We’re lucky enough to have some of the most beautiful scenery in the world in the UK, but taking great landscape shots that capture the beauty of a location isn’t often easy: as with most things in life, practice makes perfect.

Make sure you’ve got a camera with a decent wideangle lens. Although some compacts do offer wide-angle attachments, your best bet is to go with a DSLR and a good lens, as that also enables you to use filters to enhance your shots. One of the single most important pieces of equipment a landscape photographer can have (aside from a tripod of course) is a circular polariser. These
filters only allow rays of light through that are vibrating on a particular plane, meaning that, with a quick twist of your filter, you can rid your shots of unwanted glare and reflections on water, glass and other non-metallic surfaces, as well as deepening blue skies and making fluffy white clouds really ‘pop’. Circular polarisers also saturate colours, livening up foliage and adding to the overall impact of your image. Keep your aperture small (by selecting a number of f/8 or larger) to increase your depth of field, so you keep foreground and background detail in focus. Also ensure that you set your white balance according to lighting conditions; if it’s lovely and bright like this shot, set it to Sunny, but if it’s dull and grey, setting your white balance to Shade or Cloudy will help to warm things up a bit.

Circular polariser
Use this type of filter to deepen blue skies, make fluffy white clouds really stand out and to reduce unwanted reflections on water and glass surfaces. Be sure to choose a circular polariser, as a linear one can disrupt the metering and AF systems in DSLRs

Aperture
If shooting manually or in Aperture Priority mode, set your camera to use a small aperture (a bigger number) in order to increase your depth of field. When shooting landscapes, it’s best to use a smaller aperture, to keep a greater number of elements in focus in your photograph

Leading lines
Look for lines created by objects that help to lead the observer’s eye into the frame. In this shot, the path leads the viewer’s eye right up to the main point of interest in the frame: the lighthouse. When shooting your own landscapes, look for the same effect created by walls, paths and natural arrangements of rocks and shrubs

Clouds
Although a crystal-clear blue sky looks fantastic when you’re out enjoying the sunshine, it can end up looking rather dull and flat in photographs. Using filters to liven things up a bit can help, but you’d be amazed what a difference the odd fluffy cloud can
make. Clouds add interest to skies, and are worth looking out for when composing your shots

Rule of Thirds
Keep your shot nicely balanced by sticking to the Rule of Thirds. Use your camera’s in-built grid system to help you, or use your imagination to draw lines that divide your composition up into thirds, both horizontally and vertically. By placing elements in your
shot on the points where these lines intersect, you’ll produce a well-balanced shot that the human eye can ‘read’ very easily

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Ever noticed that you rarely see photos of lightning taken during daytime hours? There’s a very good reason for that – it’s virtually impossible to achieve. The speed and unpredictability of lightning means than you can only ever hope to get a shot by leaving the shutter open for an extended period. Only at night will the scene be dark enough to get away with this without too much light hitting our sensor.
There’s no easy way to shoot lightning, but there are some tried and tested techniques that should improve your chances of getting a shot. Firstly, use a tripod to keep a steady shot. Then set your aperture to f8, your ISO to 100 and your focus at infinity, with the autofocus off. If your camera has the ability to keep its shutter open indefinitely, select this setting, otherwise simply select the longest shutter speed you can. With the camera pointed in the direction of where the most lightning hits are occurring, your best chance to capture it is by holding the shutter open for a prolonged period to cover one or more lightning strikes.
Safety is paramount so never stand within five miles of the epicentre. Your tripod could conceivably act as a lightning rod so dress appropriately and stay near your car. In fact, why not shoot remotely from your car as a precaution?


The darker the better
You can only get away with shooting such a long exposure at night, so the darker the surroundings the better. You’ll have more luck away from the glare of a town or city.

Silhouettes
Your lightning photography will have more impact if there are objects in the frame to be lit up by the strike. In this image the tree-lined lake delivers silhouettes and a reflective surface to add more visual interest.

Keep it sharp
A decent lightning picture is impossible to achieve hand-held, so you will need a tripod in order to keep your photograph razor sharp. The more clarity the lightning bolts have, the better.

The sky’s the limit
The quality of your lightning picture will, to a large extent, be determined by the sky itself. Sometimes clouds will obscure the bolts so all you get to see is a general flash of light. There’s little you can do about this but you may need multiple attempts to get it right.

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Capturing a great action shot is one of the hardest things you can do with your digital camera. But with some patience and practise, images like this one are perfectly possible. Basically, the key principle you need to remember is that pointing your camera in a fixed direction and hoping to capture a fast-moving subject as it speeds past is a lost cause – your finger will simply not be fast enough. Instead, you need to pre-focus your camera onto the subject before you shoot by half-pressing the shutter button. This will save the time it takes for the camera to lock focus before taking its exposure.

Once you’ve done this you should follow the moving subject as it travels (a technique known as ‘panning’). Do so to ensure that the subject constantly remains in the frame. This will result in a blurred background, but that doesn’t matter – it all adds to the sense of speed. This technique should increase your chances of a good shot, but your most important tool – and one that’s available on most mid-range to high-end cameras – is the Continuous or Burst shooting mode. Selecting this mode will set your camera to capture a quick-fire series of shots (normally until the buffer is full) when you keep your finger pressed on the shutter button. Using this handy feature, the chances of at least one exposure being the perfect shot you’re after is significantly increased.

1. Panning
Pan your camera to follow your subject as it moves along. This will result in a blurred background, but this only enhances the sense of speed.

2. Zoom in
The bike in this picture is cropped in places, but it’s better to get a sharp close-up shot than to keep your camera at a distance. You don’t always need to keep the whole subject in the frame.

3. Pre-focus
Pre-focus your camera onto a specific point on your subject, such as the rider’s helmet, to ensure it remains in sharp focus, even if peripheral areas lose clarity.

4. Empty space
When framing your shot, ensure you leave an empty space in front of your moving subject for it to ‘move into’. This helps to enhance the impression of forward momentum.

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We all want great photographs of our kids that we can keep forever, but children aren’t always the easiest of subjects to capture. They’re so full of energy, it’s  mpossible to keep them still long enough to take a decent snap. The solution is just as obvious as the reason behind why they aren’t the easiest subjects – just don’t even try to keep them still! Not only are posed pictures difficult to achieve, they can also be rather dull and old-fashioned in appearance. It’s much better to snap your kids doing what they do best (ie making mayhem) as it captures  something of their unique energy and personality. Pics like these make for much  more vivid memories when you look back on your photos in years to come. So, treat photography as a game rather than a chore. Get your kids doing something they love, like riding a bike, and snap away while they’re in their element. Not only will this result in better pictures, it will also bring a smile to their faces, rather than a sulk or a glance in the other direction. Something we’re sure many  parents despair at when trying to take a photo! Don’t just take one shot either. A series of ‘action’ shots are far more likely to result in a great photo than one single attempt.

1. Keep ‘em busy
Your kids will be far more likely to cooperate for the camera if they’re doing something they enjoy. The trick is to make them forget that the camera is there. So, start up a game or get them riding their bike

2. Candid snaps
Often the best strategy is to keep the kids so occupied they don’t notice the camera. But in a shot like this, the picture has become part of the fun of the bike riding game, so the child has no problem in showing his smile for the camera

3. Fill the space
Kids are bold and full of life, so give your picture a bold framing too. Don’t snap from a distance, but take a shot that fills the whole frame with a beaming face. That way, your kid’s personality will shine through

4. Backgrounds
The angle of this shot is unusual but effective. By shooting from low-down, the photographer not only gives a dramatic perspective but also turns the blue sky into a cheerful but clean and uncluttered backdrop

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One of the most important aspects to get right when shooting silhouettes is proper exposure. To calculate this, you first need to position your subject between the light source and your camera. Set your camera to manual exposure and use an external light meter, or your camera’s internal meter (in Spot-metering mode), to take a light reading from the highlight area. Alternatively, try metering the background and then the subject. The difference between these two readings provides the right silhouette exposure. You then need to expose for the background only, so that everything in the foreground is recorded as being dark. Make sure you experiment with alternative white balance settings as well to warm up and cool down the colours in your photos, as these can have a great effect over the mood of your final image. You can also increase your depth of field by setting a small aperture, ensuring that you’ll have a greater range of elements in focus within your image. If you’re using slow shutter speeds, then a trustworthy tripod or other stable object is a must. If you can justify the cost, it’s worth investing in a good, sturdy tripod. At night, a bright, full moon can be a very effective ‘backlight’, as can artificially-lit fountains, street signs, or car headlights, for example. With bonfire season upon us, there should also be ample opportunity to experiment with nocturnal, al fresco silhouettes.

1. White balance
When shooting a sunset silhouette, make the most of the sky colour by taking the camera out of Auto White Balance mode. Try switching your White Balance mode to ‘cloudy’ or ‘shady’.

2. Subject
Concentrate on the subject’s outline when framing your shot, in order to achieve the best composition. Keep the background as plain as possible,making the shape of your subject the main focus.

3. Focusing
For the purposes of shooting silhouettes, manual focusing is the best way to achieve this, as the dark tones of your subject will result in your lens ‘hunting’ in Automatic mode.

4. Lighting
For maximum impact in your shot, always make sure there is as little light as possible falling onto the subject itself. Otherwise any detail will be recorded, spoiling the black silhouette effect.

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If your camera has a macro mode (or even better, if you’re lucky enough to win a macro lens), this is an excellent time of year to get up close and  personal with the natural world and pull off some fantastic close-up shots.

Don’t be put off by our exotic subject pictured below. You might not have geckos to photograph, but you’re likely to be able to find all manner of insects, frogs and slow worms in your back garden!

Once you’ve found your subject, mount your camera on a small tripod or rest it on a bean bag or other stable object and compose your shot. Selecting an aperture of around f/8 keeps the eyes and nose of the creature nice and sharp.

Having the background blurred helps the creature to stand out and will compensate for any distracting objects that you may be unable to move. If you can, shoot in RAW format, as this will give you more flexibility when it comes to editing your shots later. Practise the tips and experiment with ordinary tungsten lamps or bounced flash (remember to set your white balance) if conditions are somewhat dull. If you want to have a go at photographing more exotic creatures in controlled conditions, visit your local zoo or wildlife centre and ask a handler if you can get closer to some of the animals under their supervision, or check out one of the UK-wide wildlife workshops at www.wildarena.com.

1 Catch light
A great way of avoiding the ‘taxidermy’ look is to ensure there’s a catch light in your subject’s eyes. Think how much more dynamic and alive people look in portraits when the photographer has positioned the light source to create a catch light – the effect is exactly the same with other living creatures. You can achieve it by positioning your subject in natural light, or using off-camera flash.

2 Add depth
Avoid having a depth of field that’s too narrow; although this can be good for creating abstract images, when shooting creatures like this gecko, it’s desirable to have the eye(s) and nose pin-sharp, with the focus gently falling away in the background for added impact. If you can control your aperture, select a bigger number (small aperture) to keep more elements in focus, or a small number (large aperture) to have less in focus.

3 Directional lighting
Light fall-off on the background is desirable for macro shots, as it helps the subject to stand out. Experiment with the positioning of your light source in relation to the subject and try to avoid having it ‘square on’ – positioning your light source to one side creates shadows, adding contrast. Fill in any deep shadows with a reflector or a piece of white card.

4 Stay sharp
Aim for fast shutter speeds (1/60sec or faster) to freeze movement. If you don’t have a tripod, be inventive and find something else to rest your camera on; a table or a pile of boxes will suffice. To reduce the chance of camera shake further, use your camera’s self-timer mode to fire the shutter, or use a remote control or cable release if you have one.

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As any sports photographer will tell you, half of getting a decent shot is timing, and the other is being prepared. To start with, the focus needs to be correctly set up to allow the image to be taken when the instant occurs, rather than having to wait for the correct focus zone to be highlighted. Because of the relatively uninteresting background it isn’t any great loss to lock the zones down to centre only, and leave the majority of the rest of the shot blurred. This also ensures any objects between camera and subject don’t ruin the image if they pop into the bottom of the frame.

If the camera has a constant or AI focus, switch to that. This lets the lens track the subject as you do, making the necessary adjustments to keep the subject sharp without letting off the shutter release. Shutter speed is also important, but fight the temptation to constantly operate at 1/500 or higher. Freezing the subject will remove the illusion of movement, so dial down to 1/250 or lower. Environmental elements emphasise the motion so the shot looks all the more spectacular. Finally activate the Burst mode to not only have a choice of shots, but to allow for any unexpected incidents, such as a crash or spin, to occur under the watchful eye of the camera rather than between shots.

Luck may well be a large part of getting an impressive sports shot, but with the right preparation it really won’t be necessary, and a superb looking shot of a fast-

Shutter speed
Don’t push the shutter speed right up to the maximum and freeze the subject. Instead dial down slightly and allow surrounding elements, such as water, to emphasise the motion in the shot.

Drive mode
Keep the frames per second up in case something unexpected occurs. A car can spin or crash when you least expect it, and having to describe an incident to someone is far harder than simply showing it to them.

Central focus
Setting the focus to central not only keeps the uninteresting background from confusing the multi-zone autofocus, but it also acts as an impetus to ensure the framing of the subject is absolutely spot-on.

Track back
The focus may not keep up with the subject as well as the photographer, so switch to a constant Focus mode and keep the shutter release half-pressed to ensure sharpness is perfect when the image is taken.

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Creating the illusion of movement within a still image can be a difficult proposition, as it requires breaking one of the basic rules of photography in keeping the subject sharp.

A waterfall makes for an attractive subject when taking landscape photography, but some of the majesty of the image is lost when the shutter speed is too high. The water appears completely static and although the environment will give away the motion, the final effect will still be a poor reflection of the subject. The only method to remedy this is to slow the shutter speed in order to carry a degree of motion blur, portraying a far more active image. By sacrificing the sharpness in the main subject, the movement will be better carried into the image, and the surrounding environment being sharp emphasises the fact that the water isn’t blurred through poor photography, but simply for an intentional effect.

The fact that a waterfall is often surrounded by trees makes the exposure difficult, as streaks of light often appear, rather than a balanced amount. Trees also have the added annoyance of moving around in a breeze, meaning the water may not be the only blurred object. On a particularly windy day, it can be better to simply crop the trees out of the photo with some tighter framing. As with any type of landscape photography, patience is the key, so don’t be discouraged if the first few shots aren’t exactly as intended. Be sure to grab a tripod and don’t get too close to the action, or the camera may not survive the image-taking process.

Please refer to the image above for the following number references.

1 Background sharpness
Switch to manual focus and make sure the surrounding area is sharp, rather than worrying about the waterfall itself

2 Slow shutter speed
Put the shutter speed down to around the half-second mark, and keep an eye on the aperture. It may close too far to compensate on Program mode

3 Inconsistent lighting issues
Surrounding obstructions might cause streaks of light across the image, so waiting for a perfect moment may be a fruitless exercise

4 Steady as she goes
A tripod will be absolutely vital for this shot, as the long shutter speeds make it impossible to go hand-held without it resulting in a blurred mess

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Architecture has always been a favourite subject for photographers because of the wealth of detail it contains, and the enormous range of shapes, angles and contours that can be achieved through creative framing. Spiral staircases are common subjects, but rarely are they captured as well as this one. The shape and location of most of these structures usually means that light is limited, or that there’s very heavy contrast within the shot. So, it’s important to lock your exposure just right so that the shotisn’t under or over exposed. The easiest way to do this is to find a shooting angle that delivers the best-looking exposure in your viewfinder or LCD, half-press the shutter button to lock that exposure, then reposition for the best possible framing of the subject, and shoot.

Naturally, it’s the pattern created by the spiral staircase, which is the main attraction of the shot. Patterns, repetitions or symmetrical lines frequently make for striking images, as the camera’s viewfinder is able to isolate that pattern from its surroundings, and make it even more visually powerful than it was in real life. This image has been carefully framed to create the effect of the spiral emerging from a single point at the bottom of the frame. But the photographer could have produced an equally interesting image by zooming into a particular portion of the stairwell to capture its shapes and lines in a more abstract fashion.
Remember, framing and composition are the most important elements of a successful image, so choose your vantage point very carefully.

1. Pattern and symmetry

This image is all about the spiral pattern created by the stairwell. Patterns and symmetrical shapes like this are found in most scenes, whether natural or man-made, and really help to draw the viewer in. In this case the spiral guides our eyes towards the monument at the bottom of the stairwell.

2. Framing

When you find a striking pattern or repetition in your subject, it’s important to frame it in a way that highlights that pattern rather than diminishes it. The point where the spirals meet is positioned right at the edge of the frame, creating the effect of the spirals expanding outwards from that point. Had the picture been framed slightly lower, that effect would have had less impact.

3. Active subjects

If this were a stairway with nobody on it, the image would be less interesting despite its striking shape. People always inject life into a photo, and the random  positioning of these climbers, plus there active movements, provides an effective contrast to the symmetry of the structure itself.

4. Get the light right

The ornate carvings on the banister are captured crisply in this shot thanks to the way the light falls on them. The shadow cast gives depth and dimension to the carvings, resulting in a more textured shot. Consider the time of day when shooting and, if you can, wait for a time when the light is falling at just the right angle.

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Achieving the perfect shot of a flower is harder than it might first appear. You’re more likely to be able to achieve it with a digital SLR combined with a macro  ens. However, if you’re using a compact, switch to the Macro mode, and use the camera at its closest focusing distance. For a shot like this, use the smallest aperture available (anywhere between f/11 and f/22 is best). If you increase the aperture, then the depth of field  narrows, which is desirable in order to concentrate focus on the central subject, and blur out the background.

You’ll find that because you’re working at such small apertures, there’s not going to be a lot of light. For a simple solution, use your on-board flash, set to the fillin setting, and use a reflector to help bounce the light around. Take our advice and don’t be tempted to wait for a really sunny day to maximise the light, as the sun will only produce shadows, harsh lighting and flare. A sunny but overcast day is best, as the clouds will help to diffuse the light. In order to take the shot, you’ll need to get yourself and your camera down low. A tripod is essential for steadying your camera, but it needs to be one that can get down to ground level and is sturdy. If you don’t have a tripod with you, rest the  camera on a stable surface and use the self-timer to take the image.

1. Water droplets

Working in the rain is a difficult task, as many flowers will close up their petals for protection. The best thing  to do is wait until just after a shower, or fake it by taking along a small spray bottle filled with water.

2. Perfect lighting

For the best lighting try and avoid overly sunny days. This will create flare and harsh shadows. Instead, wait for an overcast sky – the clouds will act as a natural diffuser – and use reflectors and flash to create even lighting.

3. Macro focus

For the best effect you’ll need to crop in as close as you can get to your subject, making it fill the frame. This may be more difficult on a compact camera set to its Macro mode, as it cannot necessarily focus as close as a dedicated DSLR and macro lens setup.

4. Creative depth of field

To keep the flower in sharp focus you’ll need to use the smallest aperture available on your camera. However, if you want to blend the background away with soft blurring, increase your aperture slightly to narrow your depth of field.

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