This month one of my monthly goals was to practise my bird photography. This of course links into a bigger goal of practising photography, and I’ve been revisiting some pages I’d saved with photography tips. I thought I’d share my little list of websites with helpful photography tips, as I know a lot of you want to get better with your camera.

General tips

Like a Bird – 15 tips to become a better photographer

I love this list. In fact, I love it so much that I wrote it up into my little photography notebook (the notebook that lives with my camera and holds tips and things) and drew little illustrations to explain the point!

Craft Buds – Photography tips for bloggers: The basics

Although a photography guide aimed at bloggers, this covers the basics of photography and is relevant to everyone. And specifically for bloggers, here are some tips for sharing photos on your blog. As you can see, I largely don’t follow these tips, but I guess it’s my loss since blogs that do are super pretty! I do try though with my formatting!

The Blue Brick – Passion and patience

… Two things that are definitely needed for good photos! The photos on this post are amazing, and show you why perseverance is worth it!

Shrimp Salad Circus – Pointers for point-and-shoot photography

Although this post is aimed at people with “simple” cameras, the advice is relevant whether you’re using a point-and-shoot or a DSLR. It’s an excellent little list of tips.

Using your camera

Florence Finds – A guide to camera conundrums

Also goes by the title, What the heck is ISO and why are all my pictures white? I have a DSLR and the advice on this page got me on the way to using manual (I’m still rubbish at it though!). This blog post got me away from Auto and on to Aperture Priority. Read it, and learn the tips! There’s also some advice on this post about equipment to buy.

Stars for Streetlights – photography tips for beginners: how to shoot in manual

Like the list mentioned above, I have written up this list in my photography notebook with little illustrations. It’s an excellent list and will really help you understand manual photography.

Click it up a notch – How to shoot in manual mode

This is a great little blog to waste time on if you need photography inspiration (in fact, all the blogs referred to here are great, and you should set aside some time to browse them all more fully!). In my experience, you can’t read enough posts covering the basics of ISO, aperture and shutter speed. Also, it probably goes without saying, but the photos are great.

Somewhat Simple – Photography with Jessica: Lenses

This is the best guide of come across which actually explains the differences between lenses, and how to identify what sort of lens would be best for your photography interests.

Composition

Oh You Pretty Things – Capturing memories

This post shares tips for composing lovely photos. Really, it’s a wonder anyone takes good photos. There is so much to think about?

Little Ladybird – Camera angle and cropping

More tips on composition. Some excellent examples on ways to improve angles and cropping. I pretty much crop all photos in post-editing.

Digital Photography School – Rule of Thirds

I suppose this is a very basic post, but you need to know the rule of thirds so that you can break it well! This only applies to rectangular photos. If you photograph mostly in square, like me, then it’s largely irrelevant. Composition is always important though so make sure you think about it.

Click it up a notch – how to take a sharp photo

I am rubbish at this! I really need to practise taking crisp, clear photos. These tips are helpful for practising this. Here’s another post (same website) on getting sharp photos if you need more advice.

Click it up a notch – Are you making these 7 common photography mistakes?

All of us probably make at least one of these mistakes (unless we’re professional photographers!). I’m bad at limb chopping, but this post drew my attention to it and now I’m aware of it and correct myself.

Black and White

Veronica Armstrong – Photography talk. Black and white

This post discusses the importance of pre-planning when taking black and white photos. It also has some great links to other blogs sharing tips on black and white photography. I personally am a huge fan of black and white.

Subject specific

A Beautiful Mess – Tips for pet photography

Does what it says on the tin! To be honest, I don’t use many of these tips with Archie, but only because I photograph her when she’s asleep or distracted, and it’s easy. If I had a bouncy dog I’d use them!

Click it up a notch – Pet Photography: Question and answer

Some tips on how to set up your camera (in manual) for taking pet photos.

Project ideas

Frankly Vic – 7 ideas for photography projects this summer

These aren’t tips, exactly, but they’re seven projects that you can do during the summer to improve your photography skills.

Five Sixteenths blog – 5 pictures you should take to improve your blog photography

This is another short list of projects you should do to practise your photography skills (I so wanted to put a “z” on the end of that!). Although aimed at bloggers, it’s relevant for everyone!