8 Photography Misconceptions Debunked.

One of the most significant benefits of the digital age is the accessibility to information. There are a lot of websites and blogs that provide a lot of useful information, but at the same time, there is a lot of misinformation which, if followed, may have costly consequences. Misconceptions are particularly true and widespread with photography, where there are a lot of “professionals” giving out information. 

In photography, anyone with a camera can sell themself as a professional and give out advice and information that can be misleading. Most of this misleading information is not intentional but is due to the lack of experience and knowledge.  Here we debunk eight of the most common photography misconceptions and myths. Note that the eight misconceptions are not the only ones out there, but these are the most common ones.   

1-professional photographers shoot in manual mode 

This is perhaps one of the biggest misconceptions in photography. Many new photographers are under the impression that the yardstick for being a professional photographer is whether you can shoot in manual mode or not. Cameras have two methods of shooting automatic or manual (there are subcategories, which will discuss below).  

In automatic mode, the camera accesses the scene and comes up with the ideal combination of shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. Automatic mode is like driving an automatic shift car where the car determines which gear and when to engage it. The job of the driver is to guide the car where the driver wants it to go.

Shooting auto is the same. The job of the photographer is to point the camera to the picture he wants to take and, of course, to click the shutter. The camera then makes all the decisions to come up with a collect exposure. A stick-shift/manual car, on the other hand, puts the driver in control of what gear to engage and at what time.   

Driving a manual car is the same as shooting in manual mode. When in manual mode, the photographer is in control of all the exposure variables. The photographer needs to determine what aperture, shutter speed, and ISO combination will give the correct exposure. To shoot in manual mode, it is, therefore, imperative to know the exposure triangle inside out. As such, the wrong advice that only professional can and do shoot in manual was born. This is not true. 

Because of the time involved in setting up all the exposure variables, most photographers shoot in one of the semi-automatic modes (shutter or aperture priority mode). For example, a sports photographer would shoot in shutter priority mode where he sets the shutter speed, and the camera comes up with the other variables.  

Cameras have become amazingly accurate in determining exposure so much that when correctly used, they do come up with precise exposure more often than the photographer. Knowing what the exposure triangle is and how the exposure variables affect each other is vital. But shooting in full manual mode is not as much and does not determine whether you are a professional or an amateur.  This is a photography myth.

2-The more you spend on your camera the better the images

The problem with this photography misconception is that it equates good photography to the camera or equipment used.  The photographers’ skills and knowledge determine whether the images the camera will produce will be good or bad.  

Many photographers are misled into buying the most expensive cameras and lens in the hopes that it will improve their photography. Sadly, no matter how expensive your gear is, if you don’t have the skill to match, you will end up with mediocre photos.  Think about it. If you are an average soccer player buying the most expensive soccer boots will not turn you into a superstar.  You need soccer skills more than you need costly boots to be a superstar.  The same holds in photography.   

What makes photographs better is not the equipment but the person that is controlling the tool. To be better at photography, therefore, involves learning, practicing, and developing photographic skills. Cameras are just tools and are as useful as the person controlling them. Do a google search for iPhone photography. You will be amazed at how some skilled photographers can take exceptional images with a simple phone camera. Don’t fall into the equipment trap; instead, invest your money is advancing your skills. Buying equipment will come as you develop your photographic skills. Tools enhance the skills you have; they do not create skills you don’t have (for tips on creating powerful photos click here).  

3-fix it in post myth  

‘I will fix it in post’ is a common photography misconception and has sadly been embraced by many photographers.  This myth can lead to unfixable problems in post-production, and quite frankly, it just encourages lazy and sloppy shooting. 

As much as photography software capabilities have advanced, it still needs a good starting point. Photography software is there to enhance and improve what you have.   Yes, you can fix problems in software, but it is neither guaranteed that it will work nor that it will be an easy fix. Many photographers end up spending more time collecting mistakes that had they paid attention at the time of shooting would not have had to spend valuable time in post-production.  

If you take your time when shooting, you will spend less time in post-production. Try to get a perfect photo in the camera and use software to enhance the photograph.  Post-production software makes an already good photo better.

4-prime lenses are better  

Here is another common piece of advice and photography misconception. The advice is that prime lenses are better than zoom lenses. Are primes really better? There are roughly two kinds of lenses prime lenses and zoom lenses.  Prime lenses have a fixed focal length, while zoom lenses cover a range of focal lengths.

The prevalent argument or reason for this advice is that prime lenses are better in terms of quality. Although this may have been true, the quality of zoom lenses is now equal, if not better than prime lenses. The advantages and benefits of using zoom lenses also outweigh the quality argument.

Prime lenses also tend to be more expensive than zooms. This makes the investment in prime lens more costly not only for individual but lens also for the fact that you must buy multiple primes to suit all your focal length needs. It would be difficult for someone on a budget to justify the coast instead of purchasing a cheaper zoom.  

With these advantages, it is not wise to invest your money buying prime lenses just because there are supposed to be of better quality. Besides, better-quality glass in the hands of someone who doesn’t know how to use is useless.   

5-Always use the rule of thirds  

Rule of thirds is a fundamental composition technique.  The rule states that for an image to be impactful, placement of subject/subjects in the picture should be at specific points.  It involves, therefore, diving the frame into thirds and placing your elements at the points where the lines intersect.  

As we all know, rules are meant to be broken. And as helpful as this rule is to stick to this composition technique is counter-productive and limiting. Rules in photography are simply guides, and sticking to them may create monotonous unimaginative images. To truly be creative, it is counter-productive to adhere to rules.  Creative people know the rules and deliberately break them to create new and exciting art.  

It is a photography misconception to believe that sticking to a rule will make your photography better. Many pleasing photos do not stick to rules. An example could be placing the subject in the center of the frame. Centering subjects is a big no-no when it comes to the rule of thirds as the rule’s goal is to avoid placing subjects in the center. But there are so many photographs that do precisely this and are very impactful.  

Indeed, rules are meant to be broken, and the rule of thirds is no exception. Besides, there are many other rules and compositional techniques that may work well with your creative goals. Don’t stick to one method. Think out of the box and create your own rules. That is the way you will develop as a photographer.   

6-you can only get deep depth of field by closing down the lens

This is another common photography misconception that the best way to get sharp images is to close the lens down. When learning the exposure triangle, one of the mantras is that the F-stop we chose has an impact on how deep the area in focus will be. Suppose you want shallow focus; the thought is to open us the aperture. F 1.8 will give a very shallow depth of field, while F 16 will provide a deep depth of field.   

As a rule of thumb, it is true.  But, in reality, you can get a deep depth of field with the lens wide open.  It is the case because other factors affect the depth of field.  Factors such as the distance between camera and subject determine how much of the image will be in focus. The closer you are to the subject, the less depth of field and vice versa.  

Where you focus within the frame will also affect your depth of field. You can get a deep depth of field by focusing at a point about a third into the frame. Focusing this way will allow the foreground and the background to be in focus.   

Next time your shooting landscapes at dusk open your lens instead of boosting you ISO. All those fast lenses you have will become handy in low light landscape photography. 

7- The Mac myth

Here is the most exciting photography misconception and one that has sparked so many passionate debates.  One of my nonphotographer friends was baffled to see me shooting with a Nikon camera. He explained to me that some photographer told him that professional photographers only shoot with Canon cameras. I explained to him that the camera is just a tool. The brand name on the tool does not determine whether you are a professional photographer or not. What can be done with the tool is what separates professionals from amateurs.  

This is no different from the myth I have heard so often that Mac is better than a Windows computer.  Some photographers will swear by this advice that for whatever reason, usually, it is a personal choice, a Mac is better.  We have to be careful with advice like this because, as stated above, most of the time is personal preference masquerade as fact.  

For so many years, an established photographer was singing praises of a specific camera brand.  His advice almost convinced me to change my camera system to the one he was recommending.  I was later to learn that the brands’ manufacture was paying him. His praise for the camera brand was not because the camera was fantastic, but it was instead the paycheque that was.  

Paying influencers is a common practice these days.  Base the reason to use a specific brand on your needs and the capabilities of the tool. Don’t forget the ultimate goal of all manufactures is to make money. As such, they will praise their product and trash the competitors’ product.

I have used both Windows and Mac, and to be honest, there is not much of a difference. You can get as good results working with PC just like you can get professional images from a camera other than a Cannon.  Tools are just that tools.   

8- Avoid manual focus

While autofocus in modern cameras is amazingly fast and accurate, keeping away from manual focus all together is counter-productive and can hinder your creativity. 

Autofocus has its limits, and if you are not paying attention, the camera may end up focusing on areas you don’t want. For example, in portraiture, eyes must be in sharp focus. So often, the cameras’ autofocus has focused on another part of the body throwing the eyes out of focus. There are tonnes of portraits that are technically and esthetically pleasing but are not usable because the eyes are out of focus.  

Missing focus is not the only disadvantage of shooting in autofocus; depending on the situation, the camera may fail to focus altogether. Because autofocus depends on light and contrast, poorly light or less contrasty conditions will throw the camera off.  If shooting a landscape at night in low light, the camera autofocus system will probably fail. The solution to this situation is to shoot in manual focus.  

Autofocus can also hinder your creativity. If using autofocus, the camera will try to bring everything into focus. In this situation, selective focus or even purposely shooting out of focus image is impossible.  This is so because when shooting in autofocus, the camera will not fire unless it achieves focus.  Manual focus, therefore, gives the freedom to shooting images as envisioned. 

Final thoughts

Not all advice is bad advice. There is a lot of excellent and useful information out there. The key here is to double or even triple check the information you are getting. It is easy to be misled if you take any piece of information as fact. It is good to find out for yourself as sometimes advice is simply personal preference.