For all of you looking to break into the photography game, I'm here to offer my own advice as a photograph novice as well. Hopefully, I can impart some knowledge upon those looking to photograph whether as a hobby, a potential side job or just you wanting to document memories and all the beautiful moments of life.
1. Buy a decent camera, but if you can't afford to buy the nice basic starter, don't stress.
I know that personally, money is tight and to be spending $400+ on a camera just to feed your wild child is just plain crazy. Luckily, I just had a birthday and the one thing I asked for was a camera. Its an upper tier digital camera that is a great starter camera. I highly recommend it and it functions perfectly as a great starter camera to help you learn the terrain (It is a Nikon COOLPIX B500, for those who are interested). But regardless, go low budget for a starter if you have to. You can take amazing pictures on a basic digital too.
2. Experiment with the camera you have.
Once you have a camera, you can begin to mess with the functions of it; the different lenses and modes are great to mess around with. Personally, I find that you have certain modes that you will find more useful or like more than others, and I take that as a sign of the type of photographer you want to be (or at least the certain kinds of pictures you want to take). I've found angles, light, and perspective the most fun to play with, as well as the zoom framing of a photo. If you are lucky enough to have a macro lens, for sure work with that and use it because it certainly allows you to get up close and personal.
3. Play with the subject matter and make some artistic choices.
I've taken pictures of buildings, people, walkways, landscapes and take pictures of new things any chance I get which is always good to help you find the things that you really love to remember.
4. Take a trillion pictures, even if they all look the same.
You have basically all of the storage in the world because if you fill up your SD card, you can just plug it into your computer, transfer everything, wipe the SD card and start again. So really, I recommend taking as many pictures as your heart desires. You might find one turns out blurry but the other has just the right fade that you were looking for. It also feels really fancy and professional the click of the camera a hundred times in a row.
5. Find beauty in everything... and then take a picture of it.
If you are anything like me, then you think that everything natural is beautiful. Or at the very least, you have moments where you just close your eyes and open them and can't believe the things you see and experience on a daily basis. Wherever you find your infinity, chasse it and remember it.
So, yes, after all of these things have been done, you as a beginning photographer can hold your head high and be proud of the pictures you have taken. There are moments in life that require your full attention to see the beauty and others that you are lucky enough to capture in an image so that you can always remember and remind yourself of how special it is to be alive. And yes, even you can capture that.
