I'm gonna start with something everyone thinks they want to hear, but no one

actually wants to hear: Use the camera you already have. Every mainstream DSLR

and mirrorless made within the last 10 years is amazing.

You'll take better pictures if you master the camera you've already got,

rather than replacing it with something else. Now, you'd think that people

would like hearing that. Your camera is good! But what people like hearing even

more is, your camera sucks. Because then they can argue with someone, and they can

rally their team members who use the same camera, and it builds this group

camaraderie. So, I hate to break the news, but the camera that you've already got

is amazing. Spending your time researching new cameras, arguing about

brands... it will not improve your photography. If you're not taking the

photos that you want, it's because you're setting the camera incorrectly, or you

need to put more time into the creative side of things. And that's the key. Use

the camera that you've already got, and learn how to set everything correctly.

Number two. On the creative side of the equation, let's talk about light.

Different mood, right? The light in your photo is never neutral. It always says

something. Harsh light, harsh emotions. Gentle light, gentle emotions. What you

should always be doing is thinking about the light - and also thinking about how it

matches, or doesn't match, the emotions of your subject. It's the "Grand Unified

Theory of Photography." When the light and the subject have unified emotions, your

photography will be grand! Was that too much? It is true, though.

Here's a technical tip: Don't overexpose the highlights in your photo. That sounds

like it goes without saying, but what I mean is that if you have the choice

between overexposing the highlights and underexposing the shadows, it's much

better to underexpose the shadows. Because dark shadows, you can actually

recover surprisingly well. Blown-out highlights are just gone

forever. And that's perfectly fine if it's something like the Sun in your

photo, where you don't really need any highlight detail, but the rest of the

time, you've got to be really careful about them. Actually base the rest of

your exposure around preserving the highlights.

If you really want to improve your photography, you cannot just be on autopilot. You've

got to put thought into your photos. And that's both sides of the equation -

technical and creative. With your feet to the fire, is every single camera setting

correct? And the same goes for composition. Is there anything at all

that you can still improve? These are not quick questions to answer. That's why one

of my biggest recommendations is to slow things down.

Maybe you can't, if you're doing something like sports photography, but

there's a direct relationship between taking your time to get everything right

and taking better pictures.

Okay, what about using a tripod? When is that going to be

a good idea? Well, I would say if your subject isn't moving, almost always.

Even if your subject *is* moving, you should still weigh the benefits of a

tripod before you leave it at home. And this is not just about image quality,

either - although you will definitely get better image quality when you use a

tripod. It's also about, previous tip, taking your time. You have a much better

starting point to work from when your camera is on a tripod. You can set one

composition, and then change minor things about it without a problem.

Personally, nine times out of ten, I would pick an entry-level DSLR with a tripod

over the best camera on the market without one. Next up, when is the best

time to use a flash? Maybe when it's dark, or you're doing some clever studio

lighting, or maybe when you're in the back row of a concert. That one's wrong. I

would argue that the best time to use a flash, especially the built-in flash on

your camera, is on a bright sunny day. It's called "fill flash." What it does is

get rid of those harsh shadows. I use it a lot in macro photography because it's

very common for the subject to have some dark shadows on it. And then fill flash

is also really, really helpful for outdoor portrait photography. So, just

because it's sunny outside does not mean that you should put your flash away. A

lot of times, it's actually the exact opposite. Okay, this is something that I

run into a lot as a landscape photographer - the scene in front of me is

amazing, and I get so wrapped up in it that I just don't pay attention to

anything else. So this next tip has really helped me out,

many, many times: Look behind you. Not right now - I mean, unless you feel a creeping sense

that someone's watching you - I'm talking about when you're out taking pictures. I

was in the middle of taking these photos when I realized that there was a rainbow

behind me. I ran to a spot that I'd scouted out

earlier, and I managed to take this landscape photo. Definitely would have

missed this if I hadn't turned around.

A landscape photo is nice. So is a bird

photo, or a portrait photo. But are any of them really successful on their own? The

best photos aren't just nice. They tell a story. So, which one sounds more

interesting to you - a photo taken of sand dunes on a nice day, or the same

composition as a sand storm approaches and turns everything into a crazy

nightmare? That's why you should capture your subject doing something. Even

something minor, like showing a slight smile or jumping over a puddle. Or, for

landscape photographers, try to capture your *scene* telling a story - like the

sandstorm example, or an amazing cloud overhead. Either way, photography is all

about the story. Keep that in mind.

Here's another tip about camera gear: Keep the

front of your lens clean. It's very basic, but it's also genuinely weird how often

I see photographers who have just the dirtiest possible front element. And, in

the same category as a dirty lens, is a low-quality filter. They will really

damage your image quality. Geez, this sounds like an advertisement for a filter

company. I'm not trying to sell you anything! I just want you to improve your

photography. Personally, I never use any UV filter (or clear filter) at all, except

in cases where I also need protective eyewear for whatever I'm photographing. I

used to use a cheap UV filter when I was starting out, and I ruined a couple of

good photos that way, so don't make the same mistake.

Number ten: Move your feet.

because sitting too long is bad for you. Also, this applies to photography. When

you're out taking pictures, a lot of people's first instinct is to set up the

tripod, set up the camera. Or, just hold the camera up to your eye and take a

picture. But you can do way better than that. You've got to move around. Stand

back from your subject; get up close. Move the camera from eye level to, like, knee

level. Seriously, you'll get better pictures if you find

the perfect position for your camera, and then match the tripod to that position -

not the other way around.

Once you've taken the photo, you still have work to

do. It's not as fancy as everything else, but editing your pictures is a big deal.

It helps you guide your viewer's eye through the photo and also capture the

right emotions. And it's really easy to overdo post-processing. I highly

recommend being subtle about it - but if that's not your style, at least make sure

that none of your edits are permanent! "Save As" rather than "Save" your photos. Or,

better yet, do your post-processing in non-destructive software like Capture One

or Lightroom. That way, you're storing all your edits in a separate file rather

than baking them onto the image.

One of the most important parts of becoming a

better photographer is to organize and back up your photos with a good system.

You don't own your photos. Chaos owns your photos. The moment that you turn your

back, the universe will conspire to delete every picture that you've ever

taken. Here's a test - do any of your photos have the same file

name, number one? And if your house burns down, God forbid, would you lose all your

photos? The answer to both of those questions should be, "No, of course not, are

you crazy?!" Unfortunately, that's not the answer that

I hear most of the time. And that's really one of the biggest differences

that I see between professional and amateur photographers: how they deal with

their data.

Every photographer out there has some weak points. Doesn't matter how

good you are - there's always something that you can improve. And that's a good

thing! But you've got to avoid working around your weak points. Instead, barrel

straight through them. A couple examples. If you're trying to wrap your head

around camera settings, you should never fall back and use automatic mode. Or, if

you just can't make the light from your flash look natural, don't chicken out

and take all your portraits next to a window. Instead, put the time into

learning what you don't understand. Not always easy, but you won't learn anything

if all you do is work around your weak points.

Next up, look back through your

old photos. If you just watched the previous tip, and you couldn't come up

with any weak points, here's a really good spot to find them. Because everyone

takes some photos that they don't like. On average, why do

your unsuccessful photos not work? Is it exposure, focus, composition?

Whatever it is, that's useful information. Also, going through your old photos is

great just because you'll find some good ones that you totally overlooked earlier.

I didn't notice this photo the first time around, and now it's one that I

really like. Every single photographer that I know has the exact same story.

The big, gigantic secret of photography is practice. Practice the things you don't

understand, and practice the things that you do.

That's how you get better at anything, not just photography. So, close out of

YouTube. Geez, the algorithm's gonna kill this video if I say that. Leave YouTube

running in the background. Go outside. Take some pictures. Sure, keep these tips

in mind - they're very good! But fundamentally, that is how you're going

to improve your photography.