1. SIMPLE ~ black and white photography loves minimalism, look for simple subjects to shoot. The less distractions the better you can focus on the image.
2. CONTRAST ~ look for strong contrast between light and dark. dark shadows and strong sunlight make for great contrasts in black and white images.
3. ANGLES ~  to make black and white images have depth look for angles. rather than taking an image straight on, look for the angel that gives the best shape to your image.
   
4. PERSPECTIVE ~ if you are shooting in a place where there is lots of motion, people, colour or distractions, change your perspective. move your position so that you get a simplified view of the subject you are trying to capture.
5. LEADING LINES ~ another way to draw your viewer into the image and show them depth is to look for the leading lines of the subject. what lines such as the edge of buildings draw you into the image.
6. SYMMETRY ~ look for symmetry to give interest in the place of colour. architecture often has symmetrical parts such as windows, vents, rails etc.

don't just turn your camera to black and white mode or edit after the shot, think about your image as black and white before you click the shutter button.

the secret to photography is simple ....

Yep, fairly simple, just get into it and take lots of photographs. In the digital age, there is no danger in taking lots of crappy photos, you just delete them, and start again.
However, don't just delete your photos that you think are rubbish, have a look, check what is not right, figure out what went wrong and then learn for the next time.

Also sometimes when you think a shot is not right, you can find a gem, something artistic, something that tells a story.

​When taking a portrait of someone and you want to be sure to get their right side, ask them to take a selfie with their phone. They will instinctively point the phone camera to what they perceive as their best side and that's the most important thing. The customer is always right!

Then you will know their (perceived) best side and this will help you get 'their best side' when you take the photo, which will save numerous reviews of every photo you take and having to try different shots again & again.

"Why is it important to 'format' the card in the camera rather than in a computer?"

​The main reason for this is every camera brand formats differently and every camera is different. Also every computer formats differently to. So even though your card might be readable, it could well be corrupt and eventually cause you issues such as lost or faulty photos. Case in point I did a wedding last week and the second shooter used one of my cards, however lightroom could not read the RAW files, even though their camera was a canon like mine because the card was not formatted in their camera, it caused issues. I was able to convert the images to jpeg and rescue them for editing, but it could have been a disaster, something you don't want with wedding photos.
If you format in the camera you are going to use, it is a clean format and formatted to use in that particular camera. Better be safe than sorry.
BUT... remember to back up your photos to at least 2 places before you format the card. Once formatted its nearly impossible to recover the images, although in some instances it can be done.
Happy Shooting!

​Ever picked up your camera, taking a photo and realised it was set wrong and you got a dark blank image or a very over exposed image?
Tip number 9 is... remember to reset your camera each time you finish using it so that the next time you pick it up it's ready to go.

If you shoot in Auto or have started using the Av/Tv modes, remember to reset back to auto after you have finished, so when you pick the camera up the next time you can pretty much point and shoot.

If you are a manual user reset your settings to the following as these are pretty good baseline settings that will allow you to point and shoot in reasonable conditions every time.

ISO 100
Aperture 5.6
Shutter 1/125

Happy shooting!

Charge your batteries and clear your cards.

That's right, simple things that get forgotten. If you are going to an event to take photos or even whilst on holiday remember to charge your batteries the night before, empty your memory cards (you should back up to at least 2 places) and then format the cards once you have backed up. Also remember to format in Camera, not anywhere else. 

​Change your perspective

If you take a photo and it doesn't look right, not exactly what you were after, then change your perspective. Either move to change the angle, get below your subject or get above your subject. You could even take a photo of the same image from multiple perspectives and then choose the one that best suits your need.