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As the year draws to a close, I was reflecting on what I had learned this year to improve my photography. The more I learn the more I feel there is to learn. While I write this as a reference as much for myself, here are some quick tips, most of which I'm sure are widely known, which I hope to apply to my work in future:
- A minute extra spent when shooting the photograph can save an hour in post-processing. i.e. if circumstances permit, take time and try to shoot the best you can get. Don't rely on Photoshop to cover up any mistakes.
- Move around the scene. Observe how the position of objects in the viewfinder changes if you move a step to the right or left, or if you lower or raise the camera.
- For landscapes, use a sturdy tripod if possible. A cable release or setting a shutter delay will also help avoid shake.
- Shoot at the lowest ISO you can get away with to reduce noise.
- Clean you sensor regularly, and make sure your lenses and filters are clean too.
- Don't automatically shoot everything at eye level. Get down low to the ground for a different view.
- In many cases, use a circular polarizer outdoors and take time to rotate it to find the best results. It has a noticable effect on reflections. You cannot replicate this filter in Photoshop!
- When shooting, check the histogram (in camera) to make sure the exposure is correct. A well-exposed shot will have the histogram fall away at both ends. Also check the blinkies.
- Where the dynamic range is too great - i.e. the histogram is not near zero at both ends - it is better to underexpose the shadows than overexpose the highlights. The eye is more sensitive to the brighter tones.
- Large memory cards are cheap. The extra capacity means you can take many shots, and bracket them at the same time.
- Use a graduated filter where the sky is bright, but the land is not. Alternatively, combine two bracketed exposures in Photoshop.
- If in doubt, just take the shot. It might just work out. If not, it will cost nothing to delete it later.
- Learn about colour spaces e.g. sRGB, AdobeRGB. Convert to sRGB for web images.
- Calibrate your monitor and your printer. It really makes a difference, especially if you are producing your own prints.
- Shoot RAW as this allows the most flexibility for post processing adjustment later on. For RAW processing, I suggest looking at DxO Optics.
- Use the Shadows/Highlights in Photoshop, but not too much, or the results will look awful.
- Check your camera settings before shooting! I have been caught out shooting at the wrong ISO, the wrong resolution, and (embarrassingly once) JPEG mode.
- Read books, blogs, everything! More importantly, look at the really popular photos and try to analyse them. What has the photographer done with exposure, composition or lighting?
- Look at any of your photos which have very few faves, have drawn criticism, or which have been rejected by many groups. Compare with a popular photo of a similar subject and try to work out what you could do better.
- Don't get too disappointed by having photos rejected by groups. If they give you constructive feedback, take it on board. Some groups have an extremely high standard, and I would bet have rejected some works which are worthy of a DD.
- Don't be afraid to make mistakes. If every photo we took was perfect, we'd never learn anything new.
Christmas Spirited 
*NGraingerPhoto
Jan 18, 2011
Student Photographer
