Better photo tips: 60 of the most amazing, surprising, incredible bits of photography advice you’ll ever read

Following on from our popular 77 photography techniques, tips and tricks for taking pictures of anything post, we’re bringing you this list of 60 incredibly useful bits of photography advice.

If you’re new to photography, this resource of surprising camera tips and time savers provides an invaluable shortcut to better photos and a smarter workflow. If you’re a more experienced photographer, there’s still plenty of technical and technique refreshers here.

We’ve separated the advice into three key sections, covering camera settings, composition and exposure, and general photography tips. If you find the advice useful or you want to share your own little-known photography trick, please leave a comment below…

Camera set-up advice and tips for essential settings

Tip 01: Zoom first, focus last
Zoom lenses typically exhibit focus shift when they’re zoomed. This means the classic technique of zooming in to lock the focus on an important detail, then zooming out to recompose doesn’t always work – that detail may now not be razor-sharp. Our tip? Set the zoom first, then focus – then use Live View’s magnification feature to check the important details are sharp.

SEE MORE: 44 essential digital camera tips and tricks

Tip 02: Set the Neutral Picture Style for RAW
A camera’s histogram is generated from the JPEG version of an image – a RAW file holds more picture information. This means that a histogram that shows clipped highlights or shadows may in fact not be clipped for the RAW file. To get a closer approximation of the RAW file’s ‘true’ histogram, set your camera’s Picture Style/Picture Control to Neutral.

SEE MORE: Shooting raw format photos: 8 questions every beginner wants answered

Tip 03: Switch to the RGB histogram
The brightness histogram is an great guide to the exposure of a picture, but it doesn’t tell you anything about the colour of the image. Switch to the RGB – red, green and blue – histogram and you’ll be able to see if any of the colour channels are oversaturated.

You’ll also see that the brightness histogram closely resembles the shape and position of the green histogram, so it’s important to check the RGB histogram when red and blue colours are more important to the success of the image.

SEE MORE: Histogram: photography cheat sheets for achieving perfect exposure

Tip 04: It’s the shutter speed that you need to get right first
If the shutter speed is too slow, key parts of the picture will be blurred, either because the camera moved or the subject did while the photo was being exposed. Of course, intentionally blurred photos can be effective, but even then it’s the shutter speed that you’ll need to get right first…

SEE MORE: Camera Shake: the ultimate cheat sheet for tripods, monopods and shooting handheld

Tip 05: Watch your viewfinder display
When you use Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority mode, make sure that the camera is able to set a suitable shutter speed or aperture. If the display is flashing or showing Hi/Lo, you will need to change your settings.

Tip 06: Expose to the Right (ETTR) technique works
To get the best-quality results with the least noise, shoot in RAW and use an exposure that gives a histogram which just reaches the right-hand edge of the graph. But make sure that you don’t go too far: you don’t want to overexpose the highlights.

If the subject should be dark in tone, then reduce the exposure setting when you process the image in RAW conversion software such as Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw.

SEE MORE: Expose to the right: the camera technique every landscape photographer must know

Tip 07: How to choose the right colour space
If you’re shooting JPEGs, you will achieve considerably better results if you set the colour space to sRGB for photos that are going to be viewed on-screen or on the web. Adobe RGB is the better option for prints and image manipulation.

Tip 08: You can pretty much do it all in Aperture Priority
Aperture Priority is one of the most useful exposure modes: it enables you to control the depth of field in your images, as well as the exposure.

Try setting a wide aperture such as f/4 to blur the background and foreground of your shots, or using a small aperture such as f/16 to keep more of the subject sharp from front to back. Avoid the smallest apertures though, as this can lead to details appear soft because of an optical effect known as diffraction.

If you need a faster or shutter speed, then you don’t really need to switch to Shutter Priority mode: simply open and close the aperture accordingly. If you do require a specific shutter speed, then you will need to use Shutter Priority or Manual.

SEE MORE: How to use a camera: exposure modes made simple

Tip 09: Use Manual exposure for movement
If you have the time to set the shutter speed and aperture, use the Manual exposure mode. Most cameras have a display to help you set the exposure, but it’s best to check it by taking a test shot.

If the light on the subject is constant, but the background changes, using Manual mode will give much more consistent results than an automatic exposure mode. Simply set the exposure so that the main subject is correctly exposed.

SEE MORE: Shooting in Manual mode: when (and how) to take control of your camera

Tip 10: Don’t ignore your camera’s Program mode
It’s very easy to dismiss Program mode as a point-and-shoot option, but if you don’t need a specific shutter speed or aperture, it can free you up and enable you to concentrate on aspects such as composition and timing.

When you’re in Program mode, you can use the input dial to shift the combination of aperture and shutter speed. Doing this will give you basic creative control over the depth of field and motion blur, without having to change exposure modes.

SEE MORE: Program Mode Explained: how to creatively shift aperture and shutter speed

Practise this so that you know which direction produces a smaller aperture/slower shutter speed combo and which direction gives you a larger aperture/faster shutter speed. This will enable you to react quickly when the situation demands it.

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