Take better photos. Start with the camera you have.

I see a lot of cameras at weddings (from professional cameras on AUTO to grandmas with iPads), and get asked a lot what setting they should be using the camera on. I observe guests taking selfies spinning in circles trying desperately to find the right light, or (and these ones are my favourite) Great Uncle Bob capturing images over my shoulder with their iPhone while grumbling (outloud) why their image doesn't look quite like mine does.

This year I have taken on a couple of clients who have asked me to teach them the basics of photography, so I thought I would post some tips and tricks once a week for you to all follow along! We will even have a challenge at the end of each month.

Tip One - Start with the camera you have

This sounds obvious, but you are probably holding a camera in your hand right now and if you apply simple photography rules to you photos you will be taking wall worthy shots of your friends and family in no time!

The shot above was taken of my son with my iPhone at Brighton Pier in the UK on a family holiday, I had deliberately left my professional cameras at home in Australia as I wanted to be present with my kids in the moment. I am hopeless when I have my big cameras, I can lose track of time and place completely.

I used the touch focus on the in-phone camera to focus on the non-moving centre of the carousel so that as the horses moved past it created the blur. Once we returned home to Australia I designed and printed an album with the images taken on my phone and was super happy with the results (the images printed up to about 8x8 inches with no problem).

So pull the iPhone out of your pocket, switch the camera out of selfie mode and start looking at the world around you. How can you capture the small moments in your day with the camera you have?!

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