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Photography Starter Guide and Checklist booklet surrounded by photography tips, sample images, and learning worksheets

Want to learn photography but have no clue where to begin and what to learn next??!

Steal my Photography Learning Blueprint and get the clarity, checklist and step by step game plan to help you get photos you love - quickly!

YES! GIMME THAT FREE GUIDE!

Audrey Murray 10/8/15 Audrey Murray 10/8/15

A Step by Step Guide to Using a Speedlight

Let me preface this post by saying I am by no means an expert at using flash. I know people who will use it during the day, or can light a scene in the pitch black using one speedlight and an umbrella, or use several as slaves and masters (?!)

I am not this person.

I only dig the speed light out when the days get shorter, and natural light indoors becomes less, and I need to supplement the existing light - that's it!

But as I'm willing to bet that is why most lifestyle photographers reach for their speed light, I wanted to give you a guide to use to use flash for this very purpose.

The other thing to note is that for this to make any sense whatsoever, you really must understand your exposure triangle and how everything goes together - but for the purposes of this article I'm just going to assume that you are confident about what each of the elements does :)

(Oh, and If you are unsure about why you would even want an external flash unit, i wrote about this recently with some examples here so you can read that first so you have some background!)

With all that caveats neatly out of the way, let's start on how to use flash!

Audrey Murray 10/6/15 Audrey Murray 10/6/15

5 Ways to Use Pinterest for Photography Inspiration

Although you might not think so, Pinterest can be an amazing resource for photographers when used in the right way! It can be a wonderful source of inspiration, whether you need some ideas for planning for a session, a little help when trying to define your own style, and can even help you create your own inspirational images!

I know many people think of Pinterest for photographers in a negative way, because they either compare themselves to the photographers on there (and think they find themselves lacking!), or they try to re-create an image they have seen down to the last detail and wonder why it doesn't good as the original.

But Pinterest can definitely be used as a force for good - you just have to know how to use it :)

In this post, I'm going to give you some ideas for ways you can use Pinterest to help you get the most from this platform for growing your photography skills and creating gorgeous images.

Audrey Murray 10/5/15 Audrey Murray 10/5/15

7 Tips for Capturing the Details in Lifestyle Photography

One of the things that draws me to lifestyle photography more than any other kind is that I love detail shots. Whilst I also enjoy a good portrait - and I think that they are just as important to photograph too - I believe detail shots can be just as beautiful as any other type of images, and as it requires you to slow down and be a little bit more purposeful when shooting, really allows you to see the beauty in your everyday life.

Here are some tips for helping you capture the details in lifestyle photography.

Audrey Murray 9/24/15 Audrey Murray 9/24/15

Composition Tip: Shoot at Eye Level

When we are first starting out, we tend to take images from the same position all the time - from standing. (When shooting children, this means we are generally shooting down on them) Whilst this is fine for some images, most of the time we will want to get down and shoot on the same level as our subject. Doing so allows you to create more of a connection between the viewer and the subject, and can add a bit more impact to an image.

Audrey Murray 9/21/15 Audrey Murray 9/21/15

What is a fast lens and why should I get one?

You may have heard the term "fast lenses" or "flat glass" o your photography travels, and wondered what the hell that meant, and whether that meant you had to go and get one of them too.

In this post, I'm going to break down what fast glass actually is, and why having one in your lens arenas is a good idea!

Audrey Murray 9/17/15 Audrey Murray 9/17/15

Why you might want an external flash...

Anyone else noticing how dark it's getting? Winter is on it's way! As much as I love the dark evenings for a new host of shooting opportunities, one of the things I picked up last year that I had been hankering after for ages was a Canon Speedlite to help with my indoor pictures over the dark winter months.

I thought it might be helpful for some of you to understand why you might need or want to use an external flash on some occasions, especially now that the day light hours are getting shorter!

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How to Choose Your Settings in Manual Mode

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10 Things You Wish You Knew About Shooting In Manual Mode

It's been quite a few years now since I made the switch from Aperture Priority Mode to shooting in Manual Mode, and it was one of the BEST things I ever did to improve my photography skills.

It was like a whole new world opened up to me, and I started TRULY understanding exposure, and in turn, getting the images that I wanted.

Of course, there was a lot to learn, and there are some things I wish I had known before I started!

So, here are 10 things about shooting in Manual Mode that you might just wish you knew…

4 Reasons You Should Be Editing Your Photos (and how to do it)

If there is one thing that comes up again and again when we talk about photography, it's EDITING - the steps you take AFTER you have pressed the shutter and uploaded your images. It's a whole other world of things to learn and master and as such it can be quite overwhelming for new photographers.

Because it's yet another thing you need to add to your "to learn" list, it can be tempting not to bother doing it, or slap a action / preset on and call it a day. However, editing your images is an important part of the photography process and one that I believe you should at least start to learn as soon as possible.

In this post I'm going to share exactly WHY you should edit your images, what programs you can use, and the order in which you should learn everything in.

Ooooh, that sounds like a lot to get through! Best get started then :)

11 Things All New Photographers Should Know

I’ve made more mistakes that I can count over my 11 years in photography, and I definitely took longer to get where I wanted to be because of them!

I’m going to hazard a guess that actually, you’re a lot like me back then - you want to get great photos, and you want them NOW.

101 Things to Photograph (with examples & exercises!)

Today, I’m sharing 101 things to photograph when you feel you’ve got absolutely nothing in front of you you can take a picture of!

This post was inspired by one of my Auto to Awesome students, who wrote to me saying she didn’t feel she had anything “good” around her to take photos of.

And she’s most definitely not alone - we’ve ALL had that feeling like there is absolutely nothing around us to photograph (or that we’ve just photographed it all already) so we need to get ourselves off to an exciting location, or visit a new place just in order to find something.

The truth is, there is always something to photograph, both at home, or in your local area. It doesn’t matter where you live, what your house is like, or whether you live in a built up location like a city or near a park; there WILL be countless things worth taking a photo of….you just have to open your eyes to them!

Example Photos With Camera Settings (& Why I chose them!)

Have you ever looked at photos from other photographers and wished that they would share their camera settings as well?

I know that I certainly did!

Which is why today I'm going to share with you some example, photos, along with the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO settings that I use, but most importantly, why I chose them.

8 Child Photography Poses For Stunning Kid Photography!

Want some child photography poses that are quick, easy and downright cute? Then I have 8 pose ideas for you, along with example photos for each one, that are tried and tested and will give you great photos of kids.

You can use these poses on your OWN kids, or if you’re business, you can use these for ideas during a paid kids photoshoot too.

You can also vary these standard poses greatly, so you’ll never run out of ideas again!

As usual, we have two ways to enjoy this - either watch the video below, or scroll down to read the blog post and see all the child photography poses in action!