I recently asked PhotoLust's watchers, friends and contributers If you could share ONE hint, tip or piece of advice for photography what would it be?

This news article is the result of their answers and features thumbs from the people who's words of wisdom are shared here.  The contributers to this article are photographers of a variety of ages and skill levels who work within a number of genres, but they all have one thing in common - they love what they do and they have something useful to say.

Enjoy!



If you're photographing anything indoors- whether it is a flower, still life shoot, person- whatever, make sure you have extra lighting other than the ceiling light. They are never enough- so get as many lamps as you can to face at your subject as you can. to avoid harsh shadows, put a thin piece of tracing paper over them to diffuse the light.
_{- from TerraRhapsody}


Tip #1: Investing in a good lens is sooo much more important than buying the most expensive camera body available.

Tip #2: Nothing, absolutely nothing beats creativity... A person with a good idea will always outdo the profesionall with all the gear.
_{- from Pixelcoma}


Dont rely too much on the Raw format.  Instead bracket exposure, this means to take various pictures with a different exposure time or aperture.  By doing this youll have various photos with different exposure and youll be able to choose the better exposed one, this will give you more workroom when working with curves and other adjustments in your Raw converter.
_{- from kurokimashin}


Always have your camera with you, take it everywhere. The time you do not is the time you miss the picture of a lifetime.
_{- from Killntyme}


Don't let people with expensive camera's impress you. It is you making the photo, not the camera...
_{- from NightSheep}



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Do all photography nude, even if your just taking photo's of flowers!
_{- from superboyjazz}


EXPERIMENT. do it. it's fun!  Who cares if no one else gets it. When it comes down to it, its good to have an audience, but hey, YOUR art should in the end be for YOU.  Also, a bed sheet tacked to the wall= instant portrait backdrop.
_{- from BandanaNinja}


Get close to your subject!
_{- from limegintonic}


At least once in a year, get back to your old analogic film camera.
_{- from agosto}


Think outside the box! Try to see everything from a different perspective.  Always look for little rectangles of life!
_{- from JRd1st}

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When in doubt, or have a lack of finances, use natural light. I find it to be the most complimenting, available and at different times of day you can go so many different looks.
_{- from BlackCarrionRose}


If using a dslr learn to use your histogram, it's a very valuable tool in digital cameras.
_{- from Lopshire}


There's no better teacher than trial and error. Take lots of pictures and figure out what works and what doesn't, and then ask yourself 'why'.  And as someone above said, bring your camera with you everywhere. There's nothing quite as frustrating as seeing something that would have made a badass photo, if only you had something to capture it with.  Zoom with your feet!
_{- from BurlapZack}


Dont feed the models, they get sleepy.
_{- from cosfrog}


Learn everything you can about your equipment and stop asking questions that can be easily found in the manual or in about 30 seconds through Google, you know the ones, "I have x camera, how I change the aperture?"... etc

Once you have done that, experiment a lot, all equipment has its limits, try to find them, in doing so you may discover something that no one has done before, at the very least you ill learn alot about photography and its possibilities and impossibilities.

Try to use your camera to get the result you want instead of using Potatoshop to get it.

Enjoy it, back to point one, if you don't know your equipment, you will get frustrated because you cant do what you want to do, so you will not enjoy it as much if at all.
_{- from Simon-P}



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Shoot everything in manual, you'll learn pretty fast about aperture, focus, shutter speeds. Using Auto for everything may get you great shots but you don't learn from it. Experiment like crazy, fire off as many shots as you can, and don't expect every shot to come out perfect!  But, above all else: enjoy it!
_{- from RGAllanPhotography}


I guess the best piece of advice I could offer is to be expiremental with your photography. Like any other art form, thinking outside the norm can yeild some amazing results. Agian, it's like any other art- in writing, for instance, reading good literature helps create better writers; listening to good music helps musicians.
Find an artist who inspires you and work toward improving yourself.  Oh, and just enjoy it!
_{- from UnstoppableDogs}


Enjoy the whole thing, as a model or photographer or postprocessor or makeup artist or whatever the hell just have a good time and good photos will follow. Don't "suffer for your art", it's bad taste.
_{- from nocturno}


Capture what you want the others to see.
_{- from spinning-rooster}


Use a tripod.
_{- from spako}







I read about this recently and am giving it a try myself - stretch a piece of nylon stocking tightly over the lens for a softer, more diffused effect in your composition, or try breathing on the lens before taking a picture of colourful subjects to give them a glow or aura. It doesn't work for every photograph of course, but it's fun and cheap to experiment with artistically.
_{- from ellegabri}


1) Don't just sit there - do it

2) Don't spend lots on a camera & leave no money for the lens - the glass is the most important bit of kit
_{- from sthwales}


Texture texture texture!

It's all about texture in my book. Look out for interesting textures, they can really lift a run of the mill photo, and they're to be found everywhere and can be incorporated into almost any genre of photography.
_{- from undividual}


Invest in prime lenses instead of ridiculously priced zoom lenses, or their cheap crappy little brothers.
_{- from joicarey}


Don't take just one photo when you shoot anything. Take five!
_{- from f0rTyLeGz}



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Your subjects might have some ideas as well, ask them!
_{- from salenya}


i will now quote ansel adams:
There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.
so maybe there is no advice i can give that will not limit others.
_{- from kaleidoscope7}


Learn...lighting...
I ignored lighting for the first year of learning photography since I taught myself, and totally underestimated its importance.
_{- from Ghost2867}


Study the basics rules of composition this is so important and will help you alot when trying to figure out your approach to a subject... Im not trying to tell anybody to be dogmatic but you'll be a hell of a lot better at breaking the rules once you know them!
_{- from Fiksteufel}


Be curious, look at other people's work as much as you can, again and again. Don't duplicate, be get inspired!
_{- from Epsylon0}



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i'm a photographer and i'm in the process of actually learning what i'm doing!  so no, i have no advice....other than shoot what you want, not what others want.
_{- from jierumi}


Shoot as many shots on the day as possible, it's likely you'll never get the same chance again.

Don't sleep with all your models, casting couches are just plain tacky.

Back EVERYTHING up, be it digital or scans from negs - make sure you keep mulitple copies of everything, because you never know when they're going to be lost [and keep negs in a safe if you have to!]

And try not to copy people's ideas - if you like something, take an element of it and work from that, but out and out forgery is not cool. Neither is stealing art. So yeah, attempt to be as original as you possibly can, or sight your references/influences to avoid bitching...and that's just scratching the surface!
_{- from DalaiHarma}


Composition is EVERYTHING!
It can make or break a photo, even if it has a spectacular concept.
Rule of thirds is your best friend.
_{- from PonyAnarchy}


Well, when your holding a camera, keep you arms close to your body if you're using the view finder of the camera. this way the hands wont shake and hold you're breath just before you're about to click the shutter.
_{- from :devscoprion2kpk:}


be patient. and follow your intuition.everything else will happen accordingly.
_{- from FuriousLee}



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1. don't be afraid. don't be shy. if u wanna take a picture in the middle of the street, do it! they might look weird at you, but nothing else will happen.

2. use natural light as much as possible. it's magical! when in lack of light, use a tripod, or, keep steady - lean over something steady around you. oh and, movement in pictures is not a "don't". sometimes it really kicks ass.

3. take a few pics of the same subject. if u take just one, u might get home and see that it's blurry or something is not as u might like it to be.

4. THINK FAST! sometimes u only get a few seconds to get an awesome pic!

5. think before you act. if u can. if you're taking a picture of something steady, take the time to analyze the possible angles and perspectives. don't just press the shutter and leave, in hope of some good pics. u make the photos!

6. experiment with your manual settings. you might just be amazed what ur camera knows!

7. never post an image without looking over it. is it good? is it worth looking at? is it worth ur watchers time? play around a bit in photoshop, make it hot! it's about respecting ur viewers!

8. why are still at home, reading this page? go out, take pics!!! go go go, do it!

p.s. do it from the heart. don't do it cos it's cool, or because everybody else does it. do it cos u like it. else....don't do it at all.
_{- from Gremlina}


Don't believe the histogram!
Don't believe the 3 inch LCD screen!
Buy a light meter and believe that!
_{- from Norrin-Radd}


always take your time and plan your photographs. 5 seconds can make the difference between a good photo and just a good idea
_{- from cynop}


1. EXPERIMENT, EXPERIMENT, EXPERIMENT. (Lighting, Filters, Lens) Don't be content with the settings that you have now.

2. Experience is not everything but it IS something. (Remember the past flaws in your photographs and try not to repeat them again by doing what you think is right.)

3. Always bring your camera with you wherever you go. (Okay, except school.

4. ANY camera can capture moments beautifully. Don't be disheartened just because you don't own a DSLR. (I use an Ixus 70 and I still love it to bits) Just remember tip #1 and tip #2.
_{- from munkiichyan}


Well, just capture the moment!
That's what I always do! See something interesting, attractive, study it further, give it a meaning, and push the button!
_{- from TheFidoDidoGerbil}



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Look at as many photographs as you can
and try to learn from them
_{- from 35mil}


if you want to work with people as your subjects, the people closest to you can sometimes make the best models, they know what you mean when you say 'erm...a little bit like...' and so on.
_{- from naz-rxqueen}


Be different. There are so many people striving to be the best possible photographer out there. SO many people. Just look around: deviantART, flickr, smugmug, etc etc etc! Everybody wants to have something to show off. But only something original will prove successful in the long run.
_{- from isaacster39}


I cannot stress enough to learn to use your camera on manual. I often see so many wonderful ideas, someone with a great eye and vision, and the photograph falls so short because the photographer doesn't know how to make their camera work for them. Auto is not a part of artistry.

Learn the rules. If you then decide to throw them away, wonderful. But know what your equipment can do. It can only make your results better.
_{- from drowningwoman}


Try not to keep repeating yourself creatively. It's okay to carry an artistic motif in your mind, but try to make every finished product reasonably different from any previous one.  That said, when you have an idea, take as many pictures as you can, and make THOSE as varied as possible. You're not performing surgery. You can take 50 pictures during a shoot, and if one of them is good, you've been successful. Try to make every submission to your gallery an accomplishment to be proud of.


Digital photographers, keep all your photos, even the bad ones, providing you have the HD space for the files. You never know when you might find a use for any of them later. I took a picture of a ship, and then ended up using the picture some 18 months later (after I had learned some photochopping techniques I hadn't known at the time of taking the picture).

Also, keep active at it if you're doing this amateur. As I have experienced, not taking pictures for a while can stagnate your desire to continue. But if you have the creativity in you, it is always possible to break out of it.

For post-processing junkies, if you absolutely can't go out and take pictures even though you want to (and you SHOULD want to), go through your old pictures and find something you may not have appreciated as much before. Look for textures and other resources that you could use to make an unused picture into a final product that its creator can be proud of.

Beware of clichés. Many of my fellow amateur photographers forget to strive for interesting, and not just "pretty." If you plan on doing of any of the following:
"Eye macro"
"Sunset"
"Clouds"
"Colored objects in a desaturated black and white environment"
you better be DAMN sure.

In art, age really is just a number. I know a girl who absolutely floored me at age 16. Her ability to capture human emotion amazes me to this day. It's really something, what a lot of free time, artistic passion, and a little sense of composition can produce. On the flipside, it's never too late. ;]

Finally, it's okay to break the rules, as long as the result is totally badass or something.

P.S. RULE OF THIRDS
_{- from CleverConveyence}


learn to be ATTENTIVE if you carry your Cam along and you will take A LOT of pictures from places other people THOUGHT they'd know well but which they never saw as you did!

if you got -the eye- you don't need expensive hardware to get some attention...
_{- from :devblack pa:}







Someone said to me once: "if there's light, there's a photo."

I think it's the best someone said to me, just take pictures with the equipment you have and make the most of it. In the end, it's the brain and the subjectivity behind the lens that matters.
_{- from ElkeF}


Create a new view to a common subject. "Everyone sees that stupid bridge on their way home, but no ones ever seen it from my persepective!" If you can be original, you will succeed.
_{- from AnonymousPhotography}


1. learn how your camera works. put it in manual and experiment. even most point and shoot cameras have some manual control, learn how it works.

2. Learn how the aperture effects your depth of field. sure a large aperture will give you less depth, but focal length has a big effect on how much depth you have too. experiment with all your lenses to see how much depth you have at maximum aperture. It could mean the difference between picking someone out of a crowd, or making a picture of a crowd.

3. don't EVER say to your self "that's close enough. i'll fix it in photoshop". take your time and get it right IN CAMERA. then use photoshop to crop, straighten, tone, and sharpen. don't use it to try to make a bad shot good... it won't work anyway.

4. don't blast off a million shots in the hope that one is good. slow down. learn to anticipate the moment. try to take fewer shots, and make the ones that you do take count.
_{- from HippySpawn}


don't be afraid of looking like a goof to get the shot you want.

I've done all sorts of stuff to try and get 'the angle' for something I wanted to shoot... propped the camera on my backpack in the middle of a busy sidewalk and waited 10 minutes for a crowd to clear... climbed on a fence and did splits against it and a signpost to get clear of a shrub that blocked my view... crawled on my back in the Hermitage to get under a statue for that unique viewpoint...

Who cares what you look like if the image turns out awesome?
_{- from bulloney}


my advice is to only take advice that works for you. taking pictures is an intimate job. you need a personal approach. dont let anyone tell you that what works for you is wrong. all people can point you in a direction, you have to make it work.
_{- from progguy1}


Get closer to your subjects if your photos don't turn out good.
_{- from Raventhird}



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And one from me, cause after reading everyone else's advice I can't resist jumping in with some of my own.

No matter what you do to pay the bills, always make time for your art.  Take the photos that you feel passionate about, the ones that you wake up in the middle of the night imagining.  Those pictures are pure and beautiful because they come from a pure and beautiful place.





_{This news article contains quotes from a number of contributers and is not necessarily representative of the views of the person who submitted it (EveryNextDream), deviantART, Nelson Mandela, the drummer from Maroon 5 or Zippy and Bungle from Rainbow.}