A friend recently told me that my photos are amazing! I honestly responded that I only show the good stuff — no one sees the 123 photos I deleted because of all the trial and error.

It’s just part of my photographic journey. So have I gotten to the point where I only take amazing photos? Of course not. Just the other day, I spent more time than I will admit photographing something, throwing up my hands, and deleting the entire day’s photographs. The entire camera card was filled with mistakes.

It’s easy to make the same photography mistakes over and over, especially when you’re just starting out. It’s even easier for someone who has been shooting for over a decade to make the same mistakes. Not so easy to admit it but by admitting it, I can grow. It was true for me because as soon as I started overcoming one set of mistakes, I started making new ones. I believe that it takes a lifetime to learn photography, and even then, with that length of time I am sure I will still be making plenty of mistakes.

Recently, I dug through my images and found some photos from the very first year my husband, Dave, bought me my digital camera. I remember being thrilled with what I captured. Then, when I looked the other day, the first thought was “Who took these awful images?” I did, but I am glad I did not delete them. Each one had a mistake but at the time, I was so proud of myself.

I was at a workshop and the instructor told us to take our cameras off auto. He told us: “To really improve as a photographer, the first thing you’ll have to do is get out of auto and start using camera modes, like aperture priority mode and manual mode. These will give you more control over your exposure settings so you’re the one making decisions, not your camera. Be sure to pay attention what settings you’re using and how they affect the overall image.

The more comfortable you are telling the camera what to do; the more likely it is you’ll get the photos you want rather than settling for something that looks just OK.”

I froze. I can’t leave the auto function. I can’t. So I pretended to move the dial and was outside shooting when my instructor noticed that I was still in auto mode and stood while I changed the dial to aperture priority mode. My hands were shaking as I numbly went along photographing flowers and bugs. I took some really bad photos that day, but I also took some pretty neat shots! The instructor encouraged me by saying it takes time and practice. Now instead of panic, when I do shoot in manual, I do it with confidence.

The rules

There are lots of articles out there with lists of photography rules for improving composition. Rules are made to be broken and in photography this is the safest way to do any rule breaking.

The rule of thirds is a way to divide each shot into a three-by-three grid and place the subject along the points where they intersect. As a beginner I had no idea what this was. For beginners who don’t know how to exactly frame a photograph, this rule will be a tremendous help.

When picking up the camera I ask myself “What do I want? What is my subject?” I want to emphasize what is my most important reason for this shot. I might want the photo to be mysterious and make the viewer have to question everything they know to figure out the image. Sometimes I want to capture that special moment. Sometimes I want to convey an emotion. So when picking up a camera, ask “WHY?” first.

A few years ago, I convinced myself that once I got to a certain level in my photography, I could sit back and reap the rewards of my efforts by announcing to myself that I had arrived. I know where to stand, what settings to use, when I need a filter, a tripod, and how to get that amazing image. But then I hear about other techniques and I realize I haven’t arrived.

My goals are to keep improving and try new things and get of my comfort zone.

Being creative with photography is great, but it’s easy to get carried away and push things too far. Some of the common styles photographers like to attempt include oversaturating photos, selectively de-saturating photos except for one single color, “artistically” missing focus, using a vignette on everything and high dynamic range photography.

Years ago when the Palmerton Camera Club President Connie Reinhart asked who post-processes their photographs I raised my hand. I post-process them right out of the camera and onto the computer and into my thumb drives. And, then I didn’t raise my hand to offer my genius technique because people started talking a strange language: Lightroom, Photoshop, and other foreign words. So now when asked, I am proud when I say Lightroom.

If you want to learn about photography or the workings of your camera, Palmerton Camera Club is the place to be. Meetings are held at 7:30 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of the month from September through June, with changes to the third Thursday in November and December at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church on 502 Lafayette Avenue in Palmerton.