PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS: Pursue your muse, be it rock stars or lizards

SHOOT: The great thing about photography is it allows you to spend time absorbing, paying attention to and soaking up with you love. It might be nature, or beauty or fashion.

If you'd like to book a shoot with me in Johannesburg email me at nickvanderleek@gmail.com

clipped from www.photoradar.com Be business-like – marketing is the other half of the story. Or hire someone to do the hustling! Choose subjects you’re passionate about. I decided I wanted to shoot motorsports when I was a teenager. Don’t be afraid to experiment in order to stand out from the crowd. Your work has to stand out. Follow your passion. You’ll do best shooting what you love, and I see this with my students. Never stop learning about the endless subtleties of light. Don’t follow trends or copy other people’s work. Think about creating images that look fantastic straight out of the camera, without relying on post-processing Photoshop enhancements. Choose your times – photograph at  first and last light. Always look for colour and how best to capture it. Listen to your inner voice... it’s usually right about everything. Try to travel light. This will encourage you to always take a camera out and about with you.. Learn to shoot against the light because this will give you the most atmospheric shots.

Photography tips to inspire you

You need to know when it’s the perfect time to take the shot. I try to use only natural light and avoid heavy digital enhancement.

SHOOT: At the link below are over 225 tips from 50 photographers. I am anothewr photographer who prefers to shoot in natural [ambient] light. Studio and design photography looks fake, because it is fake. I'm also constantly asking my models to come naked [as in without make-up] and more often than not I try to get them not to smile.

If you'd like to book a shoot with me email me: nickvanderleek@gmail.com

clipped from www.photoradar.com Born in Surrey in 1952, Martin Parr is one of the UK’s best-known documentary photographers. He studied (and taught) photography at Manchester Poly in the 1970s. Career highlights include an Arts Council Award in 1975, full membership of Magnum Photos and a retrospective at the Barbican in 2002. See Martin Parr's photos 1. Make sure people aren’t smiling. Otherwise you end up with a snapshot. 2. Move in closer when you’re taking people shots. 4. Then make sure people aren’t smiling again. This is the biggest error in portraits taken by amateurs. 5. For candid shots, just keep persevering. Your luck will come in the end. Be engaged with your subject, but at the same time be considerate – you are the guest. Think about combining the composition of the shot with the context of where you’re taking it. The two shouldn’t be separated. For my kind of work, I try to use natural light wherever possible. It’s more natural! Ask permission to get in close.