Photography has evolved in a magnificent way, giving almost anybody access to it, but there's a special minority inside that huge pot of people that have access to photography. Those are ones that get ticked, and develop a deep passion almost instantly when they have their first encounter with the possibilities in Photography. Every photographer out there has been in the same position of a newbie, and it's an incredible moment, because everything is new and rich. The Photography world is so vast, that is normal to get overwhelmed almost instantaneously.

When we are in the novice road in almost any discipline, we seek for advice, and I wish somebody would have advised me in a wise way, but unfortunately, I learned the clumsy way. But that's why I'm sharing with you this very personal advises.

Learn about composition

This is the very first thing you should do. Way before getting to know how to expose right, or even develop a photograph with modern days amazing software. This is the primordial trick of GREAT Photography. Composition is one of the most important elements in photography. It is the most tangible characteristic of photography if you like. Composition is demanded by the readers' eyes, and is the photographer who decides how and which of the elements are inside one shot. You can read a lot about composition, but you'll very likely get stuck in just one rule, the rule of thirds, but we can go beyond rule of thirds with other composition techniques. Ted Forbes has done an amazing contribution to Photography by sharing and spreading all of his knowledge. He did a great job teaching about composition here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7EW8YqJ0u7R_xawN0NQ_AyJSS_A1GD7N

Invest in Books

It doesn't matter if you are seeking for inspiration or knowledge, invest in books. We can choose from books that teach us, or books that are filled with amazing photography. The guys over at Rocky Nook have a lot of interesting books you can invest in, but that is in relation to knowledge and theory resources, which are always great to seek. But there are also, the very well-known Coffee Table Books. This Photography books, are for me, the summit of any photographer. This books are filled with amazing images that speak for themselves, and you really can feel the message behind them. There are Photo books for almost any discipline. If you have not a defined passion of a particular branch of Photography, you can look for books with various type of photography inside them, like the famous annual books of 1X[1].

Don't get crazy over Gear

Ok, let's face it, Gear is something very easy to get attracted to. There are just enough sources in the internet doing reviews over gear. This have escalated so much, that even people have gotten so passionate about brands, that they tend to answer the famous question "Canon vs Nikon". Both are great Japanese Brands, both are tools for capturing images. Period. Don't get crazy about lenses, lights, and accessories, until you have defined which style of photography you find the deepest passion for. This could take even years to be defined, so don't worry. You can always lend or rent gear, so you can experiment with a wider variety of stuff, until you find your place inside one or two Photography Niches.

Publish Restrictively

We love to showcase our work on the web, but we need to do it wisely. Publish with a certain level of discipline. Publish regularly, but only publish those pictures that really make you proud. In many art disciplines, we never reach the summit of self-joy, and that's why it's so easy to see evolution when you go back to the past and see your images. Let them evolve, let them exist in the web, but don't overflow the channels with them. Be selective, be picky. This doesn't require experience, but time. Let your images cool down a little while, and after some days, go through them, and you'll be able to select them with a more objective eye, instead of publishing all the images that come out of your cameras.

Said this, I hope this four tips will be of some help to you. I really wish that somebody has thought me this things that I consider as priceless this days.

[1] https://1x.com/shop/books