- Look at this, I feel like I grew this.

I've been taking care of this at the office.

I've been given it water, that you know, plants need

and sun, and it's just growing.

It's so happy, makes me so happy.

Everyday that I come in it's longer, it's called a pothos.

You like that?

And it just hangs so happily.

Ah, what a great day. (laughs)

(upbeat music)

What's up everybody, Peter McKinnon here

and welcome back to another video,

today we're talkin' photography.

If you like taking pictures, if you own a camera,

you wander about, snappin' picks, this video's for you.

Specifically targeted more towards beginners

or people that aren't necessarily professional.

I wanted to go through a few things

that beginners make mistakes on quite frequently

when they're starting out in this craft.

I've looked inside myself and I've found some things

that I wish I had done better

when I was starting photography out.

A few little things, if I had just paid more attention to,

I would of been taking better photos faster,

which means potentially more business

if that's something you're looking

to take photography towards

or just you're being a better artist,

you're being a better photographer

with some of these things, if you keep them in mind.

Tip number one, one of the things I wish

I'd paid more attention to is the histogram.

That's this little funky chart right here

that looks like a heart rate monitor.

The far left of that chart represents the blacks

and the shadows, far right of that graph chart represents

the highlights, the whites, anything that's overexposed.

In the middle is your midtones.

You never wanna see that graph, if you will,

the histogram, spiked in one direction.

If it's way up here that means it's blown out,

you're image is damaged, there's just no detail,

there's too much white, there's too much brightness,

there's too much light.

Whereas, on the opposite spectrum of that,

if it's spiking on this side, there's no detail

because you crushed those blacks too much,

it's too dark, there's too much shadow.

It's not evenly balanced.

When you look at a histogram,

it tells you right away without even having

to look at the photo, because don't trust your eyes

and don't trust the back of an LCD screen.

Too many times I would just look at the photo on my camera

and be like, that looks dope.

Then I would get back to start editing it,

you see it on a huge monitor, looks totally different.

I would see the histogram within Lightroom or Photoshop,

wherever I was editing, and then realized,

oh wow that's actually wildly overexposed.

Had I just taken five seconds to look at the histogram,

I would have known that scientifically

and then I could of just taken another photo and fixed that.

'Cause what you're looking for is an even plain.

You want that histogram to have a nice even flow,

no crazy spikes, like when you're trackin' your sleep

with a sleep tracker app and you wake up,

and it looks like Everest, ooh.

And you're like, wow that was a rough night.

But then, you wake up one morning

and you see it's like calm waters.

You're just chillin' in the Maldives.

It's just smooth, you're coastin', you're like,

wow, I feel great.

That's the same kinda thing you want

when you're lookin' at a histogram.

I have weird analogies, but I think you guys dig 'em

because they help me.

Tip number one, to help you being a better photographer,

look at that histogram, don't trust your eyes

on the back of the LCD.

Point number two, is settling for a photo

when you could of made it so much better

by either moving yourself to a better vantage point,

or moving something in that frame out of the way.

So, as an example, you're taken a photo shoot,

someone's standin' there, you snap a photo.

You coulda just moved that chair,

like two inches to the left.

It would no longer be in frame

and it'd make that photo way better

'cause the focus is now on the subject.

Or, maybe it's just moving your subject a little bit

to the left so that garbage can isn't in frame anymore.

You don't have to worry about Photoshopping it.

Or, maybe it's walking up the hill or down the hill

to get a better vantage point.

Or, trying a few extra locations instead of just being,

okay with the one that you have.

So, sometimes it's these little tweaks,

by just moving something out of the way

or moving yourself that's gonna make a massive difference

with how good your photos look.

And, you'd be surprised.

Go take some shots, don't think anything of it.

Then look at them, look inside the frame

and think to yourself, what could I have moved out

of the way to make this picture more clear, more concise,

more focused, more polished, more professional?

I guarantee you'll almost always find something.

Maybe it's even just your sunglasses

that you left on the couch and you're takin' a picture

of this nice clean room but you forgot when

you walked in, you dropped your keys on the counter.

It would look better if those keys were gone.

So it's those little things that you need to look for

that you can easily remove,

that are gonna make your photos look better.

Or, move yourself to get a better vantage point.

That's number two.

Ooh, I'm feelin' this. (laughs)

Alright man, I'm gonna come close for this one.

I've even gonna drop down my voice

so that you even feel like, oh something's about to happen.

He's about to drop some knowledge.

I hate, hate, tripods.

Ugh, oh, actually the worst.

Tripods, no thanks.

Even buying a tripod is like just the worst thing

to have to buy.

You walk in, you're not even excited,

you're like, ah I guess I should go get one.

Monopods, I like them a little bit more

because they have a better function for video for me.

But tripods, I just, ack, I can't get on board

but I wish that I got on board with tripods earlier

because the amount of shots that I could of got

with a tripod, just bringing it with me.

For long exposures, or to just have more clear,

in focus images, would of made all the difference.

'Cause, sometimes even if you think

your shutter speed's fast enough,

you will get a better quality photo

if you lock it off on a tripod.

Not to mention, all the advantages you get being able

to shoot a wide range of different photos

because you have a tripod, long exposures,

making those waterfalls look better

with that milky smooth water, all of those things,

the star trails in the skies, cars driving by.

That stuff all looks better and works

when you have a tripod with you.

So, invest in a tripod early, use it often,

bring it everywhere you go because it always comes down

to the tripod, it always comes down.

And that's why I hate it.

That's why I'm like, ugh, you got me again tripod.

Why don't I just bring you with me everywhere?

I've been doin' this for 15 plus years now

and I'm still tryin' to learn that one

so my tip to you, bring a tripod with you.

Use it often, get to know it, get to love it.

Tripods, (sighs) I feel like we just had a therapy session,

I just feel lighter now, feels great.

Okay, the last tip, the last mistake

that a lot of beginners make and that

I made all the time, being thorough.

So many times, I would just rip through, grab my camera,

shoot what I thought I needed and be done.

I didn't take the time to check all my settings enough,

because I just thought I knew it.

I was arrogant.

I just thought I know this, I obviously,

I nailed it, I got it in camera.

I do the same thing I do all the time, I'm good.

But, I've made this mistake so many times.

Maybe you shot JPEG instead of RAW,

maybe you shot small JPEG instead of RAW.

And a little fun fact, I'm gonna come clean about something,

last year, I went to the ice caves.

(camera clicking)

Took these amazing star trail photos.

Something happened to midday, I actually shot all

of those photos on small JPEG, not even RAW.

I was still able to blow them up for my gallery

but inside knowing that the highest res

I have of those photos is like 1200 pixels wide, that hurts.

Especially being that there are some

of my favorite photographs, that I've ever taken,

'cause I was rushing through it.

I just assumed I'm not gonna make those mistakes,

but I'm still making them.

So, being thorough to check your settings,

to make sure the smallest thing isn't gonna ruin

something incredible, is very important.

Maybe it's making sure your ISO is not too high.

You're shutter speed is right on.

Checking that EV meter to make sure it's not all the way

to the left, you're not overexposed,

or underexposed, it's in the middle.

So being thorough and checking all those things,

makes all the difference.

Beginner or pro, we still make those mistakes

but getting it early on is going to help you out.

That's my advice, you wanna take better photos?

I think those things will help you.

I don't think those things are the sole ingredient

to, you watch this video,

you're a better photographer instantly, it's all with time.

It all takes time, over time, building up different things.

But, I do think this will help you think about

some things differently that might save one or two small,

oh instances, as you're shooting,

that's generally gonna make you better at this art form.

That's all I have for you today.

Hit that like button if you like this video.

Smash it.

Puh, puh, puh.

Got a little carried away on that one.

If that's somethin' that you're into,

2018 style, subscribe if you aren't already

and I will see you guys in the next video. (sighs)

I'm gonna go take photos.

I haven't done that in awhile.

Bye.

(light music)