What's the most common mistake that beginners make in photography?
Catharine Lemke
2025-10-13 04:51:42
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: 17
One of the most common is trying to include too many subjects in a frame. It’s tempting to go wide and capture everything when you’re in a new place, but that often creates cluttered, confusing photos. Kay explains that learning to simplify a composition by focusing on one main subject helps you establish a visual hierarchy so the viewer knows exactly what to pay attention to. Shooting wide open at f/1.4 or f/1.8 all the time isn’t always the best choice, even if that’s why you bought the lens. Kay explains that most lenses aren’t at their sharpest wide open, and stopping down to f/5.6 or f/8 can give you sharper results with less vignetting and fewer aberrations. He also makes an important distinction between a stylistic choice and a mistake. A blurry image from poor focus or a slow shutter isn’t a creative mood; it’s an error. The key is building enough technical control to shoot sharp when you want to and then being able to break that sharpness intentionally when it serves your vision. Beginners often swap advice with other beginners, but that can limit growth. Kay stresses the importance of finding mentors who are at least one step ahead: people with proven experience or recognition.
Afton Moore
2025-10-13 01:04:08
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: 21
One important thing I’ve learned during my early days, is that it’s better to have too many photos of a specific subject than not enough. I’ve often snapped one or two images of one scene and moved on, which often led to disappointment later while browsing through my images. When capturing landscape images or street scenes, a common mistake I made was to try to include too much information and forget to focus on one subject or point of interest. Many of my landscape scenes were too boring and lacked a point of interest, and most of my street shots were extremely cluttered and appeared confusing to my viewers. I sometimes focused too much on a specific subject that I didn’t pay any attention to the background. A common belief when I first started was that the best time to photograph is during midday, when there’s plenty of light available.
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