Who‘s up for

an Adventure?
Introduction of me
Before we dive into the depths of photography, it’s time that you learn a little bit
about me. My name is Dominik and I’m a photographer. I studied economics and
international affairs in eastern Switzerland, when my passion for photography
emerged. While studying, I started posting my work on instagram, through what I
was able to get some first photography jobs.

My main focus has always been on landscape and nature photography but with the
passing of time, I got more curious about other fields as well. By now, I’ve worked
for clothing companies, logistics firms, train systems, hotels, universities, marketing
agencies, but mostly for tourism organisations and destinations. These days, I work
part time for a marketing and advertising agency and as freelance photographer.
Furthermore, I consult companies in the fields of online marketing.

I came to the decision to write this ebook when I realised that a lot of people are
either not sure how to start taking pictures a bit more seriously without getting
distracted in its process, or are losing their passion and main focus for photography
and are only seeking likes, followers and how to beat social media algorithms.
Photography is more than that. With this script, I would like to help you as a guide
to find your voice, your unique personal style, and your passion for photography.
Only if you’re truly happy and fulfilled with your creative work, you are able to
pursue a long lasting connection with photography. In no way do I see myself
as an all-knowing expert, but I hope and think that I can provide you with some
essentials which helped me immensely when I started out.

02
Introduction
In advance of start reading the first chapter of this concept, please keep in mind
that there is no shortcut to success, no ‚only right‘ way to find your passion, and
no single true opinion about discovering your own life fulfilment. This guide I’m
about to show you should rather serve as a foundation to build a strong, long-term
connection to your passion by telling you what worked best for me personally.
Only by applying such learnings you’ll be able to grow as a photographer, inspire
other people and maybe even make some money out of it. This short script is a
foundation for your photographic process and should help you by being a starting
point that will get you thinking about your direction, your niche, the focus you
need to put into your photography that will both enrich you creatively but also help
you reach and connect with other people.

01 First steps when starting out

You‘ll learn everything about finding the purpose and goal with your
photography. Furthermore, I‘ll give you some tips on how to find a
suitable camera, lenses and what to do with your pictures.

02 Finding your field of photography

How do you find your own, distinctive style? How can you deepen
your experience as a photographer? This chapter consists of eight
steps which will help you develop your photography.

03 Learning how to take pictures

In this chapter we will take a look at how to follow and break the
most important photographic rules and how to find a balance of
creating meaningful images and learning essential techniques.

04 Using social media

Learn why it matters to use social media in order to grow as a
creative person, find inspiration and connect with others.

05 Editing your photos

Editing can be an essential part of creating and adding a more
aesthetical touch to your photographs. While personal colour
schemes are important, how far should you go with editing?

03
Listen to your
creative mind
in order to find your purpose.
01
First steps
when starting out

Congratulations. It seems like you’re interested in one of the most creative

fields of art there is. Photography doesn’t only offer you new perspectives of
the world but reveals personal features about yourself in order to grow as a
creative person. Before starting out, it is significant that you think about your
goals and purposes for a minute.

Finding your purpose

It might be difficult to find your long-term goal in the beginning of your
photographic journey and it’s not necessary to know these details from the very
start, but keep these thoughts in the back of your head. There will be times where
you don’t feel motivated to grab your camera, and that’s okay. If you plan to
pursue photography in the long term, it’s evident that you know your reasons to
follow that trail of pursuing your dreams and having strong values. Maybe you’re
more into documenting your surroundings or certain situations or eventually you
rather prefer to build your own worlds and capture them in an aesthetic way: try to
identify your true passion as soon as possible in order to gain your experience and
expertise. You’ll find out more about that in chapter 2.

Finding the right camera and lenses

One of the most common questions when starting out is the question about the
right camera and equipment. There is no right answer for that, there might be
a few wrong ones though. First of all, you shouldn’t listen to people who know
the perfect solution for that question in form of the perfect camera to start out.
If you don’t own a camera yet, start taking pictures with any camera which you
have access to, that might be an old camera from your parents or simply your
smartphone. Such cameras are more than enough to learn the essential tricks and
experiences you’ll be using anytime you’re holding a bigger and more professional
camera. In my opinion, you should only switch to a newer, better camera once

05
you have mastered all the features and characteristics your current camera offers,
starting with the smartphone camera. There is always much more stuff to learn
about a piece of equipment than it seems in the first place.

After being proficient in knowing and handling your camera, ask yourself which
fields you would like to explore more. For me, it was the restricted access to
in-depth configuration of the camera settings with my phone, so I decided to buy a
beginners DSLR (a Canon EOS 550D). I had that camera for around 3 to 4 years,
equipped only with kit lenses. Learning every bit of what this amateur camera
could do and how it performs in different light situations was what I’ve been doing
until I’ve realised that I was reaching the end of its possibilities and that I needed a
more powerful piece of equipment: I decided to buy the Canon 5D Mark III, which
I’ve been working with for 7 years now, the second camera I ever bought.

When it comes to choosing the right lenses, you should ask yourself again the same
question: which lens supports your preferences? As a landscape photographer, I
went for a wide angle lens to capture wide landscapes. Furthermore, I own a 24-105
mm lens, which is a great all-rounder. This lens allows me to have the best possible
flexibility. This doesn’t mean that you have to follow the same strategy. But you
should learn anything there is about photography and your field of photography
before blindly buying new equipment. You will notice that if you have certain
boundaries in your equipment, your creativity will emerge and you’ll be able to
reach the next level of your creative thinking.

Due to the constant change and improvement of technology, I‘m not able to share
the best current camera models for beginners. With knowing what’s important
considering your style of photography and using that as a foundation when
researching about potential camera models, you sure will find the perfect piece for
you. Technology might be intimidating, but if you learn about it at your own pace,
it’s nothing to be afraid of. Try to learn to embrace technology and discover all the
ways it can save you time, frustration and money as you embark your photographic
path.

What to do with your pictures

By now you‘ve probably taken your first photographs. Try to remember that
feeling, and if possible, try to save these early images somewhere you’ll find them
again, many years from now. You’ll be amazed seeing your progression and
development of your style of photography.

Now: What do you want to do with your pictures? Why do you press the shutter
release button instead of just admiring a nice view without a camera? It may be for
the sole purpose of creating memories or creating own worlds in your head. There
is no pressure if you don’t know what to do with these pictures yet, but in order to
stay creative long-term, having a creative output is extremely valuable, especially
when you try to improve your skills. In a connected world like today, feel free to

06
share pictures online or with friends and ask for their feedback, looking for new
inspiration and possible ways to become a better photographer. You‘ll find more
insights about using social media and its advantages in chapter 4. Another way
to build a deeper connection to photography is by printing your images. Looking
at your work being printed on a paper or canvas is much more mesmerising and
inspiring that seeing them on a computer screen. Or maybe you just enjoy taking
pictures for the process of doing so. If you enjoy doing that and then forget them
on your computer hard drive, that’s okay as well. It’s important that you somewhen
find a long term purpose and goal with your photography and orient yourself with
the help of these referent points. Personally, I’m glad that I shared my earliest
images on instagram. This way, I’m always able to see how far I’ve come and how
my photography has developed.

07
Getting
inspired
by others
can be the key to unlock
the next step of your
creative growth.
02
Finding your field
of photography

There is not right way or place to dive into photography. In these early
stages of your photographic career, try to be open to as many opportunities
as possible. Try to take any experience you have as a lesson to improve and
define your photographic skills. A photographic style is more than just certain
techniques or editing steps. Every decision you take as a photographer leads
to deepening your distinctive style: finding solutions to approach photography
in a certain way makes you stand out as a photographer more easily. Here are
eight steps which helped me develop my own style.

Get inspiration by others

Throughout your whole photographic path, you will always come across
photographers, blogs, creators who have more talent, a better style, superior
equipment or are just better in what they do than how you perceive your own
work. Find out which photographers have a positive impact in your work and who
provide you with the right amount of inspiration. And even more importantly,
find out which creators make you feel less talented by the content they produce
and how they display themselves online and offline. As soon as you feel pessimistic
about your own work, do yourself a favour and unsubscribe from these accounts.

In the beginning of your photographic path it’s totally normal and maybe even
important that you try to copy certain styles in order to find out what suits you
best. But in the long term, try to find your individual passion instead of copying
others, no one got successful by doing that. And still, getting inspiration from
artists who you look up to can be a key to unlock your next stage of growth so your
own style can develop and emerge.

09
Shoot as much as possible
If you have time, try to take at least one picture every day. Even if you invest only
2 minutes in photography daily, your passion and photographic style will emerge.
Pay attention to angles, colours and lights: even the smallest nuances can have a
very different outcome.

Get feedback from others

Even though your passion for photography should mostly affect yourself and
feed your creative passion, it is important to get some kind of helpful feedback
from others, especially when your goal is to have a positive effect on other people
or maybe to one day earn some money with your passion. By getting a new
perspective from other people, they will point out things which you may have
been unaware of before. Try to find people who give you helpful, positive and
constructive criticism and avoid negative people who find nothing but mistakes in
your work. Learning about your strengths and weaknesses and how you can evolve
in the right direction is the next step.

Make a collection of the most inspiring photos you can find

You will always and everywhere stumble upon pictures, drawings or graphics which
will draw your attention. Collect these pieces of content and try to understand why
you like them. It may be the use of colours, composition, certain poses of a model,
or anything else which makes these pictures stand out to you. Try to find a pattern
and find out why you chose them. Setting up such a mood board is an extremely
important lesson of evolving and defining your own photographic style.

Limit your equipment

As you’re probably aware by now, I’m a strong believer in having as little but as
essential equipment as possible. Limit the equipment you have in order to get a
clear idea of your taste of photography. Try to care about technical distractions
later and focus on creating emotional, story-telling pictures.

Learn how to tell stories

Great images tell great stories. Try to intentionally capture photos that share a
certain emotion and tell something just by looking at them.

10
Never stop learning
Finding your own photographic style is the extension of your personality. As
you constantly learn new skills, this process will also be reflected in your style of
photography. As already discussed, find out which images you take have a positive
influence on other people and why they like it. Furthermore, find your favourite
images and evaluate why you personally like them. On the other hand, educate
yourself on why other pictures don’t have that impact. Listen to yourself and your
creative mind when certain situations you’re trying to capture just don’t work out:
This could mean that your passion is leading you down another path.

I deliberately don’t delete pictures on my instagram account. This is a great way

of seeing how my work evolved over time. Sometimes I scroll through my earliest
instagram posts to be able to see my style emerging without really having it
conceptualised during the process. If you’re in your early stages of photography,
you have to just start taking pictures of what you enjoy seeing. Over time, your style
will start to form. Do your own thing and try to free yourself from stereotypes of
what your field of photography should be.

Reflect about your passion

A great way of finding your own style and direction is to ask yourself questions.
What makes you lose track of time? Some photographic trips or certain techniques
of your camera may make you forget any sense of time and fulfil your creativity.
Your true passion should give you back energy instead of stealing it from you.
What sort of photography moves you? If you look at all the styles of photography,
what field really speaks to you? This may be a great indicator of what niche fits you
best.

Your style should come out of your personality and who you are. You don’t have
to be able to articulate your preferences or how you feel when taking pictures or
define your style in a particular way. If you feel some sort of relevance in your style
of photography which evolves organically, you’re heading in the right direction.

11
The best
photographs
are the ones who provoke
a certain emotion in you
and your audience.
03
Learning how to
take pictures

Developing a steady workflow is essential, as it saves you a lot of time and

energy once you find your efficient processes and are able to internalise
them. Here are some points which you should consider in order to not only
learn how to take meaningful pictures, but also enable a smooth flow in your
process of photography.

Learn, follow and break certain photographic rules

Rules are meant to be broken. That applies almost always. It‘s nothing but evident
that you learn and follow certain rules, especially in the beginning of your career.
You need to know proper techniques in order to follow or break them to find your
own, unique style. And yet, to appeal to a bigger audience, a broad understanding
on creating a high quality image according to some photographic rules is very
important. Besides of learning how to properly focus and expose your pictures,
here are some starting points which help you create good looking images with the
use of composition:

• Point of view: Learn to be open to various different perspectives.

Don‘t limit yourself to only shooting from your eye level, but
experiment with shooting from high up, from low or any other
interesting angle. It’s essential that you learn to take your time to
find good compositions.

• Use layers: Great images often consist of various layers. Try include a
foreground, middleground and a background to create depth in your
pictures. This way, you can add a framing (foreground) or a context
(background) to your images.

13
 • Add a subject: By adding a person, finding a tree, a hut, a mountain
peak or any other key element in your composition, you draw the
focus of the viewer into the photograph.

• Rule of thirds: Divide your photograph into imaginary lines of thirds.

Try to align your subjects in your picture with these lines.

• Get rid of distractions: Certain objects might detract from the quality
of your pictures. By changing your position, try to get a clear view
onto your subject.

Experiment
I’ve spent a long time desperately waiting for the right photographic field to fall
into my lap without going out and search for my photographic passion. Taking
pictures of nature and nice landscapes has always been my niche, but I’m very glad
that I somewhen decided to try out some other fields of photography. Try to grasp
every opportunity of a photographic experience you get. If you know a friend who
sometimes takes wedding pictures, ask him or her if you could follow along. You
don’t even have to do much, just observe him or her and how he or she manages
time, treats people and brings out smiles in front of the camera. Such a mentor
can be extremely helpful. Try taking pictures of your neighbours cat, when your
mum is cooking, try to capture your granddads wrinkled face and all the emotions
he lived through in his long life. In other words: bring your camera anywhere you
go. You never know what can happen in your everyday life and what mesmerising
sights you could come across. While doing that, always try to evaluate which
photographic experiences you liked the most and how you can further improve
them.

Step outside your comfort zone

Once you found some styles of photography in which you’re interested in, do
yourself a favour and don’t stop there. There are no borders, no boundaries when
it comes to a creative field. By expanding your creative horizon, you should always
try to step outside of your trusted comfort zone. This doesn’t necessarily mean
trying out a new lens or any other piece of equipment, but rather find something
which you wouldn’t normally do, which you may even be afraid of. For me, this
was for example the production of a music video with no experience, no money,
no professional team while „only“ having a photographic background. As you can
imagine, the music video didn’t turn out very professional, but I definitely learned
more during these days than during many photo assignments I had before.

14
Internalising your surroundings before taking any pictures
So how do you proceed when being somewhere to take pictures? First of all,
you should be aware that you’re always surrounded by places, people and light
situations which are worth being captured. Only you can decide which situations
are the right ones to take out your camera and where you can add your own
personal touch to. Even if it seems to have nothing to do with taking pictures, listen
to the sounds of the place you would like to take a picture of, pay attention to the
light, try to see all the little details which make this place remarkable. In the next
step, try to include these elements into your images, which showcase the emotions
you‘re experiencing, your talent and passion in the best possible way.

Freshen your perspective

Every once in a while, take some time and focus on different perspectives.
Experiment with different camera settings and perspectives you haven’t tried
before.

Some of the best photographs out there are taken with the simplest techniques. It’s
a great idea to learn as many photographic tricks in the beginning, but you have to
remind yourself that such techniques are nothing but quick wins in the short term
of your progress. Keep in mind that you shouldn’t forget the real substance of your
photography. Great photos aren’t great because how they were taken, but because
what emotion they can provoke in the audience. While you‘re learning all these fancy
techniques, it’s always time to ask yourself what you want to tell with your photos.

15
Own
the vision Own the vision
worth pursuing.
worth pursuing
while keeping track of your goals
and aspirations.
04
Using social media

Social media is a great way to showcase your pictures. However, it can also be
a very toxic place with all its different sides of comparing yourself to others,
receiving negative criticism, losing your motivation for your passion and even
getting addicted to endless scrolling through these platforms. If you decide to
start posting content online, try to have a clear plan with a fixed goal.

Your goal with social media

Try to find out what you want to achieve on social platforms. Wheter it’s sharing
content with your friends, growing a follower base or building a business, try to be
aware of that as soon as possible. I have collected some practical tips you can use
while building your online presence in order to get some attention or even some
business possibilities. However, don‘t get distracted by likes, followers or money.
These are reasonable goals to have in the short term, but without passion to have
a positive effect on others, you won’t have the strength for this process (which will
take a lot of time) if you base your activities purely on the amount of likes you get.
Numbers don‘t mean what you think they do. Own the vision worth pursuing.

Building your digital presence

The following points are very basic but essential in order to grow and maintain a
strong community.

• Produce the best possible content: This should be your number one goal.
Whatever it is you take pictures of, try to make it with the best
possible quality. Only with a high quality portfolio, you will be able
to get the most attention. Pay attention to points 3 - 6 in this list to
ensure producing the highest possible quality.

17
 • Post as often as possible: When starting out, this point is almost as
important as aiming to reach the best possible quality. Only with an
active online presence you are able to get attention: feel free to post
at least once a day per platform. Quantity teaches you things quality
does not. These two points don‘t necessarily contradict each other, as
long as you care about the sentiment in your audience and listen to
them.

• Listen to your audience: I’ve been sharing content on instagram for

almost a decade now. And still, critical comments are the most
valuable lessons when it comes to evaluating the opinion of my
audience. Listening to your audience’s reactions and improving your
work through them is a great way to provide the best possible quality
and and being able to grow.

• Discover and use trends: Online trends are probably the most fleeting
things in the world of social media. And yet, they shape the way
we consume and create content. When trying out what’s trending
online, gravitate towards social platforms , their most successful
creators and trending hashtags. Try to find a connection with
current trends and your own content.

• Connect with others: Once you find your photographic style, you
should have no difficulties finding likeminded people. Try to get
in touch with other creators, collectives and hubs in order to find
new inspiration and to get your content broadcasted to a wider
audience. This can be made by simply adding the right hashtags to
your pictures, tagging these hubs on your content or participating in
contests.

• Add your personal touch: Even when following all these points, try not to
forget your own style and personal values and try to find a good mix
between social trends and maintaining your own, distinctive style.

Finding balance
The important things in the world and in your creative work happen outside of
social media. Try not to take too seriously what happens online and always ask
yourself where your focus is and should be. Find a balance between striving for
high quality content and the next level of your creativity, but don‘t get pushed into
a stressful bubble, forced by social media.
Create vigorously; engage with your audience. But never forget where real
inspiration is coming from: the real world. Over time, those who really love what
you‘re doing will come and transform into a curious, inspirational audience.

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Editing is
catching reality
and enhancing your
own perception of a
certain situation.
05
Editing your
photos

The work of professional photographers has a certain feel to it, which can
not only be achieved during the process of taking pictures, but also during
post-production. Editing has a big impact on how your pictures and style of
photography are perceived.

It‘s time to learn a few photo editing essentials once you got the hang of
understanding your camera and having learned how to take good pictures. It would
be wrong for me to tell you exactly how to edit your pictures, as this is something
you should learn on your own to express your creativity in the best way. On the
other hand, there are a few basic steps which you can take to make your images
look better. If you‘re planning to start editing your pictures, you‘ll want to take
pictures in the RAW image format for the best editing options, if possible.

• Crop your images: Pay attention that your subjects are horizontally or
vertically aligned. If you take landscape pictures, make sure that the
horizon is leveled. Try to take this into account already when you‘re
taking pictures.

• Adjust white balance: White balance influences the colour of your

image, as it gives it a warmer or colder feel. In certain editing
software, that‘s called the temperature. Try to find the right colour
tone of your images using that slider.

• Contrast and exposure: Contrast is the range of dark to light tones. Try
to find a good balance to avoid the extremes of having a flat image
or a ‚heavy‘, very dark image. Adjusting the exposure is transforming
the photo into your preferred brightness or darkness. When I take
pictures of landscapes, I always try to keep some structure in the
bright skies, as well as details in darker foregrounds.

20
Consistency is key. Find out which colour ranges fit best to your pictures. There’s
nothing wrong with trying out or buying presets from established photographers or
watching tutorials, but in the end, it’s important that you find your individual style
as copying someone won’t make you happy nor successful in the long term.
Finding out which colours match your photography best is a great start. When I
edit my pictures, I sometimes turn the saturation of certain colours almost all the
way down in order to bring out the other colours even more. As a result, I get a
pleasing, much clearer image which is much more aesthetic in my eyes.

This is, of course, not the only right way to edit a picture. Feel free to download
a photo editing app for your smartphone or computer to experiment with your
images. Experiment using the different sliders and what effect they have on your
images and you’ll realise what pleases you the most. As in defining your style of
photography, this process will as well take quite some time until you find your style
of editing. Defining your colour scheme is a wonderful way to reach a consistency
in your photographs. By doing that you are genuinely defining your own style and
make you and your photography stand out.

It‘s up to you how far you want to go with post processing. For me personally, it‘s
important to be as transparent as possible when it comes to editing pictures. For
certain photographs, it makes sense to me to remove certain annoying objects,
such as cars or signs in a rural landscape. I usually make sure that I showcase
these changes I made in order to not give a false impression to my audience. In my
opinion, transparency is one of the core values to have towards your audience.

Editing isn‘t the most important step to become a good photographer. First, try
to take the very best images you can using all the tools on hand, and the skills
you‘re learning and have learned, and then use post processing techniques which
underline your personal preferences to elevate your photography.

21
Conclusion
As we’re coming to an end of this ebook, here are the most important points I
would like you to remember: Look for inspiration anywhere, take photos regularly
by telling meaningful stories, ask for feedback and enjoy the ride to make the most
of your photographic journey. Becoming a good photographer can only happen
organically. There is no rush when it comes to such a delicate art form. Be kind
to yourself and learn to value these moments photography gives to you and your
everyday life. Taking pictures of what makes you happy and what’s available to you
and your lifestyle is maybe all you need in order to develop your style and passion
for photography.

Outlook
With these steps, you should be able to start building a strong determination in
becoming a better photographer with first ideas on how to handle social media
and engage with your growing audience. If you’re interested in the next steps,
such as start getting business leads, assignment jobs, getting hired for influencer
campaigns, or if you simply want to pay more attention and get more in-depth
know how and ideas for your photography and social media presence, consider
taking a look at my second ebook, „Making It“, where I provide you with further
topics, more insight and how I evolved from a hobby photographer without any
photographic education to a professional content creator. That second guide will
be released shortly after this one. And now, it’s your turn. Keep in mind that the
most important person who should enjoy your photography is you.

I hope you enjoyed the insights I gave you in this guide and that you maybe
have learned a thing or two. Please reach out to me if you have any questions or
feedback.

Thanks for reading.

Dominik
@doeeme

22
Thanks
for reading.
Questions or feedback?
Reach me here:
[email protected] or www.instagram.com/doeeme