Do you want to be a better photographer?

Do your snaps never come out the way you want? Do you use the manual settings on your camera?

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I’m what you might call a keen, amateur photographer. I like taking photos. But they just never seemed to be like the professional photos. I could photograph the same scene or object, and they just looked crap.

So I upgraded my camera. I got a Cannon EOS 70D. It’s a really good camera. It takes awesome pictures. So there are no excuses. If the shot is crap it is because I didn’t do something right.

Fair enough.

And yet, my photos weren’t much better. So the problem must have been me.

Enter Mike Browne on YouTube.

I started working through his free online videos which explain how to use the camera to get good shots.

I really love his style of teaching. It’s informal, personable and very accessible. While he talks a lot about the cameras, lenses and settings, his big focus is on the photographer. How you take better photos.

I remember the moment it all clicked for me.

I was out tramping (hiking) and trying to get a photo of a trail through some trees. It just wasn’t working with my camera on auto or shutter priority (which is where it always was).

The image is too bright. The track was quite gloomy, with a mystical feel to it.

So in frustration I thought I’d try out manual mode. As I did that, a video I had recently watched started playing in my head, and I could hear Mike talking me through using the settings.

Better. It doesn’t look so washed out.

It worked!

The shot was not as fantastic as I wanted it, but it did look a lot better.

Since then, my camera sits on the manual setting all the time and I’ve got very comfortable taking shots using the settings to change the way the photo looks and works.

I’ve continued watching Mike’s videos to learn all about light and composition and all the fun and interesting things you can do with photography.

What’s also cool, is there is a video about taking photos just with a cellphone. Again his main point is that good photography is about the photographer not his / her equipment.

So if you’re frustrated by your shots, or you just want to delve a bit deeper into photography, but don’t want to be told ‘go and buy expensive gear’ then I can highly recommend checking out his YouTube channel.

Yes - he sells courses and makes his living from teaching photography. But there is a wealth of good quality free stuff on his channel.

No – I’m not affiliated with him in any way. I get no kickbacks or anything for this recommendation. I just appreciate the difference his tutorials have made to my photography, and want to share that knowledge in case it helps someone else also.

So go and check him out and if his tutorials help you at all, come back and leave a comment so I know this has helped people.