One of the best things I did in my photography journey was to start setting my white balance in camera, rather than relying on AUTO.  I was really struggling with getting the right colour in my image - in particular skin tones - and I could spend ages mucking around in Lightroom or Photoshop trying to get the image to look "right". When you can't "see' colour correctly, this is a really, really hard task! 

First of all, how many of you have heard of the term Bokeh? It comes from a japanese word meaning ”blur” or ”haze” and refers to the part of the image that you have intentionally blurred by using a selective depth of field. This affect is used a lot in photography to focus the eye on a specific subject within the frame (used a lot in portrait photography to isolate the person from a background) and just to create a more pleasing image. It’s probably one of the keys things that will make people think of a portrait looking more ”professional” so it is a good little trick to have in your photography arsenal!

You have probably heard numerous times that if you are trying to get better quality images and improve your photography, you shouldn’t use your cameras pop up flash. Why? Because it produces a very hard light which will a) look unnatural and give you lots of hard shadows b) hit your subject straight on so that he or she will look flat and drained and c) will probably always leave your subject with red-eye. All in all, deeply unflattering! For this reason, I definitely prefer taking images using natural light, and strive to do so, but there are times when you simply do need to use flash, for example taking photos indoors when there is little light available.

One of the things I am asked most frequently about is whether I have any tips for photographing toddlers, so I thought I'd put together some for you!  Although these tips certainly apply to professional photographers wanting to capture this age group, I've written these more with a parent photographing their own child in mind - so in natural situations, not necessarily studios or formally posed. 

We talk a lot in photography about making sure that we get the "correct" exposure in camera.  This is particularly important in portraiture, as pulling your exposure up or down significantly in processing can make their skin look a weird colour, and gives a harsher contrast which is generally unflattering and best avoided! .

Great skin happens first in camera, so for the most part when taking images of people, we want to make sure that our subject is currently exposed. The best way to to do that is to use your subjects skin as your metering point!

And here's how do it :)

Backlighting can be a wonderful choice for  lighting an image - from a warm buttery backlight to a blown out window.   Shooting with the light facing you does present some challenges though, so it's important to set your camera correctly. Here's how:

A

Although I am a strong advocate for shooting in manual mode, as I believe it was only when you fully commit to taking full control that your images turn out the way you want them to, I do realise that there are many people who feel happier using the semi automatic modes (such as AV or TV) instead.

 If you are one of these, I urge you to use exposure compensation if you aren't already! 

(Actually, I urge you to learn manual mode, but this is the next best thing!) 

Righto, let's have a look at what exposure compensation does, and when you might want to use it!

Most cameras, even point and shoots, have the option of taking photos in burst mode (also called continuous mode) What this mode allows you to do is to take several shots in rapid succession and is very useful for action shots, such as jumping or sports, when it's hard to press the shutter at the exact moment you need. I use it for action shots, like the jumping one above and the running one below, and for things like dancing (like the one of my son dancing in the street at the end!) so that I can make sure that I have the  "perfect" moment captured.

When shooting with a DSLR, you have two choices of file formats in which to take your image - RAW or JPEG. You may have already heard these two terms bandied about, but not be quite sure which is the best one for you to use so I’m going to briefly go over what the differences are between the two,  so you can decide on the best format for you.

If there is one thing that people most want to know when they are starting out, it's the trick of getting your subject in sharp focus, whilst leaving the background blurred. This is used a lot in portrait photography, as it allows the subject to really stand out and be the main feature, and I find this is also useful for lifestyle photography, when you are probably working with less than ideal backgrounds. 

Getting a blurred background is actually quite simple to do, it just needs a little bit of practice! Here's a step by step guide to what you need to do:

We all want to more beautifully capture our everyday, so today I'm going to give you some lifestyle \ documentary photography tips!

First of all, let's cover what lifestyle photography actually is. Although everyone has a slightly different take on lifestyle photography - for me, this is about capturing real life, as it happens, and finding the beauty the mundane details of everyday life.

It's basically a style that aims to capture photos that are not posed or staged, but rather real moments, expressions, reactions and details that tell us more about the subject or point in time that a simple portrait photo would.Lifestyle photography is photojournalistic / documentary in style, but with a more artistic approach so that it is far beyond the traditional snapshot!

Today I'm going to share some tips for using the Canon 50mm F1.8 lens. I know that many of you will have this lens, because it's probably the one that most people go for when upgrading from their kit lens. When I first got this lens a few years ago, I would hear about the quality of it for the price and how tack-sharp my images were going to be, but they weren't, in fact every single one looked downright soft! So the lens got shoved back into my camera bag and forgotten about. But not one to give up on $125 easily, I decided to take the time to figure it out - and I'm so glad I did!  So, here's my tips for how to use the 50mm 1.8 and get the sharp images it is capable of!