Budget Photography tips

Photography can be an expensive hobby if you let it. The newest camera bodies alone (without lenses) can cost up to £5000! Although having good kit is pretty essential for taking good quality photos, I am a big believer in investing in your own skill set and using what you have already before investing in expensive kit.

Ultimately, photography takes time, patience and practice. Even for the pros, it is a continuous journey of learning.

Photography has so many benefits for both mental and physical health associated with getting people outdoors, reconnecting with nature and participating in a creative task.

So here are a few tips for budget photography. Whether you are starting out on your phone or you have a high end camera and have been photographing for years, I hope there is something you can take away.

Invest in yourself

It is the eye behind the camera, not the camera itself that captures the best photos.

Invest time and energy into improving your photography skills. The camera is simply a tool, you are the photographer, not the camera. When people look at your photos, they want to see what you see, not just what the camera sees.

Whether or not is 100 hours or 10000000 hours, it takes time to practice and develop your photography skills. Go and take photos of the things you love. Get the camera manual out and read it before bed, on your lunch break, on the bus. Get inspired by others photos in magazines, exhibitions or social media. Investing time and energy into practicing and developing your skills is essential.

There are also many online materials that can help you with learning. I am offering photography and videography tuition (online or in person) so why not get in touch!

Know your subject

Knowing your subject is key to great photography. How can a storyteller write a story without knowing the story in the first place? Likewise, photography is about capturing what you see and how you understand the world in front of you. Often photography conveys a message and knowing your subject better will give it more authenticity and make you a more reliable and true photographer.

This often means doing your research before hand, whether it is reading up or going out an viewing your subject, or perhaps interviewing someone to gain more of an understanding of their story.

As someone who loves outdoor adventure and wildlife conservation, these are the subjects I know best how to photograph. Setting up camera traps, watching animals and working in conservation has helped me learn about their environment and their behaviour which helps predict their next move. Not only does this help with obtaining good photographs, but it also helps photograph them in a way that minimises disturbance.

A beautiful sand lizard! With some patience, this beauty came out in front of the camera to bask in the sun.

The same goes for photographing sport and people. Understanding people's story or the sport and being able to blend into the background while you taking photos helps get those candid, natural shots.

Use what you got...

...to the max!

The camera manual is your friend. It tells you about all the weird and wonderful settings in your camera tool kit. Try them all out and experiment. Some you may never want to use again, but others you may love and never would have discovered without the camera manual!

For about 6 years, I used an entry level Nikon DSLR up until recently. I knew the buttons inside out which helped a lot. Before that I used my Dad's old point and shoot camera which was great for travelling!

So you don't always need a high end camera to get an awesome shot.

Goanna captured with Panasonic Lumix point and shoot on Fraser Island, Queensland Australia.

Think outside the box

After you have familiarised yourself with your camera, with all its settings and the various

composition "rules" (eg. rule of thirds, leading lines), it is time to get the creative juices flowing and begin to experiment. It's time to push your limits, imagine what shots you would like to get and how you can get them.

Think outside the box.. or outside the bottle! Don't let your creativity get limited, even with budget kit.

Take care of your kit

I repeat, take care of your kit! Get a good camera bag, lens filters, camera body protection, rain protection (even if just a plastic bag) and clean you gear regularly. It will last longer and work better.

Side note: take care of yourself too! Handle camera kit with dry clean hands, even in the field. Photographing when cold can be miserable so take snacks, water and warm clothes. This will mean you can photograph the best you can and have fun at the same time.

Buy second hand

I recently discovered how amazing second hand camera gear is. After trading in my trusty Nikon D5300 and its lenses, I upgraded to a Nikon Z6. The camera was significantly less than a new one and it felt brand new.

My experience of buying second hand gear has been so good that I won't be going back to buying new if possible!

And reusing old stuff is a win for the environment too!

I recommend MPB for second hand gear but there are also lots of other places to buy second hand out there. If you recommend a second hand retailer, let me know in the comments!

Know what you want to shoot

On the subject of buying gear, know what you want to shoot and what you will need. Have a look at various cameras before buying and what features they have and then think about whether you will use those features for the type of photography you will be doing. Also have a look at older generations of a camera series, sometimes the differences are small but the price increase is major (this is why I went for the Nikon Z6 over the Nikon Z7).

Networking

Networking, whether it be in person or online is a great way to see other peoples photos, be inspired and to inspire others! Personally, I have found that creatives are open to sharing tips on how they do things, whether it be on Instagram or in a market stand. A creative process isn't like a top secret recipe, it's a journey to be shared. Exchanging photography tips helps both yourself and others to shoot more effectively on a budget.

Non-subscription and free editing software.

Adobe photoshop subscription is many people's go to photo editing software. However, the whole creative cloud package is currently £27.98 a month (and that is with 50% off)! This is quite a lot of money and there are many alternative software packages out there. Here are the ones I use:

Affinity photo is an editing software similar to photoshop - except it's a one time payment and you have the software for life! Version 2 has just come out and it is £67. So with 4 months of Adobe membership you could have a photo editing software on your computer forever with cash to spare. The only downside is that there is no Affinity Lightroom. Instead, I manage my photos in well organised files on Windows. I have recently downloaded a similar free software to lightroom called Darktable however I switched back to my well organised photo file library as this is what seems to work well for me.

There is also Affinity Designer which is great for graphic design and Affinity Publisher for publishing documents.

For video editing, I use DaVinci Resolve. It is both similar and different to Adobe's Premiere Pro but does all that I need it to do. There is a paid version but the free version is brilliant. I make everything from YouTube videos to reels on DaVinci.

In terms of reels, I find that the Instagram app is pretty poor for videomaking and constantly crashes on my phone. Instead, I use a free video editing app called Capcut for adding text and effects to pre-made videos from DaVinchi. All that needs afterwards doing is uploading to social media and adding music.

I hope this blog was helpful. If you have any tips to add or any other thoughts let me know in the comments!