Be a better Photographer: Weekly photography tips

I'm no guru on the matter... but having been "doing" photography for well over 12 years, I have learnt some stuff along the way. I'm not going to get nitty gritty with heavy photography jargon.... partly because some of it goes straight over my head, and partly because as valuable as that stuff is, if you've just started out with photography, that stuff ain't gonna matter just yet (or possibly ever!).

My worst thing when I first started out was... well... not knowing where to start. From the outset, my husband was throwing out technical jargon at me, and I just didn't know what he was talking about... and at one stage, I thought "what's the point... maybe he'll be the photographer... not me". But, thankfully, I loved it too much to quit (and I'm simply NOT a quitter by nature).

I realised quite early that you can have all the "know how" in the world... but without a good eye, all that know how may be wasted. The other thing about photography, is that if you have an interest in photographing people... you're gonna have to enjoy them. I'm lucky: I love people, I've always had a relatively good eye... and I was stubborn enough to want to know more... and more... and more... and that is never going to change. I continue to try push my boundaries. It's one of the MO's behind my new Joy-365 blog.. but more on that in week one's tip.

So, I wanted to share some simple, yet effective tips on how you can get better. It may mean you'll just take better pictures of your dog. Or perhaps it'll mean that you realise that it's something you'd like to pursue as a career... and well, then you need to do some more serious soul searching (and, of course, some course searching).

I hope you'll join me along the way. If you're a professional already: well, maybe these tips aren't for you. This is for Aunty Mavis, who wants to be better, and just wants some simple, real, easy to understand language, on how to be a better photographer