questions:

Gear: When you do buy, a used/older body is the smart move to start (I like MPB). Strong hybrid (photo + video) families to look at used: Sony's a6000-series, Fujifilm's X-S (I started with an XE-2 and loved it), Canon's entry R bodies. For video specifically, prioritize in-body stabilization and good autofocus. And I’d say start with a used body + one fast prime (a 35mm or 50mm equivalent f/1.8) instead of a kit zoom. A prime forces you to move and think and helps with learning composition.

Software: Lightroom (it’s the industry standard, beginner friendly and there are tons of free learning resources).

Pre/post for your photography: Yes, it applies. "Pre-production" in photography it looks like scouting a location, planning around the light/time of day, and for portraits - the concept, wardrobe, and posing. "Post" looks like culling (choosing the keepers - an underrated and sometimes very time consuming skill) plus the edit.

Beginner mistakes to avoid:
- Buying gear instead of shooting with what you currently have.
- Leaning on presets - youll end up skipping the part where you learn why an image works. Use them later, once you can do it by hand.
- Shooting a lot but reviewing nothing. Study your own results and think about why this one worked and that one didn't.
- Trying to learn all six photography genres you mentioned at once. Focus on one for a while.
- Watching endless tutorials as a substitute for shooting. Tutorials feel like progress, but shooting is what really builds skill.

Resources: Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson is the OG starting point, and on YouTube, Sean Tucker is great.

Also, I'm actually building a website for exactly the problem you're describing (feeling overwhelmed by everything there is to learn), it's called Déclic ( It's a structured learning path that teaches these concepts then gives you assignments to go out and shoot (learn the idea, go practice it, get feedback, unlock the next technique), specifically so you understand why shots work instead of just making them look nice. It's still a work in progress, but I'd love your honest feedback if you try it (it’s free). But either way, follow the order above, shoot constantly, and review what you shoot. That alone will take you further than most beginners. Welcome to the rabbit hole, it's a fun one!

1- Photography is all about capturing light. You first need to understand the different types of light and how they affect an image. The old masters of painting are your best teachers here—study their work carefully. Then move on to composition and color theory. Only after that should you dive into gear, editing, and everything else.

2- Photography is not a cheap hobby or business. First, decide what you want to shoot most of the time, then invest in the right equipment, starting with lenses.

3- There are plenty of learning resources available. YouTube is your mecca for learning photography. I don't want to recommend specific channels because discovering who excels in which field—and who teaches best—is an experience in itself.

4- I hate Photoshop, but I have to admit it's the best tool for photography editing. As for video editing, I have no experience.

5- Definitely buy second-hand gear when starting out, and prioritize lenses over camera bodies. Good lenses are more important and last much longer than camera bodies.

6- None of them. Make every mistake you possibly can—that's the only real way to learn.

My final words:

Shoot, shoot, shoot, and ask questions. And, of course, enjoy yourself.

Hi everyone! I’m a complete beginner in photography/videography and I want to take it more seriously as a hobby (and maybe one day even turn it into something profitable).

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Right now, I only know very basic things like the rule of thirds and using presets. But I want to actually understand photography deeply instead of just making things “look nice.”

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I want to learn things like:

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- Composition beyond the rule of thirds

- Lighting (natural light, artificial light, time of day, mood, etc.)

- Camera settings and exposure

- Colour theory and colour grading

- Storytelling/cinematic shots

- Editing workflow (photo & video)

- When and why certain shots work

- Pre-production / post-production (if that applies to photography too?)

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I don’t have one fixed genre yet because I want to explore and progressively learn more, but the styles I’m most interested in are:

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1. Urban photography

2. Nature

3. Human/portraits

4. Vehicles (cars & motorcycles)

5. Cinematic photography/videography

6. Wedding

7. Motorsports & Sports

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A few questions:

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1. If you could restart photography from zero, what would you learn first and in what order?

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1. What fundamentals should I deeply understand before worrying about gear?

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1. Are there any YouTube channels, books, courses, or creators you recommend for beginners who want to genuinely understand photography and videography?

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1. For editing, should I learn colour correction before colour grading? What software would you recommend for beginners?

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1. For someone on a student budget, what mirrorless cameras/lenses would you recommend that can do both photo and video well?

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1. What beginner mistakes should I avoid early on?

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I’d really appreciate a roadmap or learning order because right now I feel a bit overwhelmed with how much there is to learn 😅

"For someone on a student budget"...that is a bit vague

Used can be a way to save $. Perhaps from Canon USA Refurbished or MPB

when u get a camera....

Read the manual.

don't have one? go to camera company website, download the pdf of the manual and read it

go to youtube and search for vids 'setting up and using (model of camera)'

when i started out, i learned from a book called Digital photography for dummies by Julie Adair King

other books

Read this if you want to take great photographs by Carroll

Stunning digital photography by Northrup

don't get discouraged

“Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.” ― Henri Cartier-Bresson

in my opinion... Canon R50 is a solid beginner camera