Where it all began

 As a photographer, I get asked questions every day from people starting out on their journey or just people looking for advice on how to take better photos so I thought I would write a few little blogs of how I got started and tips that helped me along the way and the mistakes I made so you can not make the same mistakes.


Where did it all begin? I first got into photography in 2015, My mother in law had taken a photo of my son who was 2 at the time he was looking at this bubble in the air and my mother in law had snapped the perfect picture you could see how amazed he was by this bubble and feel the moment he was feeling I remember being like wow that is amazing I would love to be able to take a photo like that. Fast forward 6 months I have my first camera and started my journey.

So I had a half-decent camera cost me around £300 so that's it I should be able to take amazing high-quality photos right? NOPE believe it or not just going out and buying a decent camera is not going to make you take amazing photos sorry for this little bit of negativity but it's something you need to hear. 

So what you ask? Well, let me give you a little advise it does not matter if you have a Canon 1200D that cost £300 which was my first camera, or a Canon 90D which cost £1500 which I have now unless you put the work in to learn your camera you won't get the pictures you really want. 

So let's get started you have your camera now turn that little dial and move away from Auto mode trust me you will be ok I'll guide you through. 

Now we are in Manual mode so whats next? Well, what is it you want to take a photo of? That is the first question to always ask yourself, What am I taking a photo of? Let's for example say you are taking a photo of your children playing in the garden they are going to be moving a little but not too much so lets set our Shutter speed to 250th of a second great that will capture the photo without there being any photo blur, Next, how do you want the phot to look? Do you want to only see your child? or do you want the swing behind them the garden shed etc in the photo? Let's say we only want your child in the photo now set your F stop or Aperture as it is also called to around 2.8 or the lowest you can get it if you are using a kit lens.

Great! Now we need to set the ISO well the trick here is you have already decided what you are taking a photo of and what you want to see if the photo and have already set the settings so now look through your viewfinder and set the ISO so the exposure line is in the middle of your little guide. now take your photo there you go. 


Now before you look at your photo and hate what you see remember the photos you see on Facebook, Google, Twitter, or where ever you have seen it have not just come straight out of the camera the photographer has edited them that way. The biggest tip I can give you is to NOT compare yourself to anyone else, I wish someone had said that to me when I first started. The number of times I put my self down because my photos are not as good as his or hers and sometimes I still do but the main thing is to snap out of it you are unique so your photos do not look like theirs so what, As long as you are happy that's all that matters you will always get people who LOVE your work and others who will not and choose to put you down don't let them if you love taking photos then continue to do so. 

When I started I got so wrapped up on how my photos did not look like someone else I actually gave up I put the camera in a draw for 12 months decided I could not do it. One day I finally decided that was it I was going to learn it and become a better photographer and I have never looked back.


Let me give you a few examples of the first images I had taken, Bare in mind these were "The best" of my photos at the time. 






The top was taken in 2015 of my wife and daughter in October 2015 yes it's not a bad photo since I was still in auto mode at the time but keep in mind I took around 200 photos and managed to get maybe 2 ok ones. 

The photo to the left was taken the same day but looks completely different. 

Let's jump forward to 2020



This was taken in July 2020 now they are completely different pictures, different sunlight, different time of the year different locations but to get this photo I took 2 pictures in manual mode as I already knew what I wanted to achieve.

Once you begin taking photos you will adapt and learn new ways to take photos every day is a school day even for me now 5 years into my photography journey I still learn new things I still struggle in some lighting situations but don't give up. You will also decide the type of photos you enjoy to take for me I love sports photography which is probably one of the hardest types there is. 

As we come to a close on my first blog I would like to thank you for reading where it all began for me as I continue to write my blogs I will be bringing you tips and tricks to help YOU become a better photographer. 

If you have any questions or would like some advice you can catch me on any of my social media accounts just search for Grifftersworld. 

Until next time, Continue to take them photos and never give up. 


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