When I first picked up a camera, I thought the road to becoming a professional photographer was simple—buy great gear, shoot beautiful images, and somehow success would follow. It didn’t take long to realize the journey is much more nuanced. Over the years, I’ve stumbled upon invaluable tips that are rarely discussed, but they can make all the difference.
Photography is often romanticized as purely creative, but the technical side is where magic happens—or fails. Early in my journey, I learned the hard way why you should always shoot RAW instead of JPEG. During one shoot, a client unexpectedly requested dramatic edits, and my JPEG files just couldn’t handle the adjustments. Shooting in RAW gives you the flexibility to salvage a poorly exposed image or fine-tune colors in post-processing.
Another underrated skill? Mastering manual focus. If You are shooting a macro shot of a delicate flower, and the autofocus keeps locking onto the wrong parts. Switching to manual focus will not only save the shot but give you complete control over what you want the image to look like. It’s even more critical in low light or for action shots, where anticipating motion and focusing “just behind” your moving subject can lead to breathtaking results.
Lastly, remember that color temperature goes beyond white balance. I’ll never forget the time I shot a winter wedding indoors under harsh tungsten lights—my images turned out warm and orange until I adjusted the color temperature manually. Knowing to evaluate the light before taking the photos eliminates looking like an amateur and makes your work look professional, even before editing.
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