>>3788650Just ignore these fucking assholes telling you to "just take photos man." There is a difference between "just taking photos" and photography. Just taking photos will leave you empty very quickly because your photos WILL suck without no understanding of photography. In the beginning(or whole life for that matter because no artist is free from the anxiety of influence) you have to learn from past masters and you have to know the rules or guidelines before you can break them.
Follows these steps:
1. Your first question should be what kind of photography you're interested in?
2. Then your next step should be to take a look at the photographic work of great photographers ONLY in that genre. You're going to learn then why you shouldn't learn from the best of the best? Life is too short to look at shitty photos by nobodies. If you want to do more in depth study of their work then buy their photobooks. Ted Forbes have a great playlist on photographers(and composition if you want to learn from him) in which he give short introductions on their so check that out.
3. Read The Photographer's Eye by The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman should be enough(you can also learn this by looking at great photos but this book will give you precise pointers which are very basic and photographs are more than that but it will help you immensely in your photographic practice) to learn the technical side of photography.
4. Read The Mind's Eye by Bresson, The Photographer's Eye by John Szarkowski and Ways of Seeing by John Berger(not strictly on photography it will get you a good understanding of visual arts and you can also watch his series on YouTube) if you want to go above the basic understanding about photography and want get into a more artistic side of photography.
If you can tell me what kind of photography you like I can give you few recommendations based on your preference. Another important is camera is just a hallow box, a tool. You can start with your phone.
