Fancy treating yourself to a new photography book to curl up with this weekend but don't know what to get? Don't worry, help is here! I know it can be hard to know which to buy from the multitude available out there, so - seeing as I appear to have my own mini library of them -  I've compiled a list of books that should give you some idea of what to add to your Amazon cart this weekend!  I should point out, I don't have all of these: some are books that I have read and enjoyed, others are ones that have been recommended to me by people I trust, and I've thrown in a couple that have caught my eye but that haven't actually got around to buying yet!

I love black and white images - they are beautifully timeless and allow you to see the world in a completely different way.

However, there are many images that are just not a good candidate for a black and white conversion. If you have ever converted an image and thought it looked a bit "meh", the chances are it was just because that particular image wasn't a good fit. 

Although there are no hard and fast rules about what makes a good black and white image, here are the things that I watch out for if I am looking to convert the image into black & white. You can use this in processing, or even when you are shooting if you know you want to convert the image later. 

Ready? Let's go! 

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! 

As  I've been sharing a few photoshop templates here on the blog,  I thought I'd take a moment to show you how to add images to a collage or storyboard template. It's actually very easy to do but I know that some of you may be totally unfamiliar with Photoshop or Photoshop Elements and it can take a while to learn where everything is, so this should allow you to get started. You can use this same method regardless of template type (such as cards or album pages etc) as they all use pretty much the same steps. 

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.

I'm in the middle of giving my home office a bit of a makeover and have just made one of these photo collage prints for over my computer desk so I thought I'd give you a bit of a tutorial on it. 

I am forever changing out images (drives my husband insane) so over the years I have grown adverse to actually hammering any nails into the wall so this particular way of displaying photos is ideal for me!  Creating a collage also allows me to show lots of completely different lifestyle images, without having to worry that they are not "arty" or making sure that they go together - again, ideal since that is the type of images I mainly take! The best thing is it is so simple to do, and you can have it up on your wall in a couple of hours tops so there's instant gratification. 

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.