5 ways to help improve your photography

Make the most of the available light

Good light is a sure fire way to help you with capturing better photographs. Different times of the day lend themselves to different types of images.  Sometimes when out you may see a light source and it will trigger off compositions. If you think of light in these 3 types of light it may make it easier to find inspiration.

The golden hour. Also known as the “magic hour” this is the hour that is during the time around sunset and also around sunrise. The light that is produced is soft diffused light rather than that that of the harsh midday sun that the majority of people will us to shoot in. The light produced at this time is great for the fact that it creates less contrast and therefore reducing the chances of blown out highlights of your photograph. The light is warm in tone. The long shadows that it can create, as the sun gets lower to the horizon, help to add texture and depth to a photograph and also aids in picking out details.

The blue hour. The colour created by the ambient light. The images will have a more blue/purple colour to them. The time for this kind of light is just before sunrise and just after sunset .this time of day is great for longer exposure using a tripod.

Try shooting in black and white

Set your camera into black and white mode (monotone) and if possible set the colour filter to red as this will help to increase the contrast of your monotone photographs. Shooting in monotone makes you concentrate more on shape, texture and contrast. Portraits, landscapes and architectural photographs all look great in monotone. You may not think it but even the most colourful of flowers can look absolutely stunning in black and white.

Photography books

It seems obvious when pointed out but you cannot underestimate the amount of ideas you can find just by flicking through others photographers books. It doesn't just have to be photo books either, you can get ideas from looking in high end magazines such as Vogue or Interiors magazine. You don’t even need to by books with the aid of the world wide web, you can look through all manner of images just by typing in your subject into Google image search.
You can find a selection of Photography books to buy HERE.

Find a theme

Choose a theme and take a collection of photographs within that theme. Having a theme can help you to

focus, similar to the ones set when you enter photography competitions. Having a theme helps to unify images. Here are some examples of themes:

Architecture,  the interior or exterior (or both) of buildings.

Colour,  try a selection of images mainly consisting of one colour.

Mimic,  have a look at a photographer’s work you may like and try to replicate it.

Architecture

Mimic

Colour

Enter competitions

Not a lot I can say her but really, competitions are normally tight with their briefs and so help to channel your ideas and help keep a focus. Also there is always that chance you may even win something and some of the prizes can be very good. I would add that it is always good to be aware of some competitions that will take the rights to your photography when you enter a competition. A link to sites that don’t do this can be found below.
World Photography Organisation; Facebook Monthly Photo Competition

 London Festival of Photography (Shoot Experience) awards, prizes, competitions

2013 05 18 The Art of Photography 2013

2013 04 01 Sony World Photography Awards 2013 - Open Competition

2013 01 07 BergHind Joseph 2012 International Photographic Competition


So after reading this I hope you are able to take something away and put it into practice. The main point to all ways to improve is just to get out there and shoot away. always experiment and you will find your style and techniques.

Here is some more photography by me to help you get some ideas. 

Written by Paul Casey Hemming @ Big World Picture Dot Com

All Images Copyright Paul Casey Hemming @ Big World Picture