16 common beginner mistakes in photography (and how to avoid them)

Great photography doesn't depend on the most expensive camera – it depends on understanding small, simple habits that make a significant difference. Most beginners struggle with the same problems: harsh light, shaky hands, unflattering angles, or over-editing.

The good news? These mistakes are easy to fix once you know what to look out for.

Here are 16 common photography mistakes and clear ways to avoid them, so you can instantly take brighter, cleaner, and more professional-looking photos.

01 Photographing with a dirty lens

This is one of the simplest photography mistakes – and yet almost all beginners make it regularly. Our smartphones and cameras are constantly being handled, put in bags, and carried around. As a result, dust, fingerprints, skin oils, and small smudges accumulate without us noticing.

Even a slight haze on the lens can soften the entire image, reduce contrast, and create a hazy look – especially in bright light. The worst part? Often, you think the camera equipment is inferior, when in reality it's just a dirty lens.

Expert tips for avoidance

Get into the habit of wiping your lens briefly before each photo. A microfiber cloth is ideal, but even a clean T-shirt will do in a pinch. This quick two-second gesture will noticeably improve sharpness and clarity.

02 Blurry photos

Blurry photos are among the most frustrating problems for beginners – often even when the focus is actually set correctly. Cameras are extremely sensitive to movement, especially in low light when the shutter speed is longer. Even lightly pressing the shutter button can be enough to blur the image.

Possible causes

• Motion blur: Exposure time that is too long for a movement (of the subject or the camera).
• Focus error: The autofocus has picked up the wrong point (e.g., the background instead of the face).

Expert tips for avoidance

• Ensure stability: Hold your smartphone or camera firmly with both hands and pull your elbows close to your body for added stability. Lean against a wall or rest your arms on a stable surface. On smartphones, the built-in 3-second timer or burst mode can help reduce camera shake when taking the picture. These small adjustments often make the difference between a blurry image and a clear, professional-looking photo.
• Reduce exposure time: For moving subjects, choose a shorter exposure time (e.g. 1/250 second or shorter).
• Manually select the focus point: Place the focus point yourself on the central element (often the eyes).
• Use a tripod: Use a tripod in unfavorable lighting conditions or for long exposure times.

03 Use light that is too harsh or too dim

Light is the most important element in photography – and also the area where beginners most often struggle. A poorly lit room forces the camera to increase the ISO, resulting in grainy, noisy images. On the other hand, harsh light – such as from a bright lamp or direct sunlight – can overexpose the subject, flatten colors, and create unflattering shadows.

Expert tips for avoidance

Look for soft, natural, even light. Indoors, this usually means placing your subject near a window where the daylight gently caresses it. Outdoors, you should move into open shade (e.g., under a tree or next to a building) to avoid direct, harsh sunlight. Soft light brings out details, creates depth, and instantly gives your photos a pleasant, natural feel.

04 Over- or underexposure

Possible causes

The camera is measuring incorrectly: The automatic system is deceived by image areas that are too bright (e.g., snow, bright sky) or too dark (e.g., dark clothing, shadows) and overexposes or underexposes.

Expert tips for avoidance

• Use exposure compensation ( $\pm$ ): For overexposed subjects, negatively (e.g. -1 EV), for overexposed subjects, correct positively (e.g. +1 EV).
• Check the histogram: After taking the picture, check the histogram to see if any highlights or shadows are "clipped".

05 Photographing in harsh midday sunlight

One of the most challenging lighting situations for beginners is the strong, direct sunlight around midday. It creates deep shadows under the eyes, nose, and chin, causing people to squint. Skin appears shiny, backgrounds are washed out, and colors lose depth. Even landscapes look flat and over-contrasted.

Expert tips for avoidance

Shoot during the golden hour – the magical period just after sunrise or just before sunset when the light is warm, soft, and especially flattering. If you absolutely must shoot at midday, position your subject in the shade or turn them so the sun is behind them. Backlighting combined with a shadowed face often results in a softer and more balanced image.

06 Poor or unbalanced composition

Many beginners intuitively place their subject in the center of the frame because it feels "safe." However, this often leads to static, uninteresting photos. Composition determines how the viewer perceives the image – and if it's wrong, the entire photo appears unbalanced or empty.

Possible causes

Neglecting the rule of thirds: The main subject is always placed in the center, which often looks static and boring.

Expert tips for avoidance

• Use the rule of thirds , one of the classic and most effective composition techniques.
• Activate the grid display: Most cameras allow you to display this grid in the viewfinder or on the screen. Activate the grid lines on your camera and imagine the image divided into nine equal sections. Position your subject along one of the vertical or horizontal lines, or at one of their intersections. This creates a more dynamic balance, greater depth, and an overall more professional look.

07 Incorrect white balance (color cast)

Possible causes

The automatic color correction (AWB) misinterprets the light source (e.g., incandescent light, shadows) and produces an unnatural color tone (e.g., too blue or too yellow/orange).

Expert tips for avoidance

• Use manual mode: Select the appropriate white balance mode (sun, cloud, shade, artificial light) or manually adjust the Kelvin value.
• Shooting in RAW: In RAW format, the white balance can be corrected without loss during post-processing.

08 Overuse of digital zoom

Digital zoom is one of the fastest ways to ruin a usable image. With digital zoom, the camera doesn't actually get closer to the subject – it simply enlarges the pixels. This results in a soft, grainy image that often looks blurry even before you upload it anywhere. Beginners often use digital zoom because it seems convenient, but it rarely delivers convincing results.

Expert tips for avoidance

• Get closer: If possible, physically move closer to your subject. This preserves the full resolution, details remain natural, and gives you more control over the composition. If you can't get closer, shoot normally and crop the image later – the result is almost always better than digital zoom.
• Understanding the focal length effect: Remember that different focal lengths have different effects (wide-angle distorts, telephoto compresses).

09 Ignore the background

When beginners focus on their subject, they often forget to pay attention to what's happening behind it. Busy surroundings, strong colors, random objects, or passersby can steal the focus from the main subject. Even a single distracting element—a sign, a trash can, or a random person—can ruin an otherwise successful picture.

Expert tips for avoidance

• Check the background: Take a moment to check the background before you press the shutter button. Look for simple, clean, uncluttered areas such as a smooth wall, greenery, the sky, or evenly lit scenes.
• Scan the frame: Before taking the picture, scan the entire frame – not just the main subject.
• Changing your perspective: Even a small step to the left, right, up or down can massively improve the background.
• Use a wide aperture: A very wide aperture (small f-number, e.g. $f$ $/2.8$ ) creates a beautiful bokeh (blurred background) that obscures disturbances.

10 No editing – or too much editing (where AI can help)

Image editing is an area where many beginners fail: they either don't edit at all, resulting in flat and underexposed photos, or they use heavy filters that make everything look artificial.

"Finding the right balance is crucial."

Modern editing tools – including AI-powered ones – make it easy to naturally enhance exposure, color, and detail without requiring advanced knowledge. Even small adjustments can completely transform the mood and clarity of an image.

Expert tips for avoidance

Stick to subtle adjustments like brightness, contrast, and sharpness. And if you want to try creative transformations or artistic experiments, tools like Undress AI help you reinterpret or visually reshape images—all without complicated editing skills.

11. Always photograph at eye level

Photos always taken from the same eye level quickly become predictable and flat. Changing the viewing angle – even just a little – can significantly improve the image and give the photo more energy. A low-angle shot creates depth and makes subjects appear larger or more dramatic. Shot from above, subjects appear neater, more symmetrical, and clearly structured.

Expert tips for avoidance

Experiment with height and perspective. Crouch down, step back, shoot from above, or tilt the camera for a diagonal composition. A changed viewpoint brings life to the image and makes even simple scenes more visually engaging.

12. Using the built-in flash

The internal flash is often too harsh, creating sharp, unsightly shadows and making faces look flat and shiny (red-eye effect).

Expert tips for avoidance

indirect flash: If possible, use an external flash and point it at the ceiling or a wall to create softer, indirect light. Increase the ISO: Try increasing the ISO and/or opening the aperture wider to utilize the available ambient light and avoid using the flash.

13 motifs “cut off”

The photographer does not pay attention to the fact that limbs (feet, hands) are cut off unattractively close to the edge or that important parts of the subject are missing.

Expert tips for avoidance

• Leave more space: When photographing people or animals, always leave some space around the subject so that you can correct and crop it later during editing.
• Choose sensible image cropping: If you are cropping limbs, then choose a deliberate, natural point of intersection (e.g. above the knee or below the elbow).

14 Missing guide lines

And another typical mistake made by beginners in photography: The image has no elements that lead the viewer's eye to the main subject.

Expert tips for avoidance

Use lines consciously: Look for natural lines in the image (streets, fences, rivers, paths, railings) and place them so that they run diagonally or from the bottom corner towards the main subject.

15. Always stay in automatic mode (P).

Out of fear of complex settings, beginners often rely exclusively on automatic mode, which limits control over exposure and creative design.

Expert tips for avoidance

• The "Av/A" (aperture priority) or "Tv/S" (shutter priority) mode: Use these semi-automatic modes to gain control over one of the most important parameters (aperture for depth of field, shutter speed for motion). The camera then adjusts the other parameter.
• Learn the " Understand the relationships between aperture (f-value), exposure time (s) and ISO .

16. Take only one photo.

Beginners often take only a single photo and then move on – but even professionals take several shots to get the perfect picture. Small differences in facial expression, lighting, angle, or timing can determine whether a photo is excellent or great.

How to avoid this: Take several variations of each subject. Try slightly different angles, change the distance, or play with the direction of the light. Burst mode is especially helpful for moving subjects, children, pets, or spontaneous moments. More photos mean more choices—and a much higher chance of getting that perfect shot.

Final words

Everyone starts out in photography by making the same mistakes – it's all part of the learning process. But once you recognize these common pitfalls, your photography will improve quickly and noticeably. By paying attention to light, composition, perspective, and fine-tuning, your photos will instantly look cleaner and more professional.

Keep practicing, try new things – and above all: have fun capturing the moments that are meaningful to you.