YOU ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANY PICTURE

No shot is worth risking your safety when dealing with animals. Stay in the car if there is a bear or a buffalo on the road. A wild animal's reaction to your presence is unpredictable and even if they look so docile you feel you could walk up and pet them, remember, they can hurt and even kill you. Don't ever follow a dangerous animal into the woods because you didn't get its picture. You wouldn't dive into an alligator pool, and for the same reason, you shouldn't follow behind a cougar or a moose. And please don't pet a porcupine. 

PATIENCE

After the word "safety," the next three important words that govern animal photography are patience, patience and patience. Photography is like fishing in this regard. You often have to wait a long time in the right place to catch the best ones.

Patience applies equally when photographing pet and domestic animals. They sometimes seem to have a knack for being uncooperative when you bring out your camera. Keeping calm and taking things one step at a time often helps the animal to relax. 

We love to see ourselves in pictures. Probably more than 90% of the photographs in the average photo album are people pictures, not just images that have people in them, but photos where the actual subject is one or more persons.

Sure, pictures of pet can be appealing, superb landscapes can take our breath away and undersea images can capture our imagination, but people pictures are in a class of their own.

PICTURES OF PEOPLE SHOULD SAY SOMETHING

This section of photographytips.com contains tons of information on taking people pictures, from improving the family snapshot to making a formal portait. In every case, good people pictures convey a message. The message can fall into one of several categories. Your picture can, for instance, tell a story, show relationships or provide inspiration. Without a message, a photograph lacks interest. It says nothing, and therefore it gives nothing to the viewer. 

In most cases, conveying a message is not that difficult. You simply have to think before you click the shutter. Ask yourself what you want your picture to say. Once you have defined it, you are then able to figure out how best to capture it on film. Occasionally, you will see it before you in a candid shot, as with the picture on the right of this family, and will have to capture it quickly before it is interrupted.

Even the most common of pictures - a child’s school or sportsparticipation picture, for instance - should have a message. 

The objective of many plant photographers is to shoot their subjects in the completely natural state in which they are found, without providing Mother Nature with any assistance whatever, not even to move a twig or leaf, or to remove an offending item from the background.

Other photographers do whatever it takes to make the best possible picture of their flora subject, even if it means artificially altering all the natural conditions of the plant or its habitat. 

Most of us fall somewhere between the two opposing philosophies, we want our images to show the natural features of the plant under the most esthetically-pleasing conditions, but we don't want to have unnatural-looking pictures, and we don't want to change Mother Nature.

If there is a fast food restaurant wrapper in the foreground, we'll pick it up so it doesn't appear in our picture (and because it should be picked up anyway). If there is a tree branch in the way of the best composition, we won't lop it off for the sake of a photograph. 

• Take plenty of pictures. You don't want to return home and try to describe a wonderful scene or event that you could have photogaphed if you had planned to shoot generously.
• If you are planning to share your adventures while you're on the road, send your most representative pictures to friends and family by email or upload them to a photo-sharing website. Be selective, though, and don't overdo it. People will enjoy seeing two or three great pictures much more than 30 or 40 shots of everything you encountered.
• If you are traveling in a group, each member should bring their own camera, even when one person has agreed to take on the role of principal photographer. You would be surprised at how individuals see photographic subjects in different ways.
• When photographing an exciting or funny event, take the time every now and then to shoot behind you or beside you to show the reaction of others.
• When using a digital camera, take the time to review the shots you took that day, and delete those that are unsuitable.
• Be sure to take along plenty of film or several digital media cards. It's frustrating to come upon a must-photographscene, and discover that you're out of film or your cards are all full.
• Bring your battery charger along on your trip. Although you can usually charge batteries while they are in your camera, a separate charger permits you to use a second set of batteries while the first is being recharged.

• If you are undecided about whether to take a picture of an interesting scene that has caught your attention, just take it. You can always toss it out later if you don't like it. But, it's usually difficult to return at a later time to find the same circumstances.
• The same principle applies to photographs that you think may not turn out. It may seem too dark or too cloudy, for instance, or your subject may be in deep shade or moving quickly. But, go ahead and take the shot anyway. You will sometimes amaze yourself by how a tricky shot turns out better than you expected. Also, many photographs that have minor problems can be saved using digital editing software or in the darkroom. And, if it simply doesn't work, you know what to do...toss it out.