2: Use your camera’s P mode.
Shooting in AV, TV or Manual modes gives you the greatest deal of control and any decent photographer will rarely use anything else, however if wandering around a city, use P mode. This sets the camera to Auto for ISO, shutter speed and aperture whilst allowing you to change any settings if necessary and giving control over the flash, and when a shot comes along and you have no time to think, all you need to do is compose the shot and shoot. Better to give control to the camera than to miss the shot completely, and if you find you have longer than you thought you can flick back to one of the other modes for more shots.

3. Use a long zoom for candid shots.
I love shots of people living their lives, but as soon you whip out your camera, any naturalness goes straight out of the window. Using a long zoom can allow you to observe from a distance and capture natural shots without disrupting or being disrupted.

4. Choose your lens and stick to it.
Dust is the bain of the photographers life so when out in the field, you don’t want to be changing lens and letting dust in. Pick a suitable lens for your shoot and stick with it.

5. Find a new perspective.
You can guarantee that famous landmarks and places have been photographed from every position possible. Try to look at your subject from a new perspective – climb a tree, stick out the rain – you’ll find yourself with something that 99% of people wouldn’t have.

6. Check your batteries before leaving home.
This sounds obvious but not checking battery life and having your camera die on you at the crucial point is a common problem. Charge your batteries, take a spare and avoid kicking yourself for such a simple mistake.

7. Be polite.
No one likes people shoving a camera in their face. If you are taking a picture of someone you don’t know or of something that they might be protective over, common courtesy can go a long way. Just ask and most of the time they will say yes and you might even get an interesting conversation out of it.

8. Use a filter.
If you’ve spent hundreds of pounds on a lens, you want to make sure you keep it protected. For a fraction of what your lens cost you can get a filter that will save you alot of grief.

9. Get insurance.
Most travel insurance policies only cover a small amount of personal possessions so it is worth making sure you have camera insurance that covers you in the country you are in.

10. Back up your images.
The longer you travel, the greater the risk of damage or theft to your memory cards. Losing the photos you have taken is often more painful than losing the equipment itself, so make sure you back up your photos either online or on CD. Or both. You can then keep these with you or send them back to someone to keep hold of until you get back.

1) Read the manual!

This really should go without saying. Even quite experienced users can always benefit from reading the user manual, as tempting as it is to skip it and get straight to the action. However, if the idea of wading into that quicksand of technical terms and dry, joyless language gives you the chills, at least there the basics – how to turn the flash on and off and onto auto, how to zoom in and out, how to use the shutter button and how to view your pictures. If you’re feeling braver at a later date, you can always go back and learn the technicalities.

2) Set your resolution

While not immediately obvious, it’s important to set your resolution as high as you can afford it. If this involves buying a larger memory card, then do so. The lower your resolution is, the ‘fuzzier’ and worse quality your photos will be when you come to print them out. A low resolution also makes it more difficult to crop photos and digitally alter, which limits your options drastically.

2) Make your camera your new best friend

By which I mean, start taking it everywhere with you. One of my best friend’s boyfriends has made it his resolution to take a least one picture every day. He carries his camera around with his everywhere he goes and as a result has come across some stunning shots and improved his technique immensely. There really is truth to the saying ‘practice makes perfect’. Additionally, you will get to know how your camera reacts in different types of light – artificial, natural, cloudy, dusk and so on. Besides, most of us can identify with that incredible frustration of coming across the perfect shot and not having our camera around to take it. I mean, imagine missing this fantastic holiday moment!

4) Think outside the box

Start thinking like a photographer. If you see something you want to photograph, don’t just click away like some shutter-happy tourist: think! From which angle would your subject look best? Would different lighting convey a different mood? Should you shoot from close up or further away? While there are certain ‘rules’ that can help you at the beginning to get the feeling for what a ‘good’ photograph should look like, you should also feel free to experiment. Even if everything goes horribly wrong, you can still learn from your mistakes.

If, however, you’re just starting out, it can helpful to keep the following points in mind:

• Apply the ‘Two Thirds’ rule, by positions your points of interest along the third lines of the photograph. Try not to let the horizon or other lines cut your photo in half.

• Avoid distractions: it may be amusing to realise your photo looks like your mum has a tree growing out of her head, but if you’re aiming for decent photos, try to look at the ‘big picture’ as it were and alter your position to remove distractions.

• Mix things up: take photographs from interesting angles, as demonstrated by this photo, taken from a hotel window . While this can go horribly wrong, often it can result in beautiful, unique photographs without a lot of hard work.

5) Keep still and focus

Pay attention to what you’re doing while taking photographs. If you are prone to taking blurry or shaky pictures, either you haven’t got the hang of focusing, or you may be moving too much while attempting to snap your subject. In any case, learn how to use the auto focus and don’t play with manual focusing unless your auto focus run into trouble. One top tip to steady your shot is to use one hand underneath the lens to steady it (keep your fingers out of the shot though!) and use your other hand to focus and take the picture. If you still have trouble, try experimenting with a tripod, although this will limit your movement. For an example of how blurriness can ruin a shot, look at this holiday snap. Imagine how much prettier it would be if only it were clearer!

6) Don’t get flash happy

Use your flash sparingly. While it can be a god-send in certain circumstances, if you give into temptation too often your only reward will be washed-out subject or strange reflections. Your flash is best limited to the following situations:

• to eliminate ‘panda eyes’ in bright sunlight

• to fill in dark shadows for contrast

Where possible, avoid flash by introducing as much light as possible to the area, for example opening curtains, turning on lights and so on. If you have no choice but to use your flash at nighttime, go ahead, but do be prepared for a rather washed-out or flattened photograph.

7) Go for a crop

Try installing photo-editing software and learn how to use the basics of it. One of the best is Photoshop, but it’s quite expensive. A better option is perhaps to start with Paint.NET, which is free to download online (it’s only Windows-compatible though). Even if you are the most computer-phobic person in the world, you should be able to master some simple skills, which can do the world for your photographs. Probably the most important things to learn are:

• correcting colour balance

• cropping

• adjusting lighting

• removing the dreaded red eye

If you’re more ambitious, there is almost no limit to what you can do.

Stick to automatic

Most cameras have a automatic mode – some have several different automatic modes. Stick to these until you get your bearings, since due to advances in technology, there isn’t a pressing reason to switch to manual. If you appear to be experiencing problems in your automatic mode, such as consistently taking blurry photos, you might want to start experimenting manually, but otherwise don’t mess around with it too much.

9) Gather critics

Invite your pals around to view your pictures and to tell you which they like best and why. They’ll be able to point out to you both positive and negative aspects that you may have missed. One may point out that they love the composition of a certain photo that you had overlooked. Another might comment on your use of lighting or how you might improve your framing. Don’t underestimate the use of looking through other people’s eyes, as it were, to gain new insight. And don’t be put off if everybody doesn’t immediately rave about your newfound artistic talent!

10) Have fun!

And that’s a command! Don’t worry if you first few, or even first few hundred photos come out looking a bit pants – that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you enjoy the process of learning and don’t get put off too easily by mistakes at the beginning. With a bit of practice, photography can be a very fulfilling and creative hobby, so keep at it!

I hope you enjoyed the article and can take something from it. Comments and suggestions for further articles are always welcome. Happy snapping! p>

Kathryn Castle is an online marketing analyst for HolidayCheck. She is a keen writer with a particular interest in travel, literature, photography, food and drink. www.holidaycheck.co.uk

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