Master Your Camera Modes: A Simple Guide to Auto, Aperture, Shutter & Manual Settings
Tired of your camera deciding everything for you? Let's unlock its full potential today!
Ever wonder why your camera sometimes nails the shot in Auto, yet other times your brilliant photographic idea falls flat? It's all about how much control you have, and how much you let the camera decide. Your camera's shooting modes are your direct gateway to greater creative expression. They bridge the gap between simply snapping a picture and intentionally crafting an image that reflects your vision.
11 Landscape Photography Composition Tips That Will Instantly Improve Your Shots
Do you want to take more interesting landscape photos? Well, I do, and I hope that you do too. It is too easy to go somewhere and take average, boring photos of something you never do anything with. I have taken loads of these myself, so don’t worry. And it is so easy to take the same photo of something we have all seen a thousand times. Let’s not do any of that.
No, there is so much more that we can do, and in this episode, I am going to tell you 11 things you can do to help you take better landscape photos.
Understanding Focal Length and Its Effect On Composition
The focal length you use to take a photo will significantly affect the photo you create. It will determine what is in a photo, what is not in a photo, how small or large the elements of the photo are, and how the elements in your photo relate to each other. The focal length you use will also determine the depth of field, or as I like to call it, depth of sharpness, that there is in a photo.
The focal length you use will significantly impact the photo you get. Let's find out all about this.
What Are The Rules Of Composition? (And Which Do I Use?)
The rules of composition are not rules. The rules of composition are guidelines, ideas, things that we can use to help us. But you need to know what the rules of composition are so you know which rules you are going to use, if any. You don’t have to use the rules of composition, and you will never use all of them. Certainly not in the same photo, but you will see why, so don’t worry. Find the ones that work for you, and they can help you get better compositions. And better compositions make better photos.
Top Tips To Help You Manage Your Digital Photo Catalogue
You need to organise your photos on your computer so you can find any photo quickly and easily. Once you have done that, you have the small matter of looking after that precious collection of photos, which, as a photographer, is your everything. I don’t want to overstate this—as a photographer, your photos are you. Without them, you are not far off nothing.
How To Organise Digital Photos On Your Computer
You need to organise your photos on your computer so you can find any photo quickly and easily. You need to come up with a filing system that you can add to over the years as you take more and more photos. And you need to be able to keep track of all the photos in the catalogue so you know which photos you have edited, the good stuff you have not yet edited, your best stuff and any rubbish you might have. You need to get rid of any rubbish and any photos that you do not like or need. You need to know how to organise digital photos on your computer.
How To Take Fewer Photos But Better Photos In 2025 (With My One Photo Rule)
I want to get straight into taking better photos, beginning with taking fewer photos. We can all take fewer photos and, in the process, take better photos, and in this episode, I am going to tell you how.
I am picking up on episode 195, where I asked the question - why do I have so many rubbish photos? I want to concentrate on the taking fewer photos bit, and my splendid one photo rule.
How Lenses Can Help You To Take Better Photos
Lenses on cameras give photographers options. To understand how lenses can help you take better photos, you need to know what you want to photograph, how you want to take these photos, and what you want your photos to look like. Once you know these things, you can find the lenses that work for you. Just so you know, only you can do this. Once you know what you want to do, you can look into the wonderful world of lenses.
Lenses are tools that photographers use to take the photos they need. In this episode, I tell you how I ended up with the lenses I have.
Now It's Time For You To Start Taking Better Photos
Every photographer should aim to take better photos. That is what I aim to do and teach. Here are the 11 things that I talked about in episode 172.
What are you trying to do with your photography?
Composition – what you put in your photos
How to take photos – getting started
Camera gear – what to buy and how to use it
Camera settings – how to get image capture bang on
Phone or camera? Which do you use?
Learn from your photos and other photographers
Image processing – the stuff you need to know
How to save time but improve your photography
Get out and practise more – but take fewer photos
Become excellent at one photography thing
These 11 things produced 16 episodes, and there has been lots of information and good stuff if I do say so myself.
Get out taking photos more—but take fewer photos
Get out more and take photos, but take fewer photos. This will help you take better photos. Getting out more and taking photos gives you lots more opportunities to create new stuff. But don't try to create too much new stuff, or you will just end up with lots of average photos that you do not have the time to do anything meaningfully with.
15 Time Saving Photography Tips To Help You Take Better Photos
Here is the answery bit
Have a plan for what you are going to photograph
Only take interesting photos
Look before you take photos
If I take this photo, will I be bothered to edit it?
Camera settings for success
Less gear is more
My one-photo rule
OK – the take fewer photos rule
Portfolio swappers
Cull like a pro
Edit only what you need to
The 5-minute edit rule
Speed editing – find your sweet spot
Copy and paste
Really look at your photos and what you have created
Yes, these are all things you can do to save heaps of time and take better photos—and they don't cost you anything-what is not to love?
Photo Editing - What You Need To Know (And Not Worry About)
Photo editing should be about enhancing what is in an image, making a photo look the best that it can be, making an image as appealing as possible.
This is done by
Being very picky about which photos you edit
Extracting as much data out of an image as possible
Cropping to improve the composition
Correcting technical issues
Global adjustments
Local adjustments
Removing unwanted stuff (when it is ok to)
Not spending forever editing photos
How To Get Better At Photography By Learning From Others
So, how can you improve your photography skills? Well, one of the best ways is to learn from other photographers. Take a look at the work of photographers you admire. What is it about their photos that you like? How did they become so famous? And what about those iconic photos from history? What makes them stand out?
As you begin to analyze and interpret other photographers' work, a new world of perspectives will open up to you. This process of self-discovery and understanding will transform the way you see and capture the world through your lens.
Phone vs. Camera: Which Is Better To Take Photos With?
Cameras are, of course, designed to take high-quality photos. And phone cameras have improved so much that they are a credible alternative to cameras. But which is better to take photos with? A digital camera or a phone? Is one better than the other? Or is there a place for both?
How To Use Your Camera Settings To Take Better Photos
There are many settings that we can change in cameras and lenses, too. These settings will change depending on what you are taking a photo of and the ambient light levels. With the correct camera settings, we can take better photos. That is why our cameras have all those settings, after all!
Photography Tips - How To Actually Take A Photo
This is how to take a photo
Choose your composition carefully
Check your camera settings
Decide where you are going to focus
Take a meter reading
If all is good, get yourself steady
Hold the camera correctly
Breathe in
Breathe out slowly
Gently roll your finger over the shutter button, focus, meter, and take the photo.
And relax!
Check what you have got.
And hopefully, move on!
Tips For How To Take Better Photos – Getting Started
Before you take a photo, be clear about what you are taking a photo of. Make sure that the camera settings are correct technically and that they are right for the subject. Think about what you are doing and make sure that you are in the best position for the photo that you are taking. Raise your camera to your eye, look carefully at what you can see in the viewfinder, and take one photo.
Stop and review what you have captured. Look at the photo critically. Ask yourself these questions.
Do you like the photo?
Is the composition pleasing?
Is the photo technically correct?
Can you take a better photo than this one?
Can you be bothered to spend ages editing the photo?
What do you not like about the photo?
And finally, why would anyone other than you be remotely interested in this photo?
How To Use Your Gear To Improve Your Compositions
You can change your compositions by using different camera settings and gear in different ways. Camera bodies and lenses allow you to change what you can capture, and changing camera settings can change how you capture a composition.
So, if you were wondering why there are so many camera settings and so many different bits of gear, read on.