Photography Tips for Beginners

This page contains a collection of articles we have written for those who are just getting into photography. These photography tips for beginners should hopefully help our readers to enhance their knowledge of photography and get the best out of their equipment.

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Photography gear and how to buy it:

1. What is a DSLR?
2. DSLR vs Point and Shoot
3. How to Buy a DSLR Camera
4. Which Nikon DSLR to Buy First?
5. How to Buy Used Lenses
6. How to Buy Used DSLR Cameras
7. Beware of buying camera gear from unauthorized sellers
8. Nikon vs Canon vs Sony
9. Where to Buy a DSLR
10. Must-have DSLR Accessories
11. How to Choose and Buy a Tripod for a DSLR Camera
12. Which Nikon Prime Lens to Buy First?
13. First Nikon DSLR and Lens
14. Nikon Lens Naming Convention / Nomenclature
15. Nikon DSLR Error Messages
16. How to fix blinking “Err” error on new Nikon DSLR Cameras
17. Best Nikon lenses for Wedding Photography
18. Best Nikon lenses for Landscape Photography
19. Best Nikon lenses for Wildlife Photography
20. Things to Do After Buying a New Lens
21. Diseases that Plague Photographers

Cleaning and maintaining camera gear:

1. How to Wet Clean your DSLR Sensor in Less Than 5 Minutes (video tutorial)
2. How to Clean DSLR Sensor and Keep Your Camera Gear Clean (video tutorial)
3. How to Clean SLR Camera Lenses
4. What to Do with Dust Inside Lens
5. How to Store Memory Cards
6. Dead vs Stuck vs Hot Pixels
7. Nikon Quality Control Issues

Understanding basics of photography:

1. Understanding ISO – A Beginner’s Guide
2. Understanding Aperture – A Beginner’s Guide
3. Understanding Shutter Speed – A Beginner’s Guide
4. Understanding Digital Camera Modes
5. Understanding Metering and Metering Modes
6. Understanding ISO, Shutter Speed and Aperture – A Beginner’s Guide
7. DSLR Autofocus Modes Explained
8. How Phase Detection Autofocus Works
9. Prime vs Zoom Lenses
10. Nikon AE-L / AF-L Button
11. Focus and Recompose Technique
12. What is White Balance?
13. Understanding Histograms in Photography
14. Nikon DX vs FX
15. How to Spot Dust on Your DSLR Sensor

Other Photography Tips

1. Food Photography Tips: Introduction
2. Best Nikon Lenses for Food Photography
3. How to Use a Monopod
4. Maximizing Dynamic Range
5. Photoshop vs Lightroom
6. What is Photography Workflow?
7. Lens Filters Explained
8. What is Bokeh?
9. How to Obtain Maximum Bokeh
10. How to Take Good Pictures
11. How to Take Sharp Photos
12. Landscape Photography Guide
13. Must-Have Filters for Landscape Photography
14. Panoramic Photography Howto
15. How to Take Black and White Pictures
16. Low-Light Photography Tips
17. How to use a Polarizer
18. Mountain Photography Tips
19. Nature Photography Tips
20. HDR Photography Tutorial
21. How to Photograph Textures
22. How to Photograph Waterfalls
23. How to Photograph the Moon
24. How to Photograph a Lunar Eclipse
25. How to Photograph a Solar Eclipse
26. How to Photograph Fireworks
27. How to Photograph a Lightning
28. How to Find Total Shutter Actuations on Nikon and Canon DSLRs
29. Bokeh on Point and Shoot Cameras
30. Astrophotography: taking pictures of stars
31. Focal length comparison on Nikon DX (1.5 crop factor) cameras
32. Nikon Lens Bokeh Performance
33. First Nikon Lens?
34. Nikon Firmware Update

Case Study series:

1. Case Study: Skin Color Problems
2. Case Study: Image Spots and Streaks
3. Case Study: Bird Photography
4. Case Study: Image Quality
5. Case Study: Exposure at Night
6. Case Study: Night Shot

Photography FAQ series:

1. Photography FAQ #1
2. Photography FAQ #2
3. Photography FAQ #3
4. Photography FAQ #4
5. Photography FAQ #5

Hardware and software tips/reviews:

1. Cloud Storage for Photographers
2. How to Recover Deleted Photographs From Memory Cards
3. How to Calibrate Your Monitor
4. Best Monitor for Photography
5. Is your Browser Color-Managed?
6. What is EXIF Data?
7. How to remove EXIF Data?
8. How to Organize Pictures
9. DNG vs RAW format
10. How to view DNG thumbnails in Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7
11. RAW vs JPEG format
12. Nikon RAW (NEF) Codec for 64 bit Vista or Windows 7

Building and Maintaining a Photography Blog:

1. How to Create a Photography Blog – Part 1
2. How to Create a Photography Blog – Part 2
3. How to Create a Photography Blog – Part 3
4. How to Create a Photography Blog – Part 4

Legal:

1. Know Your Rights as a Photographer!