8 tips and tricks that save you time with your photography

Most of us would love to spend more time taking photographs, but work and everyday life often gets in the way. However, if you follow these tips you’ll become more effective, take better shots and make more use of the time you have available for photography.

1. Clean your camera’s sensor
Rather than spending time cloning out dust marks, clean your camera’s sensor. With a little practice you’ll find it only takes a minute or two to wipe the sensor clean with a swab, whereas cloning out marks from hundreds of images can add up to take a lot longer. Reach for your cleaning kit as you spot a speck.

SEE MORE: Don’t bide the dust: a perfectly safe guide to sensor cleaning

2. Use shutter or aperture priority mode
Taking the step up from using fully automatic or one of the scene modes can seem a bit daunting at first, but it’s the path to taking control and creating the images that you want rather than producing the shots that your camera thinks you want.

With time you’ll find that you’re confident enough to start using manual exposure mode and you are in complete control.

The first step when you start using the semi-automatic options (shutter and aperture priority) is to weigh-up what’s the most important aspect to control.

In shutter priority mode you set the shutter speed while the camera determines the aperture, which makes it the best option when you want to control how sharp or blurred subject movement is.

In aperture priority mode you set the aperture and the camera sets the shutter speed, it’s the option to use when depth of field control is most important.

SEE MORE: How to use a camera: exposure modes made simple

3. Use a lens hood
Lots of photographers go to the bother of attaching a lens hood to their lens, but for some reason when they take a shot they leave it in the stored position extending up the barrel. It should be turned around to extend beyond the front element to provide shade from side lighting or low sunlight which can cause flare, reducing contrast and adding hotspots.

A lens hood is also very useful when it’s drizzling as it protects the front elements from spots of water, enabling sharper images without any smudged areas caused by water droplets.

SEE MORE: Best superzoom lens for travel: 8 lightweight optics tested and rated

4. Set the AF point
If you let your camera set the autofocus point for you it’s time to find out how to do it yourself. You may need to check the manual to find the menu option that you need, but it’s often called something like single-point or (conversely) multi-point AF mode.

Once the correct option has been set it’s usually necessary to press a button to activate AF point selection mode and then use the navigation keys to move the active point until it overlies the main subject in your composition.

Some cameras have a dedicated controller like a mini joystick or navigation pad that allows you to set AF point without having to press a button beforehand. If you’re using a camera with a touchscreen, you can set the AF point just by tapping the screen.

Once you start setting the AF point you’ll find that you have more images where the subject that you are interested in is sharp.

SEE MORE: Master your camera’s autofocus: which AF points to use and when to use them

5. Use live view when focusing manually
Although most modern cameras have fast, accurate autofocus systems, they can struggle in some situations and you’re better off focusing manually. Very close or macro subjects can be especially challenging for AF systems, for example.

They also struggle when there’s something between the lens and the subject, grass or foliage waving in a breeze is a typical example that cause an automatic focusing system to adjust focus backwards and forwards., making manual focus a better option.

If you’re using an SLR and you need to focus manually, it’s well worth activating the Live View system so that you can compose the image on the screen on the back of the camera.

Compact system cameras work in permanent live view and it’s very beneficial when you’re focusing manually because you can magnify the most important part of the scene to make sure that you’ve got the focus exactly right.

SEE MORE: Live View: 7 Do’s and 3 absolute Don’ts every photographer should remember

6. Take a spot-meter reading
While general-purpose metering systems, usually know as matrix, evaluative, mulit-zone or multiple metering are very good for lots of situations, they can struggle in high contrast situations and when subjects are back-lit.

If you anticipate that your camera will have an issue with a particular scene use the spot meter function to take a reading from a mid tone area, or an area that you want to be rendered a mid tone instead of the standard metering system.

Once you’ve set the metering to ‘spot’ you just need to position the metering spot over the area you want to be a mid-tone and half-press the shutter release or press the auto exposure lock button (see the next point for more information) to take a reading and set the suggested exposure values before taking the shot.

If there area that you want to spot-meter from isn’t large enough in the frame to fill the metering area, move closer or zoom in until it is. If you move very close make sure that you don’t cast a shadow on the target area as this will give you a false reading.

SEE MORE: When to use spot metering

7. Lock the exposure
Most cameras have an auto exposure lock button that’s marked AE or AEL. This is a useful control that combines well with spotmetering because pressing it locks the exposure settings for a few seconds giving you time to compose the image and take the shot.

Some cameras have an option to set the AE to lock the exposure until it is pressed a second time which can be useful if you have to wait for your subject to get into the desired position.

SEE MORE: How to always get exposure right – your camera’s exposure settings explained

8. Be prepared
Before you head out with your camera, pause for a moment and consider the conditions that you will be in and set exposure settings that are likely to be suitable so you are ready to shoot as soon as you encounter an interesting subject.

If you set the camera to manual exposure mode, sensitivity to automatic, aperture to f/8 and shutter speed of 1/125 sec, you will be ready to shoot a wide range of subjects in normal daylight conditions.

An aperture of f/8 gives reasonable depth of field that doesn’t demand very high sensitivity settings and a shutter speed of 1/125 sec should freeze anything moving at walking pace.

Using the automatic sensitivity setting means that although you are shooting in manual exposure mode and have control over shutter speed and aperture, the camera actually controls exposure and most instances the evaluative, matrix or multi-zone metering system will ensure a good exposure.

Many cameras allow a maximum sensitivity value and minimum shutter speed to be used in auto sensitivity mode. This is useful, making aperture priority a good option because you have control over aperture (and therefore depth of field) and can adjust the value knowing that the camera will always set a safe shutter speed and that images won’t be excessively noisy.

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