A portfolio is simply a collection of images that you bring together to show a body of work.  You can create a portfolio for several reasons, for example, to show to prospective clients your style on your photography business website, or to apply for work, or just to accepted into a body of professionals. If you are a hobbyist, don't for one second think that you can't have a portfolio! It's a great way of seeing patterns in your work both good and bad. It can show you what you need to work on, or whether you have a style that you didn't even know you had! In short, a portfolio is for any photographer, at any level. 

Here's what to do to create a portfolio: 

I love shooting with back light (where the light is behind your subject) as I think it helps create a much more dramatic picture. However, there can be some issues to getting this right, especially with exposure and focus, but by these following tips, along with practice, you will be shooting into the light in no time! 

Here's my step-by-step guide to using back lighting in your images. 

It's been a while since I have had a go at you all about backing up your photos, but since we have only just started a new year, I thought it would be a great time to remind you again just how important it is to create back ups of your digital files!  Remember, hard drives will ALWAYS fail at some point, it is simply a matter of when, so make 2016 the year you do something about it. Please, please, please don't rely on having one copy sitting on your computer, as when that fails (and that's a when, not if) you have lost EVERY SINGLE IMAGE you have taken. Imagine losing all that memories - devastating. 

If you are a beginner to world of photography, or just to the world of backing up, then I know it must seem incredibly confusing to read and hear about all the different "strategies" you can have for backing up - particularly if you are a hobbyist. So I wanted to write a post that will hopefully simplify the whole concept and allow you to create a foolproof strategy that suits YOU.  

Without a doubt, macro photography has been an unexpected joy for me with photography - it allows you to see the world in a whole new way, and appreciate the beauty that can be found everywhere if you get close enough!  Although it is certainly fun, macro  also brings a whole new set of challenges to the table too.  

If you are just starting out into the world of macro, here are 10 tips to get you going...

Lightroom is an absolutely amazing program for image editing and image organisation. It has saved me countless hours in post-processing, due to the fact that I can do so much in one little program! (If you don't yet know the full beauty of Lightroom, check out this post with 8 Reasons to Love Lightroom Even As a Hobbyist) 

One thing that does also help save you time is making sure that you have a solid workflow in place. A workflow is simply a series of steps that you do each and every time to an image, and in a specific order. Of course you will not do exactly the same steps all the time, but a workflow simply allows you to have a framework so you don't feel like you are starting right from scratch the whole time. 

I truly want to help you grow in your photography journey, so you are ready and able to capture the moments that mean the most to you.  I've written a LOT of posts over the last year that hopefully have helped you to do just that: some of them informative, and some that were intended to simply inspire you to pick up your camera and document your days. Today I thought I'd share 15 of my favourites from 2015. 

Thank you to every single person who has shared or pinned a blog post, tweeted, or simply told a friend about Live Snap Love.  As you already know, blogs can only exist if people read them, so spreading the word about the site makes me truly grateful.  Thank you again x 

A vignette is an affect that many photographers apply to some images to make their subject "pop" - it works by darkening just the edges of the photo, so that the centre of the image is correctly exposed, and the brightness gradually falls off towards the edges of the photograph. You might want to apply this affect for two reasons: firstly, because this affect actually mimics the way we naturally view scenes with the naked eye, so it feels quite natural, and secondly because a vignette acts a little bit like a very subtle frame, drawing the viewers eye to the subject. (You might also naturally get some vignetting with certain lenses too - so it's not just an editing affect!)  Vignettes don't work with every type of image, only some, but are a useful tool in you editing arsenal nonetheless! 

Did you get a brand spanking new DSLR this year? Yay for you! 

It can be quite disconcerting to pick up your camera for this first time and realise you don't know how to work it except on AUTO! As tempting as it is, you don't want to stay in AUTO too long, as in order to get the best out of your DSLR - and get those images you dream of - you need to take a little bit of control.  Here a few tips and tricks that will get you started off on the right foot. 

I know we all like to capture the holiday season, and Christmas Day in particular!  So, today, I've put together some  tips for you especially for photographing Christmas day, to help you be prepared and get the shots you want. 

Please bear in mind that it's not about getting perfect shots, or making sure you capture every little thing, it's more about ensuring that you get the one or two shots that are important to you, and some that help you tell a story or simply freeze moments from the day.  So once you have taken a few, put the camera down for a while and join in the day too - or at least go and get the dinner on :)

So, here's 10 Christmas Photography Tips for anyone wishing to capture their festivities at this time of year.

When you first start out in photography, you quickly realise just how MUCH there is to learn.  (And once you learn one thing,  you realise you need to learn something else!)  There is so much information available on the internet, books to read,  workshops to take and so on, that it can be difficult to know what to learn first, or just where is the best place to start. 

Although of course everyone is unique, and may learn things in a different order,  I've compiled a rough guide to a learning path that will get you from absolute beginner to shooting pro in no time :) 

One of the things I love about Christmas is the beautiful lights on display - either on your tree, or lighting up your home. Here's some tips, tricks and ideas for photographing your Christmas lights this holiday season

When starting out in Photography, you can easily get overwhelmed about you need to purchase. As you are being constantly bombarded with information about all the different accessories available you might be wondering about which ones to get- and which ones to forget about! 

Although everyone will have different needs, I thought it might be useful to some of you to list a few of the little "extras" that I think are extremely useful to have with you on your photography journey. These will either simply make your life a little bit easier, and in most cases, improve your end result - which can only be a good thing right?

I did a post a couple of weeks ago with tips for getting sharp photos with moving subjects, so I thought I’d expand on that and do one with tips for still subjects too! The good new is, with still subjects you have a lot more time to get your focus right, but nailing focus can still be tricky. Here’s my tips for getting sharp images....

Winter is upon us, and in my part of the world, that means snow - and a whole new set of challenges when taking photographs! There are a couple of things to be aware of when shooting in the snow, so I’ve compiled some tips that should hopefully help you if you dare to come out of your warm toasty house and enjoy some winter photography.

This year, I did my first ever Project 365. I've still got six weeks to go, but I can honestly say it's been one of the most rewarding photography projects I've done.  I do believe it has helped improve my photography, just by giving me the opportunity to practice every day, but it has also been a wonderfully personal project, since it's almost become like keeping a journal. 

A Project 365 is a very simple idea - you take a photo each day for 365 days.  However, there are a couple of things I think you should consider before you get started, which will help make sure that you Project 365 is a successful one! 

Here are some tips about how to get started.