Which of these mistakes do you make the most?

Whether you are a hobbyist or a pro, mistakes in photography are not uncommon.Here are tips about how to avoid them

Know your craft well and take control of the camera, not the other way around

It’s not uncommon for early photographers to make mistakes. Whether you are a hobbyist or an early photographer or even a pro, everyone makes mistakes. If you are a newbie, the earlier you notice the mistakes more there is scope to improve. These tips will help you identify a few common mistakes photographers make and how to avoid them.

Exposure: A common mistake that photographers do in a hurry to get the right moment is over-expose or under-expose a picture. While there is some room to recover under-exposed pictures, over-exposing burns the picture and there is a loss of information, especially when shooting under bright sunlight outdoors. Master the basics: shutter, aperture and ISO.

Focusing: Manual focus can be fun, but the slightest variation can lead to a blurry or unsharp picture. There is very little room to fix this in post-processing. The slightest movement while clicking the shutter button or by the subject can lead to out-of-focus images. Newer cameras are equipped with a built-in focus lock which tracks the moving subject as you shoot which is close to impossible in manual focus. So, it’s okay to shoot in autofocus mode where the camera does all the work.

An expensive camera does not mean anything: What matters is the eye behind the camera. While a good camera or an expensive mobile phone camera is always nice to own, it will not automatically take amazing pictures on its own. A photographer with an eye for detail can produce good pictures with any camera because he/she will know the basics like exposure, ISO, aperture, composition, perspective and lighting and would have captured hundreds of images.

Background: For an image to stand out, the background plays as important a role as the subject itself. Avoid any distractions like a tree or a pole behind the subject. Look for a clean uniform background which makes your subject stand out. Shoot different angles and not just at eye level.

Reviewing too much or too little: Some photographers forget to review their pictures. They might have settings from the previous shoot or might be shooting in different modes altogether. Both of which are hard to undo. On the other hand, there are others who spend so much time reviewing that they miss out on shooting good pictures. The next tip will tell you how to fix this.

Check that urge to rush: Don’t! Pause, compose, shoot, review, re-align, compose and shoot again. Photographers tend to hurry things fearing they will miss the right moment. A good photographer plans in advance and waits for the right moment. Planning involves visualisation, knowing the exact spot to wait, getting the settings right, and much more —the more you do, the better you get at it.

Over-editing: It’s a trend to add random filters to photos or drag the saturation bar to max. While it’s not totally wrong, not all photos require this treatment. Stick to basic cropping, tweak a bit here and there and see if the image does not look unreal.

Pre-shoot and post-shoot homework: Not doing enough research on the subject or place you want to capture will ensure that you are unprepared. Pack the right gear, and check batteries and memory cards. Post-shoot involves evaluating how the shoot went, what worked and what did not, editing the pictures, and learning for the next shoot.

Know your craft well and take control of the camera, not the other way around. It can be complicated, but over time you will master it. Even after taking pictures for close to a decade now, I still make mistakes. And it’s okay. Mistakes only open vast opportunities to learn and improve. You are not alone in making them, so have fun while you learn. Concentrate and get a hang of the basic controls. Practice shooting and more importantly, enjoy the process.

Lenscraft is a monthly column on all things photography — tips, tricks and everything in between.

The writer is a photojournalist who tells stories with his pictures. Find his pictures on Twitter and Instagram @pushkarv