The reason we're sharing Ten Things You Wish You Knew Before Starting Photography is because we want to help new photographers avoid some of the surprises and mistakes many of us make along the way. Photography is rewarding, but there are a lot of aspects that you may not know about when you get started.

Ten Things You Wish You Knew Before Starting Photography

Why ten things?

Well, why not? There are probably many more things you wish you knew before starting photography, but we've tried to condense them into a manageable list. You'll hear us expand upon the items on the list during the podcast, and see it in the show notes below.

With that in mind, here's our list.

1: Photography May Be Expensive

You may not realize this when you buy your first camera, but what you're really doing is sticking your toe into the water of a vast system of tools and technology.

The good news is that you have enormous options to enhance your photography with new gear, providing options that you can't achieve with your first camera and lens.

The bad news is that these options are frequently expensive, ranging from “Ouch!” to “You Must be Kidding!”

Please note that I say photography may be expensive. Nothing says that it has to cost a lot of money. In fact, I promise you that you can take beautiful photos with any modern camera, and quite a lot of older cameras.

The expensive part comes when you want to do something that your current gear doesn't allow, or something it doesn't do as well as you wish it would do. If you can work within the scope of your camera and lens, you can still create some amazing photographs.

The most important tools for photography are light and imagination. Both of those are free.

2: Technical Skills Aren't the Important Part

Hand most people a DSLR camera and they'll find out quickly that it's not a point and shoot tool. You need to understand how to set it so you get  decent exposure, at the very least.

Yes, you may find a mode on your camera that sets some of the exposure for you. On my Nikon cameras, it's P (for Professional). Even with that, you may not have the right ISO. In short, the camera needs a human to operate it.

It's easy to get hung up on technical issues when you get into photography.

Yet, these technical skills aren't why many of us got into photography in the first place. Understanding how your camera works, and it's an important part of making a good photograph. Those technical skills just aren't the most important part of photography.

3: Your Vision is the Important Part

Photography isn't just about documenting your subject. It's an expressive and creative art. Well, it can be if you learn how to use your sense of vision. If all you do is concentrate on technical skills, then you're going to end up with photos that look like a mug shot.

Your vision is the sense of style created by your imagination that you turn into a photograph.

For example, let's say that you want to show motion in your photographs. You can do that by manipulating the exposure triangle (Aperture, ISO and Shutter Speed) to allow your moving subject to blur.

What if you want part of the photo sharp and another part in blur?

Then you learn how to use off-camera flash with a short duration to freeze the motion created with that light, and let the part of your subject in ambient light turn to blur.

Another possibility is to pan your camera with your subject as it moves.

Maybe you use a tripod to keep the non-moving parts of your photo sharp while you leave the shutter open longer to let the movement blur.

The only reason to know these technical skills is so that you may apply them when your creative mind and vision comes up with an interesting way to tell the story of your subject.

Motion is only one aspect of your vision.