Richard Kilpatrick shares his 20 top tips for people getting into photography. These range for the best times to shoot to understanding the benefits of RAW.

1. Know your camera. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is not taking time to learn about the features of your camera; some models will have useful functions within the menus. Know your lenses too; find out where they offer the best clarity by experimenting.
2 – When shooting sunny outdoor shots, try adjusting your white balance setting from auto to cloudy. The auto setting will make your shots appear too cold. When you change it to cloudy, it will increase the warmth of your pictures.
3 – If you are looking for superior image quality, the ability to use a large variety of lenses and print large high quality photos, then look towards DSLRs with larger photosites for a given sensor area – more megapixels is not necessarily going to deliver higher quality.
4 – Use your flash outdoors. Sometimes, even on a sunny day outdoors, there is still a need for a flash. If the sun is directly overhead or behind your subject, this can cause dark shadows to appear on the face. The flash will help lighten the subjects face.
5 – Sometimes simply turning your camera and taking vertical shots can make a world of difference. Experiment more with vertical picture taking.
6 – Do not put your subjects directly in the centre of your shot. Move your subject off centre to inject more life into your photos.
7 – Learn how to hold your digital camera. One of the most common problems beginners face is the shaking of the camera because they are not holding it properly. Of course, the best way to avoid shaking the camera is to use a tripod. If you don’t have a tripod, then you should be holding your camera with two hands. Put one hand on the right hand side of your camera where you actually snap the photo and the other hand will support the weight of your camera. Depending on the camera, your left hand will either be positioned on the bottom or around your lens.
8 – Learn about the “Rule of Thirds”. This is a well-known principle of photographic composition that every beginner should become familiar with. Do a search online and you will find many tutorials on this subject.
9 – Look at other photographers work. Just spending time studying the work of other photographers can provide loads of inspiration.
10 – Join online photography communities. Get active and ask questions, enter competitions and submit your images for critique.
11 – Do not compare your images with other people’s, only your last shot.
12 – Do not copy the work of other photographers. Try and develop your own unique style.
13 – Do not leave your batteries in your camera if you don’t plan on using your camera for long periods of time. Many cameras will drain the battery whilst it is sitting, and then you’ll find yourself unable to use it when you need to. Invest in spare batteries and chargers if your camera is mission critical.
14 – Subscribe to a good photography magazine or online forum. Read books on photography.
15 – Find experienced photographers to go out on shoots with.
16 – Post your photographs in online forums. Learn to accept criticism.
17 – Learn how to use RAW and JPEG formats depending on your camera’s capability and your intended use for the image. If you’re shooting for eBay or websites, use JPEG as your workflow will be faster; if you’re shooting for print or stock, shoot in the highest-quality RAW files and make sure you have an unsharpened, unretouched version saved as a starting point. If you want to use the files on other platforms look at exporting 16-bit TIFF or DNG files.
18 – Don’t buy the most expensive photography equipment right away. Practice and learn about photography using cheaper equipment first. After you have been taking pictures for a while, you will then know what kind of equipment you will need. However, do try higher end lenses if you’re unhappy with the technical quality of your results.
19 – Invest in a tripod. Some of us have very shaky hands. If you can’t stop the shakes, then get a tripod. It will make a world of difference. Choosing your tripod can make a lot of difference to how prepared you are to use it – if you have a quick-release base and a lightweight tripod, you’ll find yourself bringing it along on the offchance you might need it. Models like Gitzo’s “Traveller” range will be unobtrusive.
20 – If you are not able to carry your equipment with you everywhere, make sure you have a note pad handy. This way if you find a nice shot, you can write it down and visit that location at a later date. When shooting, if you make geographical notes or use the camera’s voice memo functions, you can make your stock shots more marketable by adding accurate tags and dates; some models of camera now offer GPS data as well.