ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Photography as a Hobby- How to become an Amateur Photographer

Updated on July 25, 2012
- How to become an Amateur Photographer, by Rosie2010, photo by gugiNot, source photobucket -
- How to become an Amateur Photographer, by Rosie2010, photo by gugiNot, source photobucket -

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."


An eggstraordinary lucky shot, photo by Rosie2010 - Photography as a Hobby
An eggstraordinary lucky shot, photo by Rosie2010 - Photography as a Hobby


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.


Strange picture looking more like dough rolls, photo by Rosie2010 - Photography as a Hobby
Strange picture looking more like dough rolls, photo by Rosie2010 - Photography as a Hobby


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.


Eggstraordinary! - photo by Rosie2010 - Photography as a Hobby
Eggstraordinary! - photo by Rosie2010 - Photography as a Hobby

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.


Yellow and Pink Rose, photo by Rosie2010 - Photography as a Hobby
Yellow and Pink Rose, photo by Rosie2010 - Photography as a Hobby
Lilac colored Rose, photo by Rosie2010 - Photography as a Hobby
Lilac colored Rose, photo by Rosie2010 - Photography as a Hobby
Orange Rose, photo by Rosie2010 - Photography as a Hobby
Orange Rose, photo by Rosie2010 - Photography as a Hobby
White Rose, photo by Rosie2010 - Photography as a Hobby
White Rose, photo by Rosie2010 - Photography as a Hobby
Pink Rose, photo by Rosie2010 - Photography as a Hobby
Pink Rose, photo by Rosie2010 - Photography as a Hobby
Red Rose, photo by Rosie2010 - Photography as a Hobby
Red Rose, photo by Rosie2010 - Photography as a Hobby


So what are you waiting for? Start shooting!



Watch this photographer video - Hilarious!

Are you interested in taking photography as a hobby?

See results


Did you know?  by Rosie2010

Did you know you can create your own HubPage? 

Did you know you can be part of a great community, make friends and, share your knowledge and experience, and EARN MONEY through Adsense and other Affiliate programs?  

Yes, you can!   JOIN HUBPAGES NOW -  CLICK HERE!


working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)