New Camera Woes: Top 3 Problems Camera Owners Face & How to Fix Them | Tips from a Professional Photographer
As a professional photographer, two main questions I get asked all of the time — “What kind of camera should I get?” and “How do I use my new camera?”
First of all, if you are wondering what kind of camera is right for you, I have a Free Quick Guide for you here with my best recommendations!
But after you get a new NICE camera… then you realize that you don’t know how to use it.
A couple things typically happen:
You get overwhelmed and let it sit to collect dust… (if this is you, you’re not alone)
You skim the manual or google a few things on YouTube, only to still feel overwhelmed
Or maybe you dive in and try to start using it, but you run into issues — your images just don’t turn out how you want!
I get it.
In this blog post, I’m sharing the top three most common problems people have when they get a new camera and can't get their photos to turn out how they want them.
Top 3 Problems Camera Owners Face
1) General Know-How About Your New Camera
Like many others, you’ve probably felt like you’re going to mess something up if you start pushing buttons… am I right? Getting your first or a new DSLR or Mirrorless digital camera is exciting, until you are left feeling frustrated and overwhelmed. It usually comes with a manual the size of a book that NO ONE (nope, not even me) wants to read. You can also google YouTube videos to find something, but I know you don’t have time for that rabbit-hole, let alone getting distracted by other video recommendations that veer you completely off topic.
And unfortunately, no matter which camera you get, none of them make it easy to know what exactly you need to know or set up just to start taking photos, let alone get decent photos.
2) Blurry Images
One of the most common issues new camera owners face is their photos coming out blurry. This can happen for a number of reasons, including incorrect focus, lens or camera on manual focus mode, camera shake, slow shutter speeds, etc. Most of the time, this is caused by a slow shutter speed if you are shooting with your camera in auto-mode.
Listen, auto-mode is “supposed” to be a user-friendly way to use your new camera, but it often leads to more frustration and blurry photos, especially if you are shooting indoors or action shots — I see this the most with parents trying to photograph their kiddos’ sports games.
3) Images with Orange/Yellow Tones
Another common problem I see all of the time is looking at your photos you’ve taken and seeing that they all have a yellowy or orange tone to them that just don’t look good. Nine times out of ten, this is a culprit of shooting in auto-mode again. The camera takes over the camera settings so you don’t need to know how to do it, but it’s not always going to get it right. Many times, this is due to the white balance and these tones can occur when you are shooting indoors, especially with florescent lighting.
Maybe you’ve run into these too? So now what?
How to Fix These Problems
Here’s the deal, I know how frustrating and common these problems are. I actually want you to be able to use your camera so you can get good photos of your memories — your kiddos, family, vacations, experiences, etc.
But it doesn’t have to be as complicated as it seems.
First, without having to understand in-detail EVERYTHING about your camera, each button, all of the hundreds of settings and capabilities, and basically feeling like you need to take an Introduction to Photography 101 course just to figure out how to take a single picture, the only things you need to know are how to get your camera set up to shoot.
Plus, there are basics about your camera that you should know — like your main buttons, how to take the lens on and off, and how to care for your camera.
Then, while auto-mode can seem like a good idea for getting started, you know that you rarely end up with your photos looking like how you actually want them to look. So, there’s a super-simple way to teach you how to use manual mode settings to make your photos look great.
And maybe, you’ve also been dying to be able to take the type of photo where the background is nice and blurred, giving it that fancy portrait-look like your iPhone offers. You’re not the only one. This is easier than you may think, but you’re not going to be able to achieve that look in auto-mode.
I know that ALL of these things are near impossible to find without spending HOURS search and learning, which I know you don’t have time for.
Which is exactly why I created a Quick Course to teach you all of this in ONE course that’s less than 90-minutes.
You’ll get to know your camera, set it up to shoot, and learn 3 Simple Steps to using Manual Mode, plus get a Quick Reference Guide PDF to help you practice. AND, you’ll also get two bonus trainings: How to Get a Blurred Background and How to Get Rid of Orange/Yellow Tones.
Everything in ONE simple, quick course.
So, brush that dust off your camera and let’s dive in!
