Top 10 Photography tips

Never heard of focus bracketing? It's allied to focus stacking, where you (or the camera) shoot a series of shots at slightly different focus points and combine them later for more depth of field than you could get with a single shot.

This is a good place to practice your wildlife photography skills before you take that once in a lifetime trip to the Serengeti. It starts with choosing the right lenses, but there's more to it than that.

Pets make perfect portrait subjects, and the rules are similar to those for human portraits, especially those of children – you need to get down to their level!

Start by researching the best location, use the longest telephoto you can afford/carry, and learn your camera's autofocus modes before you start. Then you just need to practice, practice and practice your panning technique.

Get stable shots with a simple DIY bean bag to support your camera. You can put it on the ground on a wall or on the roof of your car, and mold it to fit the shape of your camera.

Image via Bored Panda You can create a lens flare using a CD to reflect the light back into your images at different angles. For best results, don’t forget to remove your lens hood before trying this out.

As far as composition goes, don’t cram in the whole frame with objects to look at. Use some negative space in your images that add dynamism to the frame but also give the viewers some space to breathe.

When you go and see a client for a job, make sure you take along some inspirational images or a mood board that everyone agrees on. This is a great way to make sure that everyone involved is on the same page and there is not a lot of room left for subjective interpretation of ‘moody’ or ‘minimalist’ shots.

Before doing anything else to a raw file in Lightroom or Camera Raw, go to Lens Corrections and tick the Remove Chromatic Aberrations and Enable Profile Corrections boxes. This will automatically detect the lens used and compensate for any colour fringing or distortion that’s present.

Things happen quickly when you’re shooting candids, so you need to have your camera ready to go. Avoid using a brightly coloured camera strap, and wrap it around your wrist rather than over your shoulder. Hold the camera at chest or head height, where it’s quicker to get it up to your eye. Not only does enable you to react faster, it’s less likely to attract your subject’s attention.