Photography tips

You can easily create a portable DIY light tent for outdoor flower photography. It shields your subjects from wind and rain, evens up the lighting and saves you from disturbing plants where they are growing.

Never heard of focus bracketing? It's allied to focus stacking, where you (or the camera) shoot a series of shots at slightly different focus points and combine them later for more depth of field than you could get with a single shot.

This is a good place to practice your wildlife photography skills before you take that once in a lifetime trip to the Serengeti. It starts with choosing the right lenses, but there's more to it than that.

Pets make perfect portrait subjects, and the rules are similar to those for human portraits, especially those of children – you need to get down to their level!

It's one of the oldest and simplest forms of photography, and doesn't even need a lens! Pinhole photography is easy – just make a tiny hole in your camera's body cap, set the camera to manual exposure, put it on a tripod and experiment with shutter speed.

Start by researching the best location, use the longest telephoto you can afford/carry, and learn your camera's autofocus modes before you start. Then you just need to practice, practice and practice your panning technique.

Professional street photographers have different interpretations of 'street photography'. Don't assume your own style has to conform with what others have done. It's your own unique 'eye' that's important.

Decide where you stand – both literally, as in the best locations for your work – and ethically. What is it that you want to say about your subjects and their world, and are you representing them fairly?

This is the advice from the legendary Martin Parr: “The basic theory is the more rubbish you take, the better the chances of a good photo emerging, so keep on taking the rubbish.”

Street photography needn't mean 'stolen' images and subterfuge, and many photographers may be uncomfortable with this. But you can also engage with your subjects, explain what you are doing and ask permission. You may learn something about their lives that you might never have imagined.