People in different parts of the world use their smartphones to take selfies and random photos, especially when they meet with friends or visit new places. Some of them do it for memory-keeping, while others decide to take this opportunity to enhance their photography skills. If you are one of those who are passionate about photography, you can also turn your random photo-taking into an excellent opportunity. You can become a hobbyist photographer, or you can even start a small photography business, especially if you can upgrade your skills.

Skills and Techniques that Enhance Your Photography Skills

If you decide to pursue photography as a hobby, you need to keep learning new techniques and invest in the right tools. This way, you will know how to use the right techniques and build an impressive photography portfolio. To help you get started, here are some basic techniques that you need to learn:

• Learn the basics about the exposure triangle—The exposure triangle may seem like a very technical term, but you need to learn about it to start producing better photos. It makes up three important variables that affect the quality of the photos you produce. You need to learn how to balance each of them to ensure that your photos will have the highest quality possible. The following make up the exposure triangle:
  • Aperture— Aperture refers to the measurement of how wide or narrow the lens’s iris is. If you use a wider aperture, this will allow you to let more light reach the lens. If you want to use a wider aperture (wider lens opening), you have to use a lower f-number on the camera settings. The opposite is done for a narrow aperture. Take note that camera lenses often produce the sharpest images around f/5.6 or f/8. However, if you want to play with camera focus, you can use a different setting for your photos.
  • Shutter— Understanding the shutter speed is essential, especially if you want to focus on shooting moving objects. Using a higher shutter speed allows you to stop motion virtually. This means you can successfully produce high-quality photos even if you capture a fast-moving subject, e.g., wildlife and athletes.
  • ISO—ISO settings allow you to control the camera sensor’s sensitivity to light. This means, if you use a higher ISO setting, you will produce a brighter image. However, higher ISO often produces grain or noise. Thus, you have to do your best to use the lowest possible ISO setting for images.
• Study about the rule of thirds—The rule of thirds is ideal for photographers who want to do away with the concept that subjects should stay centered. This means this allows photographers to play with how they position their subjects. Imagine that the image that you will capture is divided into nine equal parts. The rule is to place your main subject on the left or right third, leaving an open space for other elements on the remaining thirds of the image.
• Know the proper way of holding your camera—You also need to learn the proper way of handling your camera. The best technique to bring your arms closer to your body so you can avoid unnecessary camera shakes. Make sure that your gadget remains steady while you are capturing photos, even when capturing unmoving objects.

Additional Pointers

You don’t really need to collect the most expensive photography tools and gadgets to build an impressive portfolio. The key is to invest in the right tools and implement the right techniques in capturing different subjects. Make sure that you also back up all your data every time you finish a photoshoot. You can get an external hard drive and look for a trusted cloud photo storage where you can keep all your raw and edited photos. This way, you will avoid losing all the photos from your camera roll. Ensure that you also find out how to automate storing all the captured pictures to automatically back up everything while you are still busy shooting or editing pictures.

Having the basic tools and knowing the right techniques will help you enhance your photography skills. At the same time, you will learn the best methods in editing or enhancing photos. With this, you can continue pursuing your hobby in photography. If you want to make a business out of it, you also need to educate yourself about the business side of things. This means you also need to know essential things about running a business. You have to discover how to promote your portfolio effectively so that you can get more clients. Continue learning new skills and staying updated about the newest trends and tools in photography. This way, you can equip yourself with the right knowledge and skills to become a successful hobbyist photographer.