Tips, Techniques and Advice for Improving Your Photography Skills

Welcome to the source for digital photography articles!

This site aims to bring you constantly updating articles about everything to do with digital photography including the latest digital photography tips and techniques for:
landscape photo
Landscape photography is fascinating and beautiful

Wedding Photography
Night Photography
Sports Photography
Macro Photography
Photographpy Tips
Nature Photography
Portrait Photography
Landscape Photography

You'll also read about the best cameras to use in certain situations and of course which lenses are most recommended.

Whether you are a beginner, intermediate or semi-pro photographer, you'll find the information here informative and interesting.

We focus on all types of cameras from simple point and shoots to top of the range digital SLR cameras.

Sit back and enjoy and remember to check back often as we add new articles regularly.


Wedding Photography Guide
Wedding photography is not for the faint hearted. There is a reason wedding photographers charge so much for their service and that is because you do not want to get it wrong on someone’s wedding day. Their wedding day is possible the most important day of their lives so photographers are under alot of pressure to present good results.

With that said, you should not be afraid to take photos at weddings. If you are a beginner, then you could always be a back up to the hired photographer. This allows you to hone your skill as well as capture offbeat moments that the professionals may miss.

A popular form is black and white wedding photography which is often converted in post processing of the photos.

This section of the site covers topics such as:

- Wedding photography tips - learn the basics of wedding photography.
- Wedding photography lenses - which lenses are best?
- Best wedding photography cameras
- Wedding photography checklist - don't forget anything!
- Wedding photography prices - how much should you charge?

If you want to become a professional wedding photographer I suggest reading some wedding photography books and practicing as much as possible. Even if a wedding photography business isn't for you, you can still use your skills at friend’s weddings and earn some pocket money whilst you're at it.



Night Photography Guide


Night photography is where many people come up disappointed with the results. Why? Because lack of light presents problems with cameras.
Cameras rely on light to take images, so presenting the camera with a complete lack of light to work with can choke it up and without proper knowledge by the operator, can result in images of pitch black or blurs.

In this section of the site we will go over some handy tips for night photography which cover all aspects of night photography exposure.

Night photography techniques are easily learned and once you master them you can truly take some spectacular shots of things like traffic, city lights and even night sky photography focusing on the moon.

Night sports photography presents another challenge for the photographer. Combine lack of light with fast moving objects and it’s a recipe for disaster! Well that’s unless you know what you're doing which you will after reading our article!

Night photography relies heavily on shutter speed choice as well as the lens and camera you are using.

I have to say that my favorite night subject has to be when I’m standing atop a tall building in the city looking down on the traffic.
I love the blur effect you can achieve with all the traffic lights and car lights, just like the image shown above.

I’m also a fan of going to the amusement park at night and taking shots of the lit up ferris wheel.

As you can see, night photography can be a spectacular form of imagery once you have mastered the basics.



Sports Photography Guide
Sports photography is perhaps the most challenging form of photography. Because you are almost always dealing with fast moving people, you need to be very quick and your camera needs to be even quicker.

Professional sports photographers use SLR cameras which are able to fire off rapidly successive photos, often 5 frames per second. Whilst many consumer grade SLR cameras can fire around 3 frames per second, you'll still need skill to capture sports action without unwanted blurring.

In this section we will cover:

Indoor sports photography
Motor sport photography
Tennis photography
Soccer photography
Professional sports photography
Extreme sports photography

I'll also give out some of my best sports photography tips.

Camera and lenses are everything with sports photography so you'll need to learn all about the latest and best sports photography lenses and the best sports photography cameras which are within your budget. In actual fact you can use any camera to take sports photos, it’s just that some cameras do better than others.

Sports photography equipment often involves more than just a camera. If you're serious about it then you'll need a tripod or monopod, a dirt proof and waterproof bag, filters and various other accessories.



Macro Photography Guide
Macro photography is an exciting form of the photography and for some people it’s the type of photography they engage in most often.

Macro photography involves taking photos of usually small objects close up. Good macro lenses will be able to provide a 1:1 ratio meaning the image you are taking is magnified to appear larger than life.

This enables you to bring out details in very small objects which would not otherwise be seen.

Some great macro photography subject ideas include:

- Insects
- Leaves
- Flowers
- Surfaces

Digital SLR cameras allow you to use special macro photography lenses which provide excellent macro capabilities. Many of these lenses allow you to get quite close to the subject, around 20cm away rather than 50cm or more required for regular lenses.

Point and shoot cameras normally come with a macro mode which is what you use when taking close ups of small objects.

Browse through our macro photography articles to learn more about this fascinating form of photography.

- Macro photography lenses
- Macro photography tips
- Macro photography lighting
- Macro photography insects
- Macro photography equipment
- Best macro photography camera
- How to do macro photography
- Macro photography flowers
- SLR macro photography
- Macro photography ideas



Photography Tips

All photographers continually like to sharpen their skills. Regardless of your experience, very few people "know it all" when it comes to photography. This section of the website brings you some photography tips including:
Photography exposure tips

Learn how to get the best exposures and how to judge whether your photo is well exposed. Also get some tips on foolproof ways of ensuring your photos are always well exposed.
Low light photography tips

Low light photography is a challenge for most people as they don’t understand the mechanics of light and how the camera works in this situation. Here we will go over some tips to improve your low light photo taking skills.
Underwater photography tips

Underwater photography is something that many people never try. They think their camera won’t work underwater or will break. It’s true that many cameras can not be used underwater but some can with the use of a special protective case. You can also buy special underwater cameras and these can take some great photos!
Product photography tips

If you sell products on the internet or in magazines, you'll want to know how to take professional shots of products. Your viewers’ opinion is based on how the product looks in your advertising so it’s important to be able to take very professional photos and here we will cover some techniques to help you do just that.
Photography tips aperture

Aperture choices can make or break a photo. How much do you know about aperture? Here you will learn about how aperture works and its relationship with your other camera settings.
Photography tips filters

Filters can provide dramatic effects on your photos. Neutral density filters, polarizing filters, graduated filters, UV filters and others all serve a different purpose.
SLR photography tips

Digital SLR cameras are more affordable than ever. In this article we will cover the best cameras available at the moment and why SLR cameras are superior to point and shoot cameras in most situations.
Outdoor photography tips

Outdoor photography is challenging particularly in the harsh midday sun. Learn how to combat sunlight and other lighting situations in the outdoors.
Basic photography tips

Are you a digital photography beginner? Then this article is for you! Here you will learn the absolute basics of digital photography. A must read!
Learning photography

So you want to further your photography skills? In this article we'll cover photography workshops, courses and books which can literally take you from a beginner to an experienced amateur in a short amount of time.

Stay tuned for more digital photography tips coming soon!



Nature Photography Guide

Nature photography is a highly rewarding past time and for some people, it’s a career (if you're lucky enough to be employed by National Geographic!).

In my opinion there is nothing more rewarding than setting out for a day of bushwalking or hiking with your camera and spotting all sorts of creatures and ultimately, being able to take spectacular photos of them.

If you want to try bird photography you will no doubt need a big telephoto lens and alot of patience. Some people set out to spot certain species of birds and this often means sitting in the same spot for hours on end in the hope that the bird will come along. This obviously takes patience but is well worth it once you have a picture of that species that is rarely seen by man.

I suggest picking up the nature photography field guide which covers the basics of nature photography.

Nature and wildlife photography are two different things. Nature photography involves taking photos of anything in nature, whether nits living or not. Wildlife photography is a little more challenging since you are working with living, moving objects.

There are nature photography workshops which teach you advanced techniques. These are great for beginners and advanced photographers.

In this section of the site we'll cover the best cameras for wildlife photography as well as lens choices for wildlife photography.

You'll also get some great wildlife photography tips and we'll talk about the most recommended wildlife photography books to enhance your skills.

Professional nature photography is something that many amateurs aspire to but unfortunately it’s a very competitive field to break into so you are best advised to simply enjoy your photography and if you are a budding publisher, consider setting up a page at www.flickr.com where you can share your photos with the world.



Portrait Photography Guide

Portrait photography is the art of taking photos of humans in a controlled setting.

The main aspect of portrait photography you need to be aware of is the lighting. There are certain types of light which compliments people’s appearance whilst other light may cast a shadow or highlight blemishes which is not what you want!

Portrait photography cameras and lenses, whilst important, are not the limiting factors as they can be in other types of photography. You can take great portrait shots with virtually any camera.

Outdoor portrait photography can present challenges as lighting conditions can cause unwanted shadows. We'll talk about ways to combat this problem.

Baby portrait photography is fun and difficult at times. Of course you can’t control a baby as you can an adult so we’ll go over some tips to assist you there.

The latest craze is pet portrait photography where people pay good money for photographers to take flattering shots of their pooch, kitty or other pet. This is a great niche business and one you could seriously consider getting into if you brush up your portrait skills!

Portrait photography is highly rewarding and fun. I hope you learn a few new tricks from this section of the website.



Landscape Photography Guide
Landscape photography is the art of taking photos of wide open areas such as mountains, seas and plains.

Landscape photography can also involve things like waterfalls and houses. Basically, landscape refers to a wide area of view. The wider your lens or camera allows you to view, the better your photos will look as you can fit more in.

Some popular landscape photography locations include: Mountains Waterfalls Skies / Sunsets Caves Coastlines Deserts Beaches Islands Lakes

Landscape waterfall photography is perhaps the most difficult form to master as there are many combinations you can use to cause desired effects such as slow moving water or fast moving water.

There is a technique called HDR landscape photography which involves combining photos together to form a very well exposed photo. We will cover this in detail in a separate article.

You’ll also learn some great landscape photography tips and some ideas for landscape photography techniques.

For a bigger challenge consider trying night landscape photography where you'll have to really put your thinking cap on to be able to get a good exposure at night time. Highways full of traffic and city lights are perfect subjects for this.

In this section I will review some excellent landscape photography books and talk about the best landscape photography lenses available today.

If you want to know how to take landscape photos and which landscape photography equipment you should use to get the best results, you're going to enjoy this section of the website!