5 Quick (and free) Tips to Boost Your Photography

Nothing techy, nothing expensive, just 5 things that you can do today!

1: Shoot what you love and what you enjoy.

Don’t be a slave to social media and shoot what you think everyone else wants you to photograph. Photography should be something that you do because YOU enjoy it; i really believe that if you’re shooting what you enjoy, somewhere you enjoy doing it, then you will take better images because you will have more of a connection with your subject matter. It might be wildlife, it might be landscapes, it might be street, it might be commercial but it should be what you enjoy! I manage to combine my love of being outside with my photography, so I get the best of both worlds!

2: Look at the work of other photographers. 

Read photobooks, look on the internet, soak it all up! You don’t have to copy everyone else’s work but it's useful to have inspiration and to see how other people compose images.

If you can avoid all of the other distractions, then using the internet to do this is a great idea, but know what you want to find and then go find it!

Some of my favourites are Nigel Danson, James Popsys, Scott Choucino (these three have really active social media and YouTube channels and I have learned a TON from them!), Galen Rowell and of course, the master: Ansell Adams.

These aren’t the only photographers out there, so find ones that you like and learn about their photography!

3: Talk to other photographers!

This is where I have learned more than via any other medium, other than actually going out and shooting. And let’s be honest, if you’re talking with other photographers, you’re probably out shooting anyway! Talking to other photographers and shooting with them is one of the best ways to learn, to get better and to develop your skills.

4. Be Present. 

By this, I don’t just mean be there and be ready to get the shot. I mean be present in the moment, be aware of what is going on. Put your phone away, take the AirPods out, look and listen. Doing this meant that one a recent trip to a local viewpoint, I got to see things in the night sky that I haven’t seen before and it was really special. Allow of your senses to play a part in what you’re doing. Nothing beats being out early morning listening to the birds and watching the world come to life in front of you and capturing it with your camera.

5. Get out and shoot!

Make a plan and stick to it. Go out without a plan. But go out! 

Some of my best shoots have been spontaneous, some have been the planned shoots, but they all involved getting off my behind and going out and doing the thing that I love. New years day last year was a really special one - I was up early and took advantage of the empty streets (I was still living in London) and saw one of the best sunrises I saw in all of my time in London. It was a great start to the year!

Bonus Tip!

Take lots of photos - I see so many people who have gone out and taken 10 photos on the same photo walks where people have taken 300. It pays to have shots in the bank, because the more you take, the more chance you have having something different or something interesting. Taking fewer photos because you “know how to get the shot” doesn’t make you a better photographer, it means that you get shots that other people miss. 

Bonus Tip 2!

Know your camera. It should be like an extension of your body. READ THE MANUAL! Watch YouTube videos about your camera and find out everything it can do and then learn how to do it. There is nothing worse than seeing something amazing happening in front of and then having to faff about with your camera to dial in the settings meaning that you miss the shot. Even during the longest of golden hours, the good light can be there and gone in a minute (or even seconds!) and you don’t want to spend that time staring at your camera wondering why you can’t make it do what you want it to. Oh, and make sure that you’re shooting in raw so that you have the flexibility when you’re doing your post processing!

Keep Creating!

Chris

Does Photography Gear Matter ?

Welcome to my first blog! It’s a cold, sunny, Sunday morning here in Cumbria so I’ve made a brew and sat down to try and answer the question “Does photography gear matter?”. This a question that will have ten’s of thousands of answers out there on the wider internet, and I’m going to share my thoughts here.

Where to start?

There are thousands of camera options available to you, just as many lens options, there’s all of the different filter and tripod options and don’t even get me started on bags (this is a separate blog all on its own!).

I get asked a lot “what’s the best camera?” or “what’s the best lens for portrait/landscape/street?”. The best answer I have heard to these questions and the one I like the best is “the one you already have”. Even if that’s the one that you have on your phone. Phone cameras are getting better by the day, and some of them even shoot raw images, which give you more flexibility when you’re editing.

But what if you don’t already own any camera gear and want to move away from your phone, where should you start, what should you get and where should you buy it from?

In truth, if you have a budget of, for example, £1000 (about $1200US), then you should (in my opinion) look to spend about half of this on your camera and lens combination. Why? Because if it breaks or you break it, it gets full of water or some other unthinkable thing happens to it then you have enough in the bank to be able to replace it. So the best camera is the one that you have and the one that you can afford to replace. I’ll talk about your first lens later.

Buying you first camera and lens is only the beginning. Once you have made this purchase, you’ll need to think about what sort of photography you’re going to do and the conditions that you’re going to be shooting in. If it’s anything that’s likely to be in low light situations, then you’ll need a tripod if you’re going to get sharp images, free of camera movement, which you can be proud of.

Then you’re going to need to be able to move it all so a decent, comfortable camera bag will be essential. So out of our remaining £500, we’ve probably just spent another £50-75!

But what about your lens? This is an important decision. The quality of your glass is important and is probably one of the things that will have the biggest impact of the quality and feel of your images (vintage lenses create some great looks, when you’re ready to dive down that rabbit hole). Most consumer DSLR/mirroless cameras can be supplied with a “kit” lens. These are usually cheaper than premium lenses, but won’t be weatherproof, so be careful if you’re using it in the rain. Kit lenses are generally zoom lenses, which is great when you are just starting out as it means you’ve got a range of focal lengths covered so you can experiment, be flexible and have fun with your images. The Canon 18-55mm f/4.5-5.6 is a common kit lens that you can buy with their cameras. Just be sure the check that the lens is included in the price that you pay, as a general rule, DSLR/Mirrorless cameras don’t come supplied with a lens and you’ll have to buy this separately.

New or Secondhand?

This is a question that is likely to be dictated by your budget, but you also get a lot more bang for your buck if you are willing to make a second hand purchase. The secondhand camera market is huge and there are some bargains to be had if you know where to look. The best places to start this search are websites like MPB and Wex.

Both of these sellers are reputable UK brands who supply the kit with a warranty and everything is thoroughly checked before it goes on their websites, so you can be sure you’re not throwing money away and buying a dud.

3 of the lenses in my current set-up were bought secondhand and haven’t caused me a single problem and have proven to be great value for money.

You can also consider places such as Facebook marketplace and eBay, but make sure that you do your research and don’t get either ripped off or scammed!

There is also a large “grey market” for cameras. I won’t post any links here, but I am sure you will be able to do a quick Google search and make up your own mind. With regard to the grey market for cameras, you’ll get an authorised product but outside of the manufacturers authorised distribution channels. So you might buy a lens from a UK based seller, but the product wasn’t intended for the UK or European markets, meaning you don’t get any of the manufacturers warranty protection if something goes wrong.

Will people take me seriously?

Don’t worry about what other people think. Use what works for you; the most important thing is that you ‘get on’ with your setup. That being said, if you get booked to photograph a wedding and turn up with an iPhone and nothing else, you’re going to get some funny looks!

“Is this a professional camera?”, another question that gets asked repeatedly and one that doesn’t have a really well defined answer. Any camera can be a professional camera if you’re using it to make money. What portion of your income you need to be making to be considered professional is another discussion for another time! Also worth noting at this juncture, if you’re out shooting and you end up on private land (such as Canary Wharf in London or the area around Tower Bridge), you’ll probably told by a security guard that any camera that has an interchangeable lens is a professional camera so that they can make you stop and move you on (always be polite and do what they ask, it makes it easier for everyone else who has to encounter them in the future); luckily, you’ll probably have another camera in your pocket anyway.

So, does gear matter?

Yes.

And no.

And also maybe. To some extent.

If you’re reading this and you have made it this far, chances are you’ve read a few articles on this topic and heard a number of different opinions.

If you have a camera on your phone and you’re happy with it then great! If you want some more flexibility in what you do then you may want to consider your first DLSR/mirrorless purchase.

Gear matters if you let it matter. Going out and buying a Canon R5 with an L series lens is going to set you back in excess of £6500 and isn’t going to make you a better photographer, no matter what your experience level. It will create lovely files with lots of data that will be great to edit, but they won’t necessarily be “good photos”. If you’re spending this kind of money on your first camera because “it will encourage me to go out and shoot” then the chances are that in 6 months time you’re going to have a very expensive ornament sat on your shelf! Remember the old adage that photography happens in the space between the photographer’s ears.

The resolution/megapixel count on newer cameras is huge, which is great if you’re drastically cropping images and want to retain the image quality. But bear in mind, that if you’re after the resolution, then consider the Canon 5DS or 5DSR. Both of these have more megapixels (50.3MP) than the R5 and are now about 8 years old so can be found for about £5000 less than the newer cameras.

What matters most is that you’ve got a setup that works for you and that you can use easily, confidently and that allows you to be out there making photos. You can’t make images if you don’t get out to take them!