Photo How To

If you’re just starting out in photography, there’s a lot of information to absorb. And while much of that info is important to know, it can get a bit overwhelming. Pierre T. Lambert is a photographer who seen and learned a lot, and his YouTube channel has great tips and tricks to help you cut through the clutter of f/stops and ISOs, to get to what’s most critical.

In the below video, Lambert shares with you three things he wished he knew before he started in photography. Here’s a rundown of those three key points, which demonstrates in the video.

#1 Lenses are 1000x more important than your camera body

“When we start photography we often get caught up in gear and camera bodies. The real question is what lens should you buy! The lenses have a much bigger impact on your photos than the body of the camera. Lenses will define if your shots are sharp, can have a shallow depth of field, can shoot in lower light, what type of bokeh you will have etc... To get the best photos possible from the beginning get a great lens with a low aperture like a 50mm f/1.8 for example.”

#2 Minimum shutter speed lock function

“I've talked a lot about it in my videos. Once more this is something I wish I had discovered way before. Minimum shutter speed allows you to tell your photography camera not to shoot under a defined shutter speed. Meaning when you shoot in aperture priority mode (you only control the aperture) the camera will change not allow the shutter speed to be slower than what you defined. This really helps get sharp and crispy shots no matter what conditions you are in. Automatically cameras always drag the shutter and we end up with blurry shots. Thanks to this it won't.”

#3 Editing your images

“Sounds silly but when I first started, I didn't even know people edited their pictures. I had no clue why mine didn't look as good as the ones on the magazines. Skill was #1 reason but editing was the 2nd. Editing your photos allows you to achieve the look you want. Think of it as your personal touch on images. Yes, you can use presets and filters, but I highly encourage you to start from scratch for yourself.”

Check out more of his videos on his YouTube channel. Beginner photographers should also watch this video on seven ways you are using your camera wrong, and this one on three common mistakes that all novice photographers make.