Take the Time to Get Accustomed to Your Environment Before Shooting

It is important to have your full attention on seeing and getting the shots you want... not on your surroundings.

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*19. Start by Shooting Subjects You Know and Have a Natural Liking For

Start your photographic adventures by shooting people you are familiar with, places you know well and things you are passionate about.

Persist with this process until your work begins the reflect your natural affinity for the people and things you love.

A pro can literally make an image of paint drying seem appealing... but that's because they are pro's!

Eventually you will become more technically and artistically proficient at representing things you like in way that makes them interesting to others.

The final step is bringing it all together so that you can take a shot of something you are not that interested in personally BUT... can make it interesting to others.

*18. For Outdoor Photography Wear Sensible Shoes. I know I sound like your mother.

Actually if I WAS your mother I would also advise clean underwear but that's a subject for another blog.

If you are scouting the neighborhood for that elusive shot or hacking through the jungle for a different but still elusive, shot you need to be comfortable.

The ability to focus your attention outwardly on your environment for extended periods of time is the key to observing and capturing great shots.

This activity is never helped by a pair of feet sending constant messages demanding some kind of attention.

17. When you think you have the shot... shoot some more! Note: Keep Brain engaged at all times.

There is a lot to be said for learning photography in the digital age and one of the great advantages is that it costs nothing to take a bunch of extra shots. In the days of film you would have been restricted in your output based upon your budget.

Film and processing costs quite literally forced photographers to get good fast, go broke or give up.

These days its a different story. Shooting a multitude of extra shots may very well get you the shot exactly how you want it but doing it mindlessly will teach you nothing.

So by all means take advantage of the freedom offered by digital photography but at the same time note what you are doing and note the different outcomes you are achieving as you do them to improve your skills.

16. You never know when something is going to happen so have a camera with you at all times.

Success at really getting good at photography is the idea of creating within your own mindset the viewpoint of always "being on." By that I mean always being aware of the world around you and opportunities within it for getting that great shot.

Of course sharpening your observation and "seeing" your environment as a photo is all rather pointless if you don't have a camera with you!

16. You never know when something is going to happen so have a camera with you at all times.

Success at really getting good at photography is the idea of creating within your own mindset the viewpoint of always "being on." By that I mean always being aware of the world around you and opportunities within it for getting that great shot.

Of course sharpening your observation and "seeing" your environment as a photo is all rather pointless if you don't have a camera with you!

15. When Photographing People, Portraits or Otherwise - Don't Be a Bossy Pants!

It is very easy when you get caught up in the moment of creation to start ordering people around like cattle to get them to comply with your "grand vision!"

Yes, a degree of control is always necessary when photographing people, especially when there is more than one to cope with! However for the most part maintaining the concept that the end result is for them and not you will always yield better results.