With the new era of digital cameras, photography has become much more common. Almost anyone can afford a camera and most have one. Even many cell phones have a digital camera. While most new cameras are also quite easy to use, there are still many areas in photography where you need to have the knowledge to succeed.

These are some of the most common mistakes made by new digital photographers. If you are an unpracticed photographer, you should try to at least avoid these mistakes.

1. Poor Camera

This is by far the most common mistake these days. Many cheap digital models are only good for either landscape or closeup photographs due to their poor focus. Know your camera: what it can do and what are its limitations. A $200 model should never be used for professional photography.

2. Lighting

Another common mistake is to forget lighting or believe the camera takes care of it all. You will seldom get as good images in dark conditions with a cheap flash than you could in plentiful natural lighting.

3. Cropping

While it is much easier to see what gets in the photo with today's LCD displays than with an old-fashioned seeker, there are still plenty of mistakes you can make. One thing to remember is that you can crop the image on your computer. That means you will most likely want to include too much space around than too little.

4. Zooming

There are so make things that can go wrong with zooming. The number one thing to keep in mind is to always avoid using the digital zoom. It is a feature found in many cheap digital cameras that basically has the same result as cropping the image on your computer. If you need zoom, only use the optical zoom.

5. Camera Settings

If you are not sure about the settings in your camera, it may be best to use the defaults. If there are several modes, the 'auto' mode is usually the easiest to use. You should take care that you use a good format to save the images. Often the high detail mode with the highest resolution should be used, if you are not short on memory.

The bottom line is: if you are serious about photography, you must practice it. Digital photography does not differ much it that sense.

If you do not learn the skills in advance, you are going to have to learn them the hard way, and that will probably mean making these mistakes and more. It can also mean tens or hundreds of lost photos - shots that could have been excellent had you not made a simple mistake.