Be Prepared!

If there's a simple starting piece of advice I can give anyone, it's 'be prepared'.

If you're off on an assignment, this'll mean ensuring you have sufficient batteries, memory cards/film, lenses, tripod, backdrops, flash, lights, reflectors, white card etc etc to cover all eventualities on your shoot.

Only once have I rushed out the door without checking and, on site, realised I had a camera with no memory cards. Never has it happened since.

The other part of being prepared is always having a camera to hand. How many times have you seen something that you wished you could photograph? It's less of a problem these days with camera phones but it takes nothing to slip a compact into you briefcase/handbag so that you always have the opportunity to hand - just don't forget to make sure the batteries are charged and the memory card empty!

Change Your Viewpoint

Changing your viewpoint is one of the easiest ways of adding extra interest to your photographs.

You could try getting down low, getting up high, standing on your head, turning on your side experimenting with angles. Just about anything goes. The more common the subject, the more interest and curiosity will be generated by changing your viewpoint...