7 Common MISTAKES Beginner PHOTOGRAPHERS Make

These are 7 mistakes that pretty much every photographer will make, but they are easy to avoid, and learn from!

NIKON GEAR (Main STILLS camera)

FILM GEAR

OTHER PHOTO GEAR

00:00 - Intro
01:16 - Trusting your gear
02:15 - Not checking your images
03:08 - Using the wrong focal length
05:07 - Wasting the foreground
05:53 - Not knowing your camera's features
07:30 - Always shooting at low ISO
08:49 - Over-editing images

[jamesvoiss]

Nigel, one of the things I find so valuable about your videos is the humility and humanity you bring to your presentations. You are consistently so open to talking about times you have made mistakes. That puts those of us who are not so accomplished much more at ease in looking at the limitations in our own work. You really are an excellent mentor and teacher. Thank you!

[paulcollier]

Wasn't aware about auto focus stacking! just checked my camera and there it is! Thank you!

[williammccracken]

I have done most of the things you are talking about. a technique I learned with handholding my Nikon. Set camera to continuous shooting. I find the second or third shot is always in focus.

[funkamnkey]

Over-editing has always been my downfall but lately I have been going back and resetting those edits. I think I over edit photos that aren't great and I'm trying to make them work. Sometimes, move to bin is the best course of action.

[jensbjorkkvist]

Framing is something i had to learn the hard way, to make sure the subject is framed with thing that make sense, not to have a half tree on the edge or a branch sticking out from nowhere. And its more important when shooting in 24MP since cropping gets more sensetive

[imac]

Great tips as always - time to remember all this for my photos - check those settings and that manual focus

[nespressoman]

I found your channel today. It’s brilliant, thank you.

[krimke]

That "overedited" is what instagram consists of. especially the sites that "promotes" locations.

[garrydelday]

Made the same mistake shooting the Volcano eruption in Fagradalsfjall, Iceland back in 2021, took probably 100 shots as a complete beginner and 80% of them were out of focus (simply didn’t know enough about shooting in low light at the time) I did manage to salvage a couple of shots in post but a classic example of almost screwing up a once in a lifetime moment, going back next week whilst another eruption is taking place (your drone image) and will have to evaluate whether it’s worth a two hour hike nearer the time (option is there) Understanding how your camera works is a must, mistakes are inevitable but we should all learn from them 😉👍

[joaodomingues]

Hello Nigel,
Yes, I’ve made all of these and more! 😅 Thanks for this content and length. I don’t have much paciente for lengthy videos. To be honest your’s are the rare ones I watch above 15 minutes… 😊 Thanks

[andreasgiobel]

Good job!
Photographing is complicated as we see different things.

At 4:13 you would like the mountain on the right more in frame, I would add more to the left as the braking waves on the left are my focus point, It depends on how you look at an image….but this is hard judge if you aren’t at location.

I use the tele lenses quite a bit for some years, I kind of feel when need to use wide/ultra wide, the usually means something interesting close up in the foreground.

The mistake l make often is being lazy.
That meant I needed a second camera body with with 2 prepared solutions for a smoother experience without laziness in optics swapping

[Retset]

A timely video for I am in the middle of trading in all my old gear with MPB for a Nikon Z6 and f4 24-70mm. I've never owned a Nikon before so I'll really need to spend some time to work out how to get the best from this camera. The 100% preview button is a really superb idea that I shall definitely implement! The mistake I've made the most is trying to AEB a high dynamic scene but being unable to merge the images due to tree branches moving or thinking I could hand hold it because the 5 images were taken so quickly - but not quick enough!

[debbieharry-clarke]

I always read the manuals from front to back of all my cameras before I use them. I also have the manuals downloaded on my phone to refer back to, but I know them like the back of my hand now.

[jpdj]

Focus- made the same mistake with switching to M and forgetting to go back to AF. And the small display was not big enough to become aware of it. It's why I would always shoot tethered to a computer with big display in a studio-type shoot - as my studio (lighting, background) is all mobile, when I rent a van and bring that out, the tethering comes too. As an old film-fart, I'm not used to "chimping" but assume I'm not making mistakes, "as I never would with film".

[markbonham]

Great update and agree with all the points, especially over-editing. One thing I have to do myself is watch that I do not “snatch” when taking a photo and try to be smoother in how it do things. I now try to be calm, watch the breathing and take my time. 👏👍

[BrianLiming]

We went to Hawaii last fall and didn't really understand the drone as well as I should have. Great photos but missed tthe best shots. Will fix that on the next trip in a month. Lots of practice this summer.

[mawavoy]

The drone shot looks fantastic on my phone. The tips are great reminders. Thanks for sharing.

[pix-point]

I am just back vom Svalbard myself, with my new Z8 (which I learned to use during the trip)
I had a similar situation with a polar bear in the rocks on an overcast day.
I used my adapted SIGMA 150-600 at 600mm with 1/1600s, f8 and ISO 1000 to shoot from a boat (about 150m away).
Although the animal eye detection locked onto the eye of the bear the pictures all came out some grainy (not bad, but still not tack sharp).
Probably I made something wrong, which proves your point of always knowing your gear.

[danieldeemer]

Thanks again for the great video Nigel. You're my go-to guy for instruction on how to improve my work. I appreciate how much time and effort you put into these videos! Cheers from Lake Tahoe, CA!

[ThePhotographyHobbyist]

3:30 I've owned a few ultra-wide zooms in the past but I always get rid of them because I rarely find myself in a place that has a scene good enough to include everything at 15mm for example. These days, I rarely ever find myself wishing I had something wider than 24mm, except for maybe indoors in a museum or something like that. I usually feel right at home with a 24-120 or 24-200 range and usually don't feel like I'm missing anything.