Photography tip: PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

Whenever I am asked on instagram "What is the secret to taking great photos?" or "How do I become a better photographer?", I never and I repeat, never respond with anything other than "You must practice".

Why do we need to practice?
I am of the firm belief that before meddling with the intricacies of aperature, shutter speed and ISO; an amateur photographer must become familiar with their camera, better adapted to correctly framing an image and learning the basics of basics.

My recommendation is to stick your camera into P (programmed auto), this will give you a better image than your standard A (auto) setting and also allows you to work better in low light. When doing this, pay close attention to the settings that your camera is using in order to take the photo (ISO, shutter speed and aperture). This will help you in the future to recognise what settings you need to apply when using M (manual)!

If you really want to up your photography game, the most simple of tricks is to not shoot in the middle of the day! By shooting early in the morning, in the afternoon or night time (leave this for later though), you'll be able to achieve an image that has a lot more colour and is way nicer on the eye.

Golden Hour is by far my favourite time to shoot. Check out this beauty I took a couple of months ago.

You just need to get out and practice!
Yes, the early mornings suck. I know. But the result of all your hard work will be well worth it.

Apps to help
PhotoPills
This app is definitely not cheap but it does save you a heck of a lot of time in your preparation. In the app you're able to select any area you wish to take photos from and the app will give a tonne of information including:

• When Golden Hour and Blue Hour is
• When the Milky Way will be visible (this will be covered in further blogs)
• Visualise the Milky Way for you to get a preview of what you'll be expecting
• What direction the sun and moon will be and at what elevation

And much, much more.

Some of the tips I've outlined above will definitely help in upping your photography game, but by far the most important thing you can do is to get out, switch that camera on, make sure the memory card is in (you would not believe how many times I've forgotten) and take a sh*t tonne of photos.

Next week: How to use ISO, shutter speed and aperture to your advantage.

All the best guys,
Matt