Photography Basics for Beginners: Camera Settings, Composition & Travel Tips
This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
Photography can feel way more complicated than it needs to be when you're first starting out. You pick up a camera, and suddenly everyone is talking about aperture, shutter speed, ISO, focal length, RAW files, white balance, depth of field, and about 40 other things that sound like you should have taken a class before pressing the shutter button.
I remember having to wrap my head around all of it, too. The good news is that you don't need to understand every setting on your camera to start taking better photos.
I've been a photographer for more than 15 years, and one of the biggest things I've learned is that equipment matters a lot less than understanding what you're trying to make the camera do. Once aperture, shutter speed, ISO, focus, lighting, and composition start to make sense, everything else becomes much easier.
This guide covers the photography basics I think are actually worth learning first, especially if you want to take better photos while traveling. You don't need an expensive camera, you don't need to shoot everything in Manual mode, and you definitely don't need to memorize every photography rule before you start.
At a Glance
Do You Need a "Real" Camera?
No.
If you already own a camera, start with that. If you only have your phone, start with that. Learning how to recognize good light, compose a photograph, choose an interesting perspective, and understand exposure will improve your photography no matter what you're shooting with.
Modern phone cameras are especially good for travel because they're always with you, they're fast, and they handle a lot of the technical work automatically. A dedicated camera gives you more control, larger sensors, interchangeable lenses, and more flexibility in difficult situations, but none of that automatically makes the photograph better.
If you eventually decide you want more control, there are a few basic camera types you'll run into.
Mirrorless Cameras
Mirrorless cameras are what I would look at first if I were buying a new interchangeable-lens camera today. They offer manual controls, interchangeable lenses, robust autofocus systems, and excellent image quality without the mirror mechanism found in a DSLR.
My current main camera is the Sony A7R V, but you absolutely do not need something at that level to learn photography. Entry-level and midrange mirrorless cameras can do far more than most beginners will need for a very long time.
DSLR Cameras
DSLRs are older technology, but that doesn't mean they suddenly stopped taking good pictures. I photographed with Nikon and Canon DSLRs for years, and I still own my Nikon D610.
If you find a good used DSLR at a great price, it can be an excellent way to learn photography. Just understand that most major camera development today centers on newer mirrorless systems.
Compact Cameras
Compact cameras, sometimes called point-and-shoot cameras, trade some flexibility for portability. Depending on the model, they can be a great middle ground between carrying a phone and bringing a full interchangeable-lens setup.
Phone Cameras
Don't underestimate the camera already sitting in your pocket.
I use my phone constantly while traveling, even when I have thousands of dollars’ worth of camera equipment with me. Sometimes the phone is simply faster, easier, or better suited to the moment.
Start with what you have. You'll know when your equipment is actually limiting you because you'll be able to explain what you wish it could do differently.
Understanding Camera Lenses
If you do use an interchangeable-lens camera, the lens has a huge effect on how your photographs look.
One of the first numbers you'll see is the focal length, measured in millimeters. In general, shorter focal lengths give you a wider view, while longer focal lengths give you a narrower view and make distant subjects appear larger in the frame. The exact field of view also depends on your camera's sensor size, which is why a 35mm lens doesn't look the same on every camera.
You really don't need to memorize all of that at first.
Zoom vs. Prime Lenses
A zoom lens lets you change focal lengths without changing lenses. My 24-70mm is the lens I use most often while traveling because it gives me enough range to photograph landscapes, buildings, people, food, and everyday travel scenes without constantly switching lenses.
A prime lens has one fixed focal length, such as 35mm or 50mm. Prime lenses can be smaller, very sharp, and available with wide apertures that work well in low light, but you physically have to move if you want to change your framing.
Neither one is automatically better. They just solve different problems.
Wide-Angle Lenses
Wide-angle lenses are useful when you want to fit a lot into the frame, such as landscapes, architecture, interiors, or a huge scene where you can't physically back up any farther.
Just be careful not to automatically assume wider is always better for landscapes. Sometimes a longer lens creates a much stronger photograph because it lets you isolate one part of the scenery rather than trying to fit everything into a single frame.
Telephoto Lenses
Telephoto lenses bring distant subjects closer and are useful for wildlife, sports, details in landscapes, mountains, and situations where you can't physically get closer to your subject.
They're also great for compressing a scene and making distant elements appear visually closer together, which can create some really interesting landscape and city photographs.
Photography Gear You Actually Need
It is incredibly easy to convince yourself that buying more equipment will make you a better photographer. Photography companies are very good at helping with that. You really don't need much to get started. A camera or phone, a charged battery, and enough storage to take photos will cover most situations. Once you start shooting more, a few accessories genuinely become useful.
Extra batteries: I always want at least one spare when I'm traveling. Cold weather, video, heavy screen use, and long shooting days can drain batteries much faster than expected.
Memory cards: Carry more storage than you think you'll need. I also prefer to have multiple cards rather than put an entire trip on one giant card.
Tripod: Useful for long exposures, night photography, Northern Lights, waterfalls, self-portraits, and any situation where your shutter speed becomes too slow to comfortably handhold.
Lens cloth: Probably the least exciting thing in your camera bag until you realize every beach photo has a giant fingerprint or water spot in the middle of it.
Weather protection: It doesn't have to be complicated. Sometimes a proper rain cover makes sense, and sometimes you're just trying to keep the camera protected long enough to get back to the car.
What About Filters?
A circular polarizing filter can help reduce reflections and glare on surfaces such as water and glass, and can sometimes make skies and foliage look richer.
A neutral-density filter, or ND filter, reduces the amount of light entering the lens. That allows you to use slower shutter speeds in bright conditions, which is useful when you want blurred waterfalls, smooth water, or other long-exposure effects.
You do not need a drawer full of filters just because you've bought a camera. Buy them when you understand what problem you're trying to solve.
Understanding Aperture, Shutter Speed & ISO
These three settings make up what photographers commonly call the exposure triangle. They all affect exposure, but they also change how the photograph looks. That second part is the important part.
Aperture
Aperture is the opening inside your lens that controls how much light can pass through it. It is written as an f-number, such as f/1.8, f/2.8, f/5.6, or f/11.
The confusing part is that smaller f-numbers correspond to a larger aperture.
An aperture of f/2.8 lets in more light than f/8. It can also give you a shallower depth of field, which means less of the scene is in focus in front of and behind your subject.
If you want a portrait where the person is sharp, and the background is very blurry, you might use an aperture like f/1.8 or f/2.8.
If you're photographing a landscape and want much more of the scene to be sharp, you might start somewhere around f/5.6 to f/8 and adjust from there.
Those numbers are starting points, not rules.
Shutter Speed
Shutter speed controls how long the camera records light.
A fast shutter speed, such as 1/1000 second, can freeze movement. A slower shutter speed, such as 1/30 second, allows more movement to happen during the exposure, which can create blur.
This setting becomes especially important when you're photographing people, animals, moving cars, waterfalls, or anything else that isn't staying still.
If you're getting blurry photos of a moving subject, increasing your shutter speed is often the first thing I would look at.
Slower shutter speeds can also be used intentionally. Put the camera on a tripod, leave the shutter open longer, and moving water can turn smooth while everything that stays still remains sharp.
ISO
ISO is the setting I usually think of as the camera's way of helping you work with the light you have.
A lower ISO, such as ISO 100, generally gives you a cleaner image. Raising the ISO allows you to shoot in darker conditions or use faster shutter speeds, but higher settings usually introduce more visible noise into the photograph.
That doesn't mean high ISO is bad.
I would rather have a slightly noisy, sharp photograph than a perfectly clean, blurry one because I was afraid to raise the ISO.
Modern editing software can also do an impressive job reducing noise, so I don't obsess over keeping ISO as low as technically possible anymore.
How the Three Settings Work Together
This is the part that finally made exposure start making sense to me.
Imagine you're photographing someone walking down a street around sunset. You want the background slightly blurry, so you choose a wide aperture. You also need a shutter speed fast enough that the person doesn't blur while walking. Once you've chosen those two settings, you can raise the ISO enough to get the brightness you need.
Now imagine you're photographing a waterfall during the day. You want the water blurred, so you choose a slow shutter speed. That lets in more light, so you may need a smaller aperture, a lower ISO, an ND filter, or some combination of the three.
Instead of memorizing random camera settings, think about what you want the photograph to look like, then decide which setting matters most for that photo.
You Don't Have to Shoot in Manual Mode
This is something I wish more beginner photography guides said.
Manual mode is useful, and learning it will teach you a lot about exposure, but you do not need to use Manual mode for every photograph to prove that you know what you're doing.
For normal travel photography, Aperture Priority is one of my favorite modes. You choose the aperture because that's the creative decision you care about, and the camera chooses an appropriate shutter speed. You can also use Auto ISO and set limits depending on your camera.
If you're photographing something where motion matters more, Shutter Priority can make more sense. You choose the shutter speed you need and let the camera handle the aperture.
Manual mode becomes especially useful when I want the exposure to stay consistent or I'm working in a situation where the camera's automatic choices aren't giving me what I want.
Use the mode that makes it easier to get the photograph.
How to Focus Your Camera
A perfectly exposed photograph isn't very useful if the thing you wanted sharp is completely out of focus.
For a still subject, I normally place the focus point directly on the part of the scene I care about most. For portraits, that's usually the eye. Modern cameras with eye-detection autofocus make this considerably easier.
For moving subjects, continuous autofocus can adjust focus as the subject moves.
At night or in extremely dark conditions, autofocus may struggle. That is when I may switch to manual focus, magnify the live view, and focus carefully on a distant light or star.
If you're new, don't let the camera automatically choose every focus point and assume it knows what you meant to photograph. Learn how to move the focus point yourself. That one change can fix a surprising number of missed photos.
Understanding Light
You can have an incredible camera and still get a boring photograph in bad light.
You can also take a great photograph with your phone because the light happened to be perfect.
Light changes the color, mood, shadows, texture, and contrast of everything you're photographing, which is why I pay so much attention to it when I'm traveling.
Golden Hour
Golden hour is the period around sunrise and sunset when the sun is lower in the sky, and the light often becomes warmer and softer.
Despite the name, it isn't always exactly one hour. The length and quality of the light depend on the season, weather, and where you are in the world.
I especially like this time for landscapes, cities, architecture, and portraits because the lower sun casts much more interesting shadows than the harsh light you often get at midday.
Blue Hour
Blue hour happens around twilight, when the sun is below the horizon, and the sky can take on a deep blue color.
This is one of my favorite times to photograph cities because you can often balance the remaining color in the sky with streetlights and building lights before everything becomes completely black.
Midday Light Isn't Automatically Bad
I would never tell somebody on vacation to put their camera away between 10 AM and 4 PM because the light isn't technically ideal.
You're traveling. Sometimes noon is when you're standing in front of the place you came halfway around the world to see.
Look for interesting shadows, photograph details, change your angle, use buildings for shade, or simply take the photograph anyway.
The point is to understand what the light is doing, so you can work with it rather than thinking that good photographs are only possible at sunrise and sunset.
Composition: What Goes Where in the Photo?
Composition is really just deciding what to include in the frame, what to leave out, and where everything should go.
There are guidelines that can help, but none of them are laws.
Rule of Thirds
Imagine your frame divided into nine rectangles using two horizontal and two vertical lines. Placing an important subject near one of those lines or intersections can create a balanced composition without putting everything directly in the middle.
Most cameras and phones can display this grid for you, which makes it easy to practice.
Leading Lines
Roads, fences, paths, bridges, shorelines, buildings, and shadows can naturally guide someone's eye through a photograph.
When I'm walking around with a camera, I often look for those lines before I even decide exactly what my subject is.
Foreground, Middle Ground & Background
One thing that can make landscape and travel photos feel more dimensional is having something happening at different distances.
Instead of photographing only a distant mountain, maybe include rocks, flowers, a road, a person, or water in the foreground that leads into it.
Framing
Doors, windows, arches, trees, rocks, and even people can create a natural frame around your subject.
You don't have to use this constantly, but it can make an otherwise ordinary scene much more interesting.
Watch the Edges
This is probably less exciting than the rule of thirds, but it might improve your photographs more.
Before pressing the shutter, quickly look around all four edges of the frame.
Is there half a person sticking into the photo? A trash can you could avoid by moving two feet? A pole growing directly out of someone's head? A bright object pulling your eye away from the subject?
Sometimes the easiest way to improve a composition is simply removing something distracting.
Change Your Perspective
Don't take every picture from standing height.
Crouch down. Walk farther away. Get closer. Shoot through something. Turn around. Look up. Find a higher viewpoint.
Some of my favorite travel photographs have happened because I moved away from the exact place everybody else was standing.
RAW vs. JPEG
If your camera gives you the option, you'll probably see RAW and JPEG file types.
A JPEG is processed inside the camera and is ready to use immediately. The files are smaller, easy to share, and perfectly fine if you don't plan to do much editing.
A RAW file retains considerably more image information, giving you much more flexibility when adjusting settings like exposure, white balance, shadows, highlights, and color afterward.
The tradeoff is that RAW files are much larger and usually need to be edited before you're finished with them.
I shoot RAW because I like having that flexibility, especially when I'm traveling and can't recreate the photograph later if I get the exposure slightly wrong.
For a beginner who doesn't want to deal with RAW files yet, JPEG is completely fine. Some cameras will also let you shoot RAW + JPEG until you decide which workflow you prefer.
Editing Your Photos
Editing isn't about rescuing every bad photograph or turning reality into something completely different. For me, it's usually about getting the photograph closer to what I remember seeing.
I normally start with the basics: exposure, white balance, highlights, shadows, contrast, crop, and straightening. From there, I might adjust color, remove distracting spots, reduce noise, or sharpen the image depending on what it needs.
I do not think every slider needs to move just because it's there.
If you're new to editing, start by learning what a few controls actually do, rather than downloading 100 presets and trying to make every photo look dramatic.
What Editing Software Should You Use?
Adobe Lightroom is one of the most common options for photographers because it combines photo organization with RAW editing and tools for exposure, color, masking, noise reduction, cropping, and more. Adobe continues to actively expand Lightroom's editing and organization tools.
Photoshop is useful when you need much more detailed manipulation, compositing, or retouching, but you absolutely do not need to learn Photoshop before you can edit a photograph.
Capture One is another full RAW editor and organizer with strong color and professional workflow tools.
And if you're primarily shooting with your phone, start with the built-in editing tools. You can learn a surprising amount about exposure, shadows, highlights, color, and cropping without buying anything.
Travel Photography Tips I Actually Use
Travel photography is where all of these basics start working together.
You usually have less control than you would during a planned photo shoot. The weather changes, people walk into the frame, attractions are crowded, the sun is in completely the wrong place, you're tired, and whoever you're traveling with probably doesn't want to wait 45 minutes while you photograph the same building.
That is normal.
Research, but Don't Plan Every Photograph
Before a trip, I usually know the major places I want to photograph and may look at sunrise and sunset times, weather, or the sun's position if a particular shot matters to me.
But I don't want every photo decided before I arrive.
Some of my favorite images are things I didn't know existed until I walked around a corner.
Take the Obvious Photo First
If you've traveled somewhere to photograph a famous place, take the photograph you came for.
Then move.
Walk around the building. Turn around and photograph what everyone else is ignoring. Change lenses or focal lengths. Look for reflections. Include people for scale. Photograph details.
Once I know I have the safe shot, I have much more fun experimenting.
Photograph the Small Stuff Too
Travel photography shouldn't be just about giant landmarks.
Photograph the coffee you have every morning, signs, train stations, hotel windows, food, storefronts, textures, streets, weather, transportation, tickets, people you're traveling with, and little things that make the destination feel different from home.
Those photographs often tell the story of the trip better than another wide shot of a famous building.
Take Both Horizontal and Vertical Photos
This is especially useful if you share photos online, create albums, make videos, run a blog, or post on social media.
I often photograph the same scene both ways if it works, because I have regretted not doing that later more times than I can count.
Be Respectful When Photographing People
Traveling somewhere doesn't automatically make every person you see part of your photo shoot.
Be aware of local customs and rules, and ask permission when appropriate, especially when you're making an identifiable person the main subject of the photograph.
There is a big difference between documenting a busy public street and putting a camera directly into someone's face.
Back Up Your Photos
This one is much less fun than talking about camera settings until something goes wrong.
I have personally learned how awful it feels to lose travel photographs, so I care a lot more about backups now.
At the very least, don't wait until weeks after the trip to copy everything off your memory cards. If the photographs are especially important, having them in more than one place while you're still traveling can save you from losing something you can't recreate.
What I Would Practice First
If you've made it this far and everything still feels like a lot, don't try to learn it all in one afternoon.
Start with Aperture Priority and take the same photograph at a few different apertures. Watch what happens to the background.
Then practice shutter speed. Photograph a moving car, person, water, or anything else that moves, and see what changes between a fast and slow shutter speed.
Then experiment with ISO as the light gets darker.
Once those three things start making sense individually, it becomes much easier to understand how they work together.
After that, start thinking more about composition and light. Look at your photographs and ask yourself why you like one more than another, instead of only asking whether it is technically perfect.
That is where photography starts becoming much more interesting.
Final Thoughts
Photography is one of those things where you can learn the basics pretty quickly and then spend the rest of your life finding new things to learn.
You don't need the newest camera, the most expensive lens, or perfect technical knowledge to take photography seriously. Start with whatever you already have and learn how to control it.
If your photos are blurry, figure out why. If the background isn't blurry enough, change the aperture and see what happens. If a composition feels boring, move somewhere else instead of immediately blaming the camera.
The technical side gets easier with practice. Eventually, you stop consciously thinking through every aperture, shutter speed, and ISO decision because you already know roughly what you want the camera to do.
And once that happens, you get to spend a lot more time thinking about the part that actually matters: what you want the photograph to say.
Happy shooting!
Want to visit the real Hocus Pocus filming locations? Follow this self-guided tour through Salem and nearby Marblehead to see Allison's house, Max and Dani's house, their school, Old Town Hall, Pioneer Village, Old Burial Hill, and more.