I will say right away: you cannot learn the art of photography. Just as it is impossible to become a genius, how it is impossible to become talented - if you were not born with this (and we, the vast majority, untalented), then this is simply not your destiny.
But I’ll add right away: it’s real to learn how to shoot at least better than those around you - then you can even take pictures (many of them at this level call “works”) proudly show to colleagues or relatives, modestly declaring that “everyone can do this”. To do this, it is enough to have a baggage of self-criticism, good analytical skills and the ability to listen and accept someone else's authoritative opinion. And the recommendations will always remain general. Of course, it would be great to study at some photography school. Look at the
photography school overview.
Learn to observe. Just learn, because without this, all subsequent instructions lose their meaning. Do not walk down the street, staring blankly in front of you - gaze around, notice everything interesting and unusual. Remember that one of the photographer's primary tools is contrast:
color, shape, relationship, or expression.
Get used to the fact that you cannot shoot. If you are just starting to shoot, but already many of your photos seem to you to be genius, then you are not very self-critical (there is an option that you are, indeed, a genius - however, the probability is very small, and most geniuses take amazing shots no more often than one of thousands, and truly ingenious - out of a million). Learn to criticize yourself, look for shortcomings in personnel and eradicate them, find advantages and keep them on your own note with the aim of further introducing masterpieces into production. Purely psychologically, this position will set you a lower bar, from which there is only one way - up.rnLearn to frame your shot. You've probably read the Kodak Beginner's Guide to Photographers - so try to apply these most common techniques in practice:
build the composition correctly, avoid imbalance between the parts of the photo, do not allow one part of it to outweigh (for example, it is not recommended to shoot two people in close-up, shifting them both to one side from the center, but, on the contrary, place the center of the frame approximately between them) rnapply the “rule of the golden ratio” (the frame is divided into three equal parts vertically and horizontally, the key elements of the frame are located at the intersection of the conditional boundary lines)rnremember that the central object of the frame is always static - for dynamism, always avoid placing the horizon along a conventional line dividing the frame in two (for example, if you are shooting a sunset over water and want to accentuate a beautiful sky, give 2/3 of the sky, 1/3 of the water, if you are more occupied by reflections, then vice versa). Keep in mind that even a static frame (for example, a sunset) still has dynamism: the human gaze moves along it, starting from the center of the composition to the periphery - the photographer controls the direction of movement.rnbuild the frame using simple geometric shapes that are visible to the eye: a triangle, square, circle, etc., which are formed from the objects of shootingrnlearn to look not only at the subject, but also at the background and, in particular, the edges of the frame and immediately when shooting, remove distracting details - then it will be easier to editrnLook for interesting shots and angles, try to level the flaws. You can read as long as you like how to shoot a portrait, but at the same time always shoot a person with big ears in full face, from which his antennas will be visible from afar.rnDiscard the film. No matter what others say, start shooting with a digital camera. So you will spend much less money and you will see the result immediately, and there will be more opportunities for analysis and finding gaps.rnForget outdated advice. More often than not, beginners are literally driven to the development of complexes by the advice “you can't shoot against the sun”. It is not true. If it were impossible, portraits against the background of the sunset would not be obtained.rnDo not believe the nonsense from the forums. Most of the forum patrons are IT employees of various companies and bored office workers looking for entertainment or communication, there are very few talented photographers there - they do not crawl around the forums, but take photographs. Finding a worthy interlocutor who can teach something is almost impossible there.rnForget the fairy tale that when you buy a good camera, you start shooting well. This is so far from reality that even marketers can hardly be caught spreading this myth. Please note that if you are going to get involved in photography for a very long time, you will have to change more than one camera (in medium models, the resource, as a rule, is designed for 20-30 thousand shutter actuations, in cheaper ones, electronics often fail), buy something simpler and more versatile - then later it will be easier to understand what you really need.rnImprove yourself. If you have learned something, and practice it in practice, do not stop there - go forward. Read the news, search.