# Tips for a beginner in photography



## EA James (17 Mar 2021)

Hi all,

It was my birthday on monday and the Mrs got me a camera, First proper camera I've owned! Up until now I've only ever used my phone to take pics but I've always liked the idea of a camera to get some better quality images. Especially of the fishtank 
I enjoy taking pictures so I'm quite looking forward to getting on with it, but... I have no clue of where to start!

Does anyone have any tips or guidance for me? Or maybe a suggestion of a good Youtube channel to watch or something? Basically anything to get me familiar with some of the terms and techniques that are used. 

The camera is a Sony DSC HX400V, If anyone has the same one as me I'd be interested to know how you get on with it

Cheers


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## dean (17 Mar 2021)

Happy belated Birthday 

Don’t be afraid of it 
You can’t break a camera by pushing buttons 
Take it out of automatic mode 
I’m a canon user so can’t help with your model 

Look for a local camera club 
Or maybe do a basic qualification such as an NCFE level 1 in photography- it’s for beginners so don’t worry about not knowing what you are doing, that’s the point of the course 

Explore the different types of photography to find which ones really interest you 

Remember you aren’t going to be the best wildlife photographer in the next year 
But don’t be too critical on yourself either 

The most important thing I believe is to get your photos printed either at home or via a website and do them A4 size so you can appreciate and keep them 
It will also give you an easy way to know if you are progressing 
The photo you take at the start that you think is brilliant you will look back at in time and think “if I’d only of just done that it would of been a much better image”

Above all just enjoy it 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## sparkyweasel (18 Mar 2021)

All good advice from @dean . 
I would add 'take loads of pics'. It's cheap to experiment, not like when you had to pay for film and processing, and then wait before you could see the results.
Happy birthday!


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## Simmo (18 Mar 2021)

Good thread on here somewhere on techniques for  taking photos of an aquarium, if you can’t find it with search I tagged the author somewhere in my Journal ‘First effort a rod for my back’ it talks to some of the basics like having good lighting from above, turning off other lights in the room and depth of field  basics IIRC. A tripod is useful but not essential IMO, it allows you to take photos in lower light conditions with less chance of camera shake that causes blurry images
HTH


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## PARAGUAY (18 Mar 2021)

I agree with @sparkyweasal you usually get a decent one or two that way. Further info Nigel 95 " How to make the best photo possible of your planted tank" in Photography


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## dcurzon (18 Mar 2021)

Remember that animals have an uncanny ability to pose nicely right up until the camera grabs a focus, and then they move.
Always lots of pigeons about for practice


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## EA James (18 Mar 2021)

Nice one @dean, I didn't think of a course! I'll look into that. At the moment I'm just flicking through all the different settings trying to get familiar with what its got to offer, which seems like a lot! 
Great idea about printing them off too, I could keep them in a file and go back through them. Do you get them printed or do it yourself? 



sparkyweasel said:


> Happy birthday!


Thank you 

Cheers @Simmo I'll have a read up on that later 

Thanks @PARAGUAY I usually take quite a few of the fish as they're never in the same place so it takes a good couple to get a decent shot



dcurzon said:


> Remember that animals have an uncanny ability to pose nicely right up until the camera grabs a focus, and then they move.
> Always lots of pigeons about for practice


I have 7 kids, I don't need pigeons 🤣🤣


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