A lot of people look at their photographs and compare them to all of the hundreds of others that we see daily on Instagram, Facebook and plenty of other social media and Professional photographers websites and whilst it's fine to look at other peoples work for inspiration, comparing your photos to theirs can have the adverse affect if you're not careful. It can start to make you think that maybe you're not good enough and that you can't compete with these people and eventually you pick your camera up less and less until you realise you haven't taken a photo for months.....

If you can't get out, or have limited time, then try something different, I mean if you usually take landscape images try something very different , grab a bunch of flowers in the house, try some macro shots of the flowers, use the light from a window - and if it is too harsh for you, then soften it with some soft, thin fabric at the window if need be.

If that doesn't inspire you then why not try revisiting some old images from a trip somewhere, have a look at the RAW/Original images again and see if you would process them any differently to how you did the first time around.

If you're looking for inspiration look on Instagram, but don't compare your work to other peoples. If there is somewhere you can go locally to take photos, then why not Google the place first, look at the images others have taken and try and look for a new or different viewpoint.

The Idea really is to put yourself outside of your usual comfort zone with the subjects that you take and try something completely new, birds in flight can often be a real challenge for people, so if that's something you've never tried, get yourself down to your nearest patch of water and have a go, with whatever flies passed. The main trick if there are a lot of birds- is to pick one and stay with it.

pelican in flightpelican in flight

A fast shutter speed - higher ISO if you need to let more light in, and pan with the bird to keep the bird sharp in focus.

pelican in flightpelican in flight

Don't give up if you don't get great results the first time, keep trying, challenge yourself to get it right.

If you've never tried wildlife photography and you can't afford a safari or wildlife trip to Alaska or Canada, then why not just take yourself off to your local safari park for a couple of hours and see if you can great some great animal portraits - take a long lens with you though as you can't always get that close to the animals. Remember - set yourself a challenge and don't give up on it until you have achieved a few results that you are happy with.

galapagos tortoiseclose up of tortoise face

If you would like any one to one training, I offer half day and full day sessions, so please just get in touch.

Otherwise watch out for the next set of top tips and ideas coming at the end of the week.