What are the most common issues amateur photographers have?

What are the most common issues amateur photographers have?

Mark Comon (Vice President, Paul's Photo, Torrance, CA) gives expert video advice on: How do I prevent getting the "red-eye" effect?; How can I take red-eye out of my photos?; How do I capture fireworks with my digital camera? and more...

Working in the camera store everyday, I see two problems. First one; people don't get close enough to their subjects. I tell people every time, the first thing you do is get as physically close as you are able to with your subject, and then use your zoom lens to zoom in to fill the frame as much as you can. If I am shooting a sporting event a lot of my moms and dads will want to sit up in the top of the bleachers, because that's where they are comfortable. But you can't take a sporting event picture from their. I'm always on the sidelines, as close as I physically can to get the picture, and then I use my telephoto lens to get it. The second problem that I see each and every day is the wrong use of light. People come in complaining about their pictures because they're too light or too dark or too shadowy, or too this or too that, but they don't understand the basic concept of good light versus bad light. They don't understand front light, side light, top light, back light, and how that effects their pictures. Photography by definition is writing with light, and if you don't understand the light, you'll never be able to make great pictures.