Like any of these lists these are just a few ideas that might help you develop your photography skills and your product. Better product = better profits ….. at least that’s the theory!

1. Really test your camera’s ISO capabilities. Some photographers are still a little fearful of going past that 800 mark. Experiment with high ISO in different situations…. it doesn’t have to be reserved for dark or poorly lit areas. How about mixing a little low powered flash in there too?
2. Stop cropping in camera. It’s a hard habit to get out of (especially for an ex-event photography like me) but there’s no real need for it. At the end of the day you’re only limiting the possibilities of your image if you make a decision about the cropping at the time you press the shutter. If you’re going to put the images in some sort of design then you’ve massively limited your design options.
   
3. Compose in triangles. It’s an old favourite but it makes sense. How does you eye travel around the images you’re viewing?  One technique is to squint (or if you wear glasses like me, take them off). Look at how the elements of the images are guiding you around.
4. There’s always a better angle or position than the one you’re in……….. in other words keep moving! Experiment with what different lenses give you at different angles and distances. A little distortion is fine once and a while but know how best to utilise it. With portraiture it’s very easy to use angles we’re comfortable with and to shoot very little else so keep adding to your repertoire. 
5. Impose limits. Have you tried shooting a whole wedding on a 50mm or just using natural lighting? This is perhaps not something to experiment with as a main shooter but if you’re assisting it’s something you might want to suggest. Have a look at this video from Kerry Garrison, he shot an entire wedding with a LensBaby Composer.
6. Appropriation. Also known as stealing ideas! Study other photographers images and try and work out how the lit or posed their subjects. What other techniques did they use? Try and re-create similar images yourself. You might not be creating the most original images in the world but they have a sense of familiarity. Remember when everyone started painting their studios white? It’s not really about copying images (see below) but gaining a little extra knowledge.
7. Shoot Less. It might take a little bit of discipline  and it really depends on what type of photography you do. But if you’re a wedding photography shooting 2000 frames try halving that number on your next commission. It’s not about reducing the coverage but getting each frame perfect without having to shoot bursts. After all, we didn’t shoot that much in the film days did we?
8. Develop a new signature shot. It doesn’t have to completely original (that’s far to hard to come by these day), but it does have to be something that you can easily repeat and that people can recognise as your style. We clients are looking at images on your studio wall or sample album and point out certain shots that they like make sure that these are the ones you develop. Doug Gordon is a big ambassador of ‘showing exactly what you’re going to shoot’. His flow posing technique means that he has over 150 signature shots. Not all of them are original but you can normally tell from a photographer’s portfolio who has been on his training course!
9. Look for inspiration outside your speciality. If you’re a wedding photography then why not study fashion photography or high end product imagery? In fact inspiration doesn’t have to come form the world of photography. There’s a few places o start in some of our posts during ‘inspiration week’ -The Old Masters and Film and TV are a great place to start.
10. Be able to shoot blindfolded. Learn to change your camera setting instinctually. Let the camera be an extension of your hand/eye so to speak. The same goes for what type of settings you’ll use in different situations. Know that if you walk out in a certain type of light you’re going to use 1/250 at f8 for example.  Once you can stop worrying about your equipment then you can concentrate on the more important and creative elements of the image creation process.