A few days ago I asked a question in my Facebook group about what was the number one thing that was holding them back from learning photography.  Several of the answers that came up said an issue was they simply did not have enough time. 

Now, that is something I can totally relate to!

Time is definitely my most precious commodity these days, so I have to try to work smarter in the hours that I've got. I can't add any more hours into the day (although that would be nice!) - all I can do is make sure that I am being productive in the hours that I do have, and that I using the time to get the things that matter most done.

That's what I am going to at least attempt to help you with today - make more time for learning photography, and how to work smarter with the limited time that you do have.  

I have to say, it took me a looonnnng time to wake up to the benefits of using LIghtroom, but now it's an integral part of my workflow and I freakin' love it.  It is one of those programs that you don't really appreciate until you have been using it for a while and get to know all of the features, but once you do, you are golden! 

I know many people think of Lightroom as only being useful for professional photographers, but I can tell you that it is just as useful for a hobbyist.  Today we are going to have a little chat about the eight reasons to love Lightroom, even if you only take pictures for yourself.  

Oh, and you can also snag yourself a free Lightroom editing checklist! 

There are a few questions I see time and time again, and one of these is about which camera to buy. It doesn't matter whether it is for buying your first DSLR, or you are looking to  upgrade and getting the next "step up" up:  buying a new camera is a big commitment so it can get a little nerve wrecking to know which one to get!  It's also damned confusing out there, with so many options, and all having different prices and benefits, to know which is going to be best for YOU. 

It can be hard sometimes to make enough time for ourselves in our daily life to improve our photography skills, but one of THE best things you can do is simply practice - getting into the habit of picking up your camera every day for even just ten minutes can have an big affect on how well you understand a particular concept, or just building in some muscle memory so you start to instinctively know where all your buttons and dials are on your camera. No more fumbling around for you! 

With this in mind, I'm sharing an exercise today for beginners that will help you understand the affect aperture and depth of field has on your images, but one that will take you just ten minutes to complete. Short, sweet and straight to the point :) 

One of my absolute favourite lenses for child photography is the Canon 85mm F1.8 Lens.  It's definitely my go-to lens for portraits, but what many people don't realise is that the 85mm is useful for so much more than portrait photography!  I love to use this lens for capturing candid shots outdoors with my child at the park or garden, for taking detail shots, and even for indoor documentary photographs.  In short, this lens can be a great all-rounder. 

There are several other reasons why I love this lens, so today I want to go over WHY this lens is so freakin' awesome, and why you might want to consider it for your own camera bag!  

Making an investment in yourself and your photography skills can be a key element in how successful you will be in reaching your goal of becoming a photographer.  You don't even have to spend a fortune: even tiny little baby micro-investments can give you a big return, either on helping you progress your skills, or just by saving you time and headaches whilst you are learning - and beyond! 

Investments in learning can be anything from a small piece of photography equipment, to getting paid software instead of relying on the free stuff, or even taking a course to improve your skills.  I do appreciate that for many of us, photography is a hobby so there is not a lot of extra cash to throw down (nor can you write it off as expenses - boo!) but even if you only have a teeny tiny bit of cash to invest in yourself (or even not a bean) read on.....

As I've said before, one of the main reasons that I got started with photography was to capture my everyday - those small mundane moments that may seem boring to others, but that mean the world to me.   It's one of the main benefits of being your own family's photographer - you know exactly the moments you want to capture and why,  those moments that unique to you and no-one else. 

But just because you are capturing the everyday doesn't mean it has to be boring! There are loads of ways to shake it up a bit and capture your family's moments beautifully.  (And if you find yourself stuck with what to photograph, or just need a little creative push, then you can also grab a free ebook with a whopping 100 prompts to get you started!) 

Have you ever considered starting a newborn photography business, but just aren't sure how you would get enough clients? Or perhaps you already are in business but are finding it difficult to grow and get enough sales?  Then today is your lucky day!  I've asked Erin from the fabulous Sixth Bloom blog to give some tips on how to make your newborn photography business a successful one. Over to Erin! 

If you are shooting Lifestyle or Documentary images - in other words capturing your everyday life - which lens is the best for you to use? Well, that is a pretty big question as there a number of options available to you, and each have their own plus and minus points, or things they are best suited for.  This is one reason why many people will have two or three prime lenses, or a couple of zooms, so that they have a range of lenses that they can pull out to give a different look. That, or they have a small lens addiction 😉

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. 

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....

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.  

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 :)

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.

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.