Taking a photo is very easy

Henri Cartier-Bresson said that all you need to take a picture is your finger to press a button.

It is truer than ever in our time where the camera focus, choose the aperture settings, ISO, and shutter speeds for you.

When using auto mode, you may end up disagreeing with the result produced by the camera. At this point, the lessons on ElectroCroissant will help you understand how to achieve the results you’re looking for.

But a little bit of technique is necessary

Still, even if Cartier-Bresson isn’t entirely wrong, technique also plays a key role in a successful photograph.

But as it can be off-putting to learn tons of theory before practicing, in the basic technical skills section I will limit myself to choosing the right gear. Because it is a long-term investment and I don’t want you to end up with bad performing gear that will mess up with your photographs.

If you are already knowledgeable and have what you need, you can skip directly to the next section.

If you plan to use a manual film camera you’ll need to learn the exposure triangle as well.

And then you can go outside and start taking pictures.

Of course, don’t do that forever, or you’ll miss where the real fun of photography is.

What to do after familiarizing yourself with gear

So, after familiarizing yourself with your camera, then you can go back here and start learning the grammar and vocabulary that will allow you to express yourself through your photographs rather than just taking snapshots.

In the next section I’ll give you simple advice on how to avoid stagnating and make long-term progress in photography.