So as I sit here in my cosy room at eleven thirty at night not a mere fourteen days till exams, it begins to dawn on me that I’m supposed to be taking photos tomorrow evening. Instead of getting ready or at least doing something productive, I decide to finish my episode of Junior Apprentice on iplayer and start writing this.

Now the idea goes like this: As I finish writing about a step, I carry out that step and by the end of this both you and I will be ready to go! This way, I’m being doubly as productive.

Tristan’s guide to getting ready:

Start Time: 11.04pm

Step 1) Confirm you still have the job with the organizers or whoever contacted you.
Step 2) Put on some pumping music so you can dance whilst you get ready.
Step 3) Put your camera battery on charge. A half empty battery is just never acceptable (why yes, I am a pessimist).
Step 4) Wipe all your lenses down, no smudges to photoshop out for me please!
Step 5) Check, then double check, then triple check and finally quadruple check your dioptre is perfect on the viewfinder. There’s everything wrong with autofocusing, but there’s no harm in being prepared to use the inevitable.
Step 6) I’ve just realised that you can’t check the dioptre or focus when the battery isn’t even in the camera. So step 6 is putting the battery back into the camera. And Re-doing Step 5)
Step 7) Shit! Just realised, the Junior Apprentice final is on now! So go Watch that.
Step 8 ) Dress Appropriately! Make sure you dress well for any occasion. No excuse for not wearing a jacket!

Now, I seem to have forgotten about this at some point because it’s now early morning and I have no recollection of where the past 9 hours have gone…

A TED talk from Jonathan Klein, co-founder and CEO of Getty Images, talks about how photographs do more than just document history. They make it.

“The truth is that we know that the images themselves don’t change the world, but we’re also aware that, since the beginning of photography, images have provoked reactions in people, and those reactions have caused change to happen.”

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Pro Tips

Peter van Agtmael
Photojournalist

1. Study photographers from a range of disciplines. There’s a lot to learn and labels are silly and limiting.

2. Shoot constantly. Make sure you really love it and are willing to make a lot of sacrifices.

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Pro Tips

Simon Roberts
Documentary Photographer

1. Do your research and become a mini-expert on your chosen subject.

2. Seek out mentors whose opinions you trust and have them regularly edit and critique your work.

3. Be patient.

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Pro Tips

Jonas Bendiksen
Documentary Photographer

1. Find photographic topics you feel truly passionate about.

2. Move around a lot – don’t be afraid of trying new ways of seeing.

3. Talk to a lot of people, all of the time.

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Pro Tips

Morgan Silk
Advertising Photographer

1. Mistakes do not necessarily mean failures… they’re a key part of learning so don’t be discouraged when things don’t work first time.

2. Try to travel light. This will encourage you to always take a camera out and about with you..

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Pro Tips

David Noton
Landscape Photographer

1. If an image still isn’t working, really think about why this is happening. Retaking the shot in different circumstances could work.

2. Never stop learning about the endless subtleties of light..

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Pro Tips

Bryan Adams
Portrait Photographer

1. Always make people feel like it’s their photo, not yours. There’s nothing worse than a pushy photographer.
2. If you can see something odd in camera, then adjust it at the time you’re taking the shot. In my view it’s better than relying on using Photoshop later.

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Pro Tips

Vincent Munier
Wildlife Photographer

1. You can’t rush nature photography and you really have to watch your subject for a long time in order to understand its behaviour.

2. Never disturb the animal or its habitat to get the shot.

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Understand the Basics

Understand how the basics of photography works, such as shutter speed, aperture and ISO, so that you can then us them to take better photographs.

A good place to start is understanding the “exposure triangle”.