Photography tips for beginners. Take better photos.

Today I'm going to share some of the things that helped me take better photos. I'm not a professional photographer, but I have come a long way since I had Harper, got myself a blog and started taking an interest in photography.

• Light, light, light, it is all about light, paying more attention to light is the most important step to improving photography, in a perfect world we would always have natural light & take all our photos during, the golden hour (the first and last hour of light during the day) of corse this is not practical, so you need to learn about light. Experiment as much as possible. If most of your photos will be inside, I would really recommend buying a fast lens such as, 50mm f/1.4D Nikon or 85mm f/1.4D AF Nikon. And making sure you have some side light, it could be from, a window, an open door, or a lamp.

• Although it helps, you don't need a professional camera. You can get great photos from a point and shoot & these days, even a phone. Take some time to research the type of SLR you might want to work towards. For me the choice was Nikon D90.

• Get up close, fill the frame with a cute face. Take lots and lots of photos, keep pressing the button, it might take 100 shots to get that one amazing photo.

• If possible Turn the flash off, its harsh light can blowout a photo, it takes away the depth, and natural beauty. If have a camera with an inbuilt flash get up close, the main limitation from an in built flash is its power, you want to be no more than two meters away.

• How to get a shallow depth of felid. (blurry background) Great for portraits. 
Have the subject you're wanting to photograph as far away from any objects behind them as possible. If you have the option, set to portrait mode, feeling a little more adventures, try out aperture priority mode. You can also buy a lens, to will help.
When composing you shot, place important elements either along these lines, or where the lines intersect-not at the centre of the frame

• The rule of thirds. Rather than placing you subject in the middle of the screen place it to one-third.  Divide the image into thirds both horizontally and vertically. When composing you shot, place important elements either along these lines, or where the lines intersect-not at the centre of the frame

• Keep your camera with you all the time. Photo opportunities come often when you least expect them, the more places you take your camera, the more photos you will take. I admit I no longer carry my camera everywhere (but I use to) I often regret not having it with me, but its hard with two kids and a big camera bag. I need to  invest in a point & shoot.