and I stay out here this morning so I thought I'd come and sit on the wall
drink some coffee and a little chat with you about it's a very common mistakes
that I see beginner photographers make but first of all why do you make them
why do those mistakes come from well very often it's from confusion because
you encounter a problem you go online to look for a solution and there is acres
of amazing free stuff out there online for some incredible tutors just like me
however how do you know which order you need to put that information together so
you don't get confused so you don't make mistakes how do you know how to string
those different solutions those different answers those different bits
of learning together appropriately for the shot that you want to take we're
gonna play with some sausages later to show you now one of the things I would
suggest and this is also a mistake is people say to me well why would I buy an
online course when I can get a lot of free stuff on YouTube well I've just
kind of told you when you buy a course or a workshop or any training from me or
anyone else for that matter what you're paying for is a guide to take you
through that confusion to make sure you do know the order in which you need to
put things together so let's go have a little look at some of the most common
mistakes I see beginner photographers make let's find out here's a really good
place to do it I've taken this shot loads of times I know it well and that's
why I thought I'd bring you here this is a tricky exposure what am i bringing you
somewhere where it's tricky it's because that's when these mistakes will happen
so let's have a little look at our shot I'm gonna see if I can roll a little bit
of video in here so I can show you what I'm thinking look nice we've got a
little bit of reflection going on down there in the water so we got the house
and we've got the sky but the sky is quite bright when compared to the house
you see how that exposures changing that's because my camera meter is
changing the exposure according to what I've pointed out so it is your camera
meter always right let's take a picture if I just line the shot up
here we go I am on evaluative metering so if we just line that shot up is
measuring the entire scene and I take this picture wait for a gap in the
traffic and there it goes that's what we've got is that right dono
what do you want you have to realize that you have to be in control of your
your your photography you're the one who has to decide what you want so what if
we increase the exposure a little bit because I think that looked just a tad
dark how about this one let's try again there I've got a car in that one because
I don't waste time look first one a little bit darker next one a little bit
brighter so was the camera meter right or did I have to step in and tell it
what it needed to do let's just take a little look at that shall we so I'm
going to put my camera on to spot metering and let's do a spot meter now
my spot is pretty much in the middle of the frame so if I meter our shot it
looks like this mm not bad but what happens if the spot isn't on a darker
area what happens if the spot is somewhere else what happens if it was on
something a little brighter well that's not very good is it the spot was on that
horizon that bright area kind of underneath the tree what happens if the
spot is in a darker area if I move it so it goes in kind of under the bridge
where the water's quite dark there what's going to happen if we meter down
there if I just move it against it's not in the right place here we go I'm just
going to meet her down there and I'm not gonna wait for the traffic because again
we'll be here all day look at the difference right so these are all spot
metered which one is right see how these things start to join up
bit like a string of sausages the thing you've got to realize is spot metering
isn't best spot metering is more precise but unless you understand how a camera
meters light how into corporates that metering into what it's
going to do to your exposure it's just going to cause you confusion let's just
take a little look at that because in the vast majority of cases which
settings you apply I'm really going to make a lot of difference now here's our
shot let's just get it focused and lined up let's take that shot at six forty at
five six now let's take that shot at
250th of F eight now let's take that shot at one hundred and sixtieth at f/11
and have a little look back through them because look it's the same thing people
get terribly hung up as beginners and they make this huge mistake of trying to
copy settings the thing is settings change all the
time just now we had to pause filming because one of these little bits of
fluffy cloud going on up there went across the Sun it changed the light that
changes the settings unless you are shooting within the infinity distance of
the lens then the aperture isn't really going to make any difference and the
shutter speed is only there to control movement that's why there are so many of
them so unless you want to freeze or blur movement it ain't really gonna make
a great deal a difference yes they do but they do a lot more than that as well
look I'm gonna put my glasses down here let's just take a little picture off
them so if I move back a bit with the lens at about fifty five millimeters and
just get them in focus and take a shot then zoom the lens double the focal
length move back take the shot again put them in roughly
the same place I think there and if I double it again and take the same
picture again reckon it's about here and doing this very roughly there if we just
look at those pictures all three are different but the glasses are very much
the same size in each shot I've done a free video about this
I go way more in depth in one of my courses and it's a common mistake people
make they're cutting off so much of their own creativity now if you're
someone who's going to argue with what I've just demonstrated yes you're right
but it's a very technical explanation and if you're a beginner and you're
confused with some things you really want to go into all that stuff about
cropping away pixels and it's the distance not the lens the end effect is
make that longer move yourself the picture looks like this no don't what
they do is they make great image files but what you put into that image file
that's your choice that's not a camera function that is a photographer function
and I think this is probably one of the biggest mistakes a beginner photographer
can ever make think about it how often have you been
summer and you thought you'll have a little go at controlling the camera it's
not quite going as well as you'd hoped so you bang it onto Auto and you give
responsibility back to the camera but actually what the camera did an auto
still wasn't working either that's because of the other problems the other
beginner mistakes we've just been looking at now don't feel bad if you
don't know these things how can you know them there's loads of things we don't
know when we're beginning with something myself everybody in the world we've got
to begin somewhere we've got to learn somewhere so these are some of the
mistakes that you need to avoid great cameras this to me is the biggest do not
take great pictures they make great image files what's in those files is up
to you does your camera know what exposure it needs to take the picture
how bright or how dark does it know where to stand what angle to shoot from
to get a great composition does it know the decisive moment when to open the
shutter to capture a look to capture a glance to capture the Sun breaking
through the clouds to light up the mountains or to capture a lover's kiss
these are all photographer functions and you do need to know your camera settings
and your controls in order to string them together in the appropriate order
so that you can get the picture sausage time now look so look imagine
would you want the picture to look like where you gonna stand to take it what
exposure do you need to get it oh dear they're all sort of tied up together
which aperture which shutter speed which ISO how long a lens do you want etc all
these questions they all string together and that is your photo I'm sorry I
couldn't resist that but in all seriousness I'm pure confusion all the
rest of it yeah there's some great free training out there I totally agree but
if you didn't know which order to put together the information it's going to
add to your confusion rather than clear it up so I hope your these beginning
mistake 7 has some value to you if they have we'd really like to know more about
what's confusing you what are the things you're confused by what are the mistakes
you found yourself making what are the things you'd really work hard to try and
fix put them in the comments below because we'd love to hear from you and
maybe just maybe if you come up with a good enough question I might make a
video and give you a shout out to try and answer your specific question can't
promise those so don't be disappointed so um all these videos they come with a
free article by the way if you watch them on my website if you subscribe to
my newsletter which is popping out I think it's this site but it might be
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time see you next time oh got the sausage