Tip 30 - Define Your Path
There are many paths to learn and improve photography. The good news is that we have easy access to numerous online photography tips and tutorials nowadays. The bad news is we also can easily get lost online. If you are a mirrorless or DSLR newbie, you might get overwhelmed and not even know where to start.
That’s why I came up with this “30 day photo tips” for amateur photographers interested in taking wonderful photos for your family and kids. I want to help you prioritize your effort, and accelerate your learning.
Your action plan
Carve out 30 days (or 60), focus one tip at a time. Make sure you practice on the tips instead of just reading it.
You might find yourself jumping between chapters of light, settings and techniques, composition, which is totally fine.
In fact it will be a spiral learning curve. For example, the second time you read the light chapter after trying out different settings, techniques and composition, you might have a more profound understanding of light.
Practice, practice and practice
There is no better advice I can give you than this one. You can’t improve photography by just reading photography tips. You have to practice!
You also don’t want to just “stumble on” a good photo occasionally, you want to produce quality consistently. This for sure requires practice.
Want to carve out a plan to practice?
Download Your 30 Day Photo Exercise Checklist
Download Your 30 Day Photo Exercise Checklist
Find your style
This might take the longest. You will find yourself going through several stages:
take photos without direction
learn from others and realize how much you don’t know
try new techniques, tricks, genres and subjects
practice, practice, practice
revisit your previous photos taken, for example, 6 months ago, and see lots of crap (it’s a good sign)
go back to the 2nd stage and repeat the cycle
It might take you several or many cycles until you find your own style. But that’s part of the journey!
The million time question
Throughout the past 2 decades of my photo journey, the No. 1 question I got repeatedly asked was: “What camera do you use?”
I hope after reading my 30 day photo tips, you agree with me camera is only a small part of the answer to a great photo. You are the most important part!
However, once you have mastered the following skills, ie. knowing
👉 how to adjust settings (aperture, shutter, ISO among the most basic);
👉 how to use manual mode comfortably;
👉 how to choose the right camera settings based on the light you are given;
👉 how to select the appropriate photo subject based on the light you are given;
you will have a much better sense whether you need to upgrade equipment.
For example:
If you are into candid and likes to take action shots (like me), perhaps you want a camera great for sports photography. Burst rate (frames per second) is key indicator. Some of the latest mirrorless camera can capture up to 20 or 30 frames per second. That certainly helps!
If you take indoor portraits often, you might want to look into cameras with great low light performance. Dynamic range and ISO range are crucial. The following photo was taken with ISO12800 by accident (well I'm not the photographer here) by Sony A7iii, my first mirrorless camera, but digital noise was minimal.
If you are into landscape photography (like me again), a wide angle lens, a solid tripod (check out Why And How To Choose A Tripod), or even filters (check out When And How To Use Filters) might be more important investment than a camera. But if you are into night photography, astrophotography (eg. milkyways, northern lights) in particular, then a full frame camera becomes critical.
interested in taking better vacation photos for your family and kids?
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Take My Free Video Training 〰️
Define your path
As mentioned in the very beginning, my goal is to help you prioritize your effort and accelerate your learning.
Now it’s time for you to set your own goal and take actions, so you can achieve a new level of photography skills to document your journey of happiness!
I’d like to revisit previous chapters:
