Stay in touch on Twitter - find us on @Photocritic

Daniela Bowker

The Photocritic wedding photography styles guide

The Photocritic wedding photography styles guide

From formal to first look, we have a guide to all the different wedding photography styles you might (or might not) encounter on the quest to find the perfect wedding photographer.

How to photograph black cats (or any other black animal, as it happens)

How to photograph black cats (or any other black animal, as it happens)

Photographs of black animals can turn out as black blobs with eyes or fluffy grey clouds. Neither does them justice, but with a bit of forethought, you can have perfect portraits instead.

A lightning-fast introduction to lighting

A lightning-fast introduction to lighting

Having taken a look at exposure and composition, it's time to turn our attention to light and lighting in our short introduction to photography series. Here, we've broken down some of the terms that you're likely to encounter and given you some examples when it comes to natural light.

Composition in a nutshell

Composition in a nutshell

Photography is a collaboration of the technical with the creative. Once you've negotiated exposure, and how to manipulate light to paint your photos, it's time to think about composition, or how you construct your photos and place your subject or subjects within the frame to create an image.

What do we mean by exposure compensation?

What do we mean by exposure compensation?

For all that our cameras are capable of rendering the world in glorious Technicolor, their light meters are remarkably simple: they can only 'see' in shades of grey. When a light meter attempts to judge the correct exposure for a scene, it does so under the assumption that the scene's average brightness is middle grey (18% grey), which is exactly half-way between absolute black and bright white.

Exposure explained

Exposure explained

As a photographer one of the first things that you need to understand is exposure, or how to control light to create an image. If you're new to photography or have just picked up a camera with manual control for the first time, we suggest that you start here. Learning how to manipulate light to achieve the shots that you want is a life-long project, but these are the foundations.

My built-in flash is really harsh! Help!

My built-in flash is really harsh! Help!

New photographers are often admonished to disable their pop-up flashes and never engage them again. Sometimes, however, the light they provide is better than the alternative of no photo at all. If that's the case, how can you make the best of the situation?