Hello! after last weeks posting I though I'd write up my own version, tell me what you think and ask any questions! if you want to share some of your own tips tell me and ill add them too!
•Better camera doesn't always mean better photos, it comes down to you and how much effort you are willing to put into perfecting your interest. some famous photographers still use non SLR's
•Understand framing, look up the rule of thirds and practice it, but don't follow it blindly(possibly add a picture to show what the rule of thirds is)
•Don't be afraid of P mode or auto, but do be aware of automatic flash.
•Experiment with settings, keep trying out your settings spend hours and days playing with them. You don't need to use manual to be an expert but you should know what settings to use when you want a certain effect.
•Understand ISO, ISO is possibly the easiest concept to understand when it comes to photography, learning to use it in the right conditions could change everything.
•Take lots and lots and lots of shots, when your starting out there is a general rule that you will inevitably get a good shot so take lots of them so that number will increase, the better you become the less shots you will need to get that "perfect shot"
•Zoom! Sometimes you're just not close enough, if your unhappy with a shot then get as close as you can.
•Create concepts, this doesn't mean just plan out a shot before hand(even though it does) but it also means that you should challenge yourself with different styles of photography, pick a day where you only shoot buildings, another day shoot in black and white, another people, another animals.
It also means that you should challenge yourself with projects, two that come to mind are take a picture everyday for a year, another is the alphabet challenge; take each letter of the alphabet and find an object or concept that starts with that letter.
•The Golden Hour, is the first and last sunlight of the day are absolutely perfect for photography.
•Keep the sun to your back, if you're out in the midday sun always try to keep it behind you, your subject will be well lit and also the skies will be bluer and better defined.
•Tripods at night! Shooting at night can be an awesome adventure but always remember to take a tripod and shoot with a low ISO without a flash! For those who have a small camera, a platform will do or even carry a small bean bag around with you.
•Save and organise all your shots on your computer, the good and the bad, you never know when you might learn something new and you might want to go back and try it out, also a bad shot might not be so bad on a less critical day.---->It also makes for a beautiful visual diary of your life as time passes on.
•Gain a basic understanding of post processing, there are many programs(some are free some are not) out there that help you make basic fixes to your pictures, saturation, cropping, clarity contrast.
• Join an artistic social network. this is so important if you are serious about improving your skills, social networks connect you with people who can help and critique your work and help you improve, it also helps you see others at varied levels of skill, you will start to see clichéd images and start to know when to avoid them.
•Understand clichéd images, sunsets, flowers clouds pets children, learn when to use them and when to avoid them.
•Learn from the masters, find out who your favourite photographers are and study their methods, try to copy some of their work as well, no one starts out completely original and once you learn how to do what they did you can go beyond.
•Shoot for yourself and no one else. Take pictures as if no one will ever seen them except for you, think of yourself as an audience of one. Sometimes people will react to shots that you hated and ignore the ones you loved you can only make yourself happy.
•Don't hate, share. If you are confident in your own abilities then you should never hate other people and share as much as possible!
Enjoy and please share your tips! below!