These days, every other person out there thinks that they are a photographer.
Of course, if you want to be a professional photographer you have to take that expertise of yours well beyond the realm of dabbling with the common smartphone.
Here is a list of the most common challenges that every amateur photographer faces, and how to overcome them.
The Challenges Faced By Amateur Photographers, And Their Fixes
The Challenge
You need a good monitor; one that is color calibrated,
The Colors are too strong and veering on the unrealistic. Of course, it is pretty much the norm these days to be as creative as one possibly can, when playing with color. However, you need a certain level of experience to do the same unabashedly, or your end image might not be all that striking.
The Fix – Firstly, you need a good monitor; one that is color calibrated. You cannot retouch an image if you cannot see the true colors, right?
Also, instead of merely increasing that saturation slider, you might want to find images where the natural colors in the scenes are already strong.
The Challenge
Usually the simple solution to this problem is using a tripod or a monopod.
Your images come out blurry. You will find that this is one of the most common problems that amateur photographers face. And it is a big one. The last thing you would want is for that image of yours to be blurred, right?
The Fix – Usually the simple solution to this problem is using a tripod or a monopod (this one in low light conditions). This is because it is pretty obvious that not enough light is reaching the sensor.
You could also use a higher ISO setting for faster shutter speeds, or even use flash in order to freeze any sort of movement.
The Challenge
Red Eye.
Red Eye. This one commonly happens when the flash in the cameras of photographers, reflects off the retinas of light-eyedpeople.
The Fix – You could avoid your camera’s flash whenever you can, and perhaps even have your subject look away from the cameras when you are taking that photo.
A last resort would be to increase the brightness in the room in order to let the maximum light into the subject’s eyes so as to let their pupils shrink.
The Challenge
Underexposed picture.
The Pictures are Underexposed. This one happens when there is not enough light that is reaching the sensor when the picture is taken, causing the images to appear dark.
The Fix – If you can see on your LCD screen that a picture looks underexposed, you can try and open the aperture with a view to allowing more light in.
Another thing you could do would be to adjust the exposure n a DSLR and select the ‘plus’ to add lighter, usually in increments of ½ stops.
The Challenge
Overexposed picture.
The Pictures are Overexposed. On the contrary, your pictures might at times be overexposed on account of too much light hitting the sensor.
This can happen on bright days or in the case of subjects that are of light-colored skin.
The Fix – You can correct overexposure by underexposing the image by choosing -0.5 or -1 and therein seeing if more detail has been retained. Alternatively, you could use spot metering for more accurate results.
For instance, picking a grey mid-toned area in your image as the guideline.
The Challenge
Your HDR is heavy-handed.
Your HDR is heavy-handed. Who doesn’t use HDR? The only problem is when people use so much of it that they lose a sense on the actual image they want to showcase.
The Fix – Try and take some details out of the shadows, and perhaps bring in the whites a little so you get better dynamic range.
The idea here is to find that fine line between what is real and ensuring the image looks as good as possible.
You want that image to work by adding just the right amount of HDR effects.