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How to improve your photography

Whether you're someone that has been shooting for a while, or has just gotten into the game, sooner or later you're going to wonder how to improve your craft.

First and foremost, you must practice. If you don't want to hear this, then ask yourself whether you really enjoy photography at all.

If your camera is sitting around most of the time, you're not getting any better. If you're shooting every day and you don't find yourself getting any better, then you're not reviewing what you're shooting, or you're not practicing the right sort of stuff!

Shooting in a different environment to what you're used to is a way to get yourself out of your comfort zone. If you shoot predominantly in natural light, take on the challenge of low-light photography. Different environments will force you to think differently about how you shoot.

On the same line of thought, shoot some new subjects. If you're always shooting portraits, think about shooting something out of the ordinary. Panning doesn't have huge applications outside of (motor)sports, but could it be used on someone on a swing? You'll need to shoot other subjects and learn how to employ techniques traditionally reserved for those subjects before you can nail these shots off the bat.

Set yourself some new challenges. Pick a theme to shoot over a comfortable period. How many different ways can you find to shoot the same subject? Pick your "weakest" lens and learn where its greatest strengths lay. Think you already know where? Then create a gallery that shows it.

Lastly, because it's so expensive, you may want to upgrade or change your gear. I recommend doing this after you've come to terms with what you can currently do with what you have. If you're consistently frustrated by the limitations of your equipment, you should first figure out to what extent you can minimise their weaknesses. Sometimes, with a well planned arsenal of lenses, there isn't a need to upgrade or replace, but instead you should look for something new and different. Fish-eye lenses, a tele-converter, some filters or perhaps different flash equipment may change the way you view shooting.

So you've practiced, you've set yourself challenges, you're tried shooting in many different ways, but you're not sure if you're getting any better.

Review your past photos. Would you consider your older "keepers" to still be so? Or has your standard been raised? How many keepers do you come out with at the end of a shoot? Is the rate improving? Just don't fall into the trap of lowering your standards to increase your keeper rate.

When reviewing your photos, look at the ones that didn't quite turn out. Look at your shooting settings. Why didn't they make it? Was your shutter speed too slow? Could you have had any better shooting settings? Why didn't you make them? If you find yourself noticing that the only reason they're not turning out is because you're at the limits of your hardware, then perhaps upgrading your equipment is justifiable.

Conversey, go back to your old equipment and see if you can take the same photos. Are they better than when you previously used your old gear? Be painfully aware at this point if the only reason the photo is good is because of your gear, then you know what makes the better photographer. Does that mean you need to improve your photography? Sure is. This is why I recommend upgrading equipment as the last resort.

Start practicing!

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