The median wage for professional photographers is just over $48,000 a year. It’s not a bad way to make a living, especially if you love photography.
There are many ways to be a professional photographer. You can work as a freelancer, take wedding photos, or work for magazines. You could also become a fine art photographer.
In order to get known, you’ll need to give your work a definitive style. Learn the basics of taking professional photos, and that will happen with practice and experience.
In the meantime, read this guide to learn the art of taking photos that look professional.
Table of Contents
Image Composition
Composition is the first thing that people notice in a photo. It’s how the image draws attention and keeps it for a while.
You can use symmetry, offset the focal point, or utilize negative space. A beginner photographer should use the rule of thirds to compose images.
This is where you break the frame down into three horizontal and vertical lines. You can use this to balance the subject of an image.
As you get more advanced, you can use the Fibonacci Sequence to create your images. This is best for images that you can completely control, such as still life or portrait photography.
Lighting
Lighting is another element of photography. You can use the camera’s settings (ISO, shutter speed, and aperture) to control the amount of light that hits the camera’s sensor.
That lets you manipulate the light that you have available. You should understand how each setting impacts the final image.
An image taken in a low-lit room would need to have a high ISO setting. This could create a lot of noise in the image that you’d have to clean up in editing.
Another option is to use a slower shutter speed. That controls how long a shutter is open, which can make your subject blurry.
Editing
You’d need to have completely perfect conditions for your image, but there’s a good chance that you missed something. You might have someone walking through your shot in the background.
There could be a small detail that affects the outcome of the photo.
Editing helps you clean up the imperfections and give your image a stylized look. You can remove background from an image to start the editing process.
That lets you focus completely on the subject of the image.
Learning
As you study the essential areas of photography, look at photos from other professionals. Check out magazines that feature your favorite type of photography.
A beginner photographer can look at the photos from their favorite professional photographer. Use it as an exercise to guess where the light is coming from and how they got that shot.
You can try to recreate the images on your own.
Take Professional Photos as a Beginner Photographer
It takes a lot of practice and studying to take professional photos as a new photographer. Learn how to compose, light, and edit images.
Now that you know how to take photos, you’ll want to show off your skills. Check out the blog for travel inspiration so you can take incredible photos.