Photography as a Hobby- How to become an Amateur Photographer

Photography as a Hobby 

How to become an amateur photographer

If you are thinking of starting photography as a hobby, what are you waiting for? Go ahead - photography as a hobby is easy and fun to do. You are probably considering what kind of camera to buy. Well, stop thinking! Get yourself a cheap digital camera and start shooting.

Two years ago, I bought myself a manufacturer's refurbished camera for $99 and I never look back. I belong to an internet site that features every Friday as Photo Day. Most of us are amateurs and we have in-site professionals who give us lessons and tips on photography. Every week we are given a subject or a theme and then we show our best photos on Fridays. So most of us who don't have a life, live for Friday Photo Day. We have rules to follow, of course, the first one being you have to be the one who took the photos you are submitting. Now, you might be thinking why anyone would submit a photo that was not taken by them? Well, as Forrest Gump would likely say "Stupid is as stupid does."

As an amateur photographer, be ready to take hundreds of pictures before you get a perfect or close-to-perfect shot, which for amateur photographers mean a focused shot.

On this particular Friday, the subject was the letter "E". I chose eggs as my subject because I have no imagination and it just so happen that I had eggs in the fridge. While taking pictures, a strange thing happened.. or should I say eggstrange.

Since I am an amateur photographer of the lowest rank using an inexpensive digital camera, which I didn't even bother to learn how to use properly, I had to take several shots before I could get a picture that is close to being passable. And once in a while I get lucky, like this shot of a single egg... no tricks involved here. I just put the egg on top of the black stove and without using the flash, just the light from the setting sun coming from the window, I took two shots... and one turned out almost perfect. As a matter of fact, one of our pros said "nice mirror image." But I didn't use mirror imaging, I swear.

Annnny-way, I arranged the eggs into a pyramid and started taking pictures. As usual, a lot were out of focus, but one looked very strange. If you don't look closely, you won't even see a semblance of eggs... they look more like dough rolls.

How eggstrange!

The next thing I did was put a little bit of colour on the unfocused photo of eggs, and then I crystallized it. To my utter surprise, the crystallized image looked like a Japanese woman wearing a kimono talking to two kids... at least that's what it looked to me.

Well, isn't that eggstraordinary?

To start your hobby as an amateur photographer, you don't have to spend a lot of money. As I have already said, all you need at first is a cheap digital camera and go from there. As far as editing your photos, if you are willing to fork out at least $200 for the cheapest Photoshop, by all means do so. Or you can download Photoscape or Picasa for FREE. I find Photoscape easier to use than Picasa, but try both and see which one you prefer. And if you use rechargeable batteries, you'll save tons of money as the regular alkaline batteries are only good for a few shots using flash. I got myself a package of Noma 15-minute rechargeable set which included two AA and two AAA high performance batteries for $24, which if the Business Depot guy is correct in his assumption, will last forever. I have been using these batteries for two years now, so far so good.

Amateur photography is a great hobby and so much fun. I take great pleasure looking at my photos and I proudly show them to everyone, whether they want to or not. You can make birthday cards, Christmas cards, or personalized calendars using your own photos. This Christmas, I am making personalized calendar for my family using my own photos with the use of the easy-to-use free calendar template that I featured in my hub How To Make A Photo Calendar.

I love taking pictures of flowers, specially roses. Roses are my favorite flower. Here are some rose photos I had taken from the Mother's Day rose bouquet I received this year.

So what are you waiting for? Start shooting!

Did you know?  by Rosie2010

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