Welcome to the blog!

Scroll down for the latest and greatest, filter by category, check out the most popular tutorials, or search for what you want to learn below!

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 Ann 9/25/16 Audrey Ann 9/25/16

5 Reasons To Learn How To Master Your Camera Today

Learning the in and outs of your camera is something we should all strive to do so - not just so we can become technically proficient, but so we can reap the benefits that comes with it! Here are 5 reasons why I think you should start learning how to master your camera TODAY.

Audrey Ann 9/19/16 Audrey Ann 9/19/16

Photography Case Study: Briana / Northern Way of Life

There was a lot of positive feedback on the last photography case study we had on the blog (Jan Johnson) that I decided it would be fun to have another one! Briana is again another long time reader of the blog, and I love the story of her photography journey because although she started out just wanting to take photos of her kids, she has branched out many other different types of photography, with a LOT of success! Let me pass you over now to Briana to tell you more about her photography journey....

Audrey Ann 8/23/16 Audrey Ann 8/23/16

Behind the Scenes: A Breakdown of One Image

Today I thought I'd so something a bit different and give you a first-hand, "behind the scenes" look at just one image, from start to finish. I will show you how the image looked straight out of camera, the lens used, which settings I chose and why, and even how I edited it! Hopefully by looking at some "real life" examples of images you'll be able to see some of the things that go into making an image - and also the mistakes too! This is not a perfect image - there are many things I could have / should have done differently, and I'll talk about them too.

Audrey Ann 8/22/16 Audrey Ann 8/22/16

5 Mistakes I Made As a New Photographer (and how you can learn from them)

Making mistakes is all part of learning photography. In a way, it's how we come to realise what we cannot do, and what we need to spend some time focusing on - so never feel bad about making mistakes, it's all part of the process of achieving your goal.

Although I could probably name quite a few more, below is five of the mistakes I made as a new photographer, and - as I'm willing to be that a few of you do the same things too - under each one is the solution! Don't say I'm not good to you :)

Audrey Ann 8/15/16 Audrey Ann 8/15/16

How to Photograph Your Child on A Swing!

I don't think there is a child in the world who doesn't like swings! So, for us as photographers, it's a great place to capture joyful, happy images of our children, with only a few things to worry about :) It's a win - win as far as I'm concerned - your child is enjoying himself and you get to play too!

Here's some tips for photographing your child on a swing.

Audrey Ann 8/9/16 Audrey Ann 8/9/16

Metering Modes Demystified

Most DSLR’s will give you some different options for metering for the light in your image, and the results you get can vary tremendously depending on which metering mode you use! That's why understanding the different metering modes available and how they will affect the exposure of your final image is so so important.

What is Metering?

Metering is simply our camera trying to gauge the amount of light in the scene, so it can set the correct exposure. Regardless of whether you shoot in AUTO, a semi automatic mode, or in full manual mode, you will still use your in-camera meter for assessing exposure, and knowing how it works can help you get your exposure right first time, instead of having to continually 'chimp" and assess your exposure by eye.

BLOG CATEGORIES

Choose your topic!

A young girl with long hair lying on her stomach, resting her head on her folded arms, and smiling gently at the camera in a black and white photo.

Check Out These Reader Favourites

A young girl with short blonde hair in a pink shirt smiling and holding a small cookie outdoors.

4 Tips to Make Your Images Look More Professional

Fresh red strawberries being rinsed in a white colander under running water.

How to Choose Your Settings in Manual Mode

Featured

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!