You been there before. You go on holidays and take lots of photos of all those stunning sights and the wonderful places you went to. But you get home, you look at your photos and you’re always disappointed. They look lifeless and dull and ordinary.

They just don’t convey anything of what you wanted to convey when you took them. That sunset just isn’t there. That extra special light that you wanted to capture just seems to have disappeared. That special smile on your girlfriends face looks more like a grimace.

It’s not that you’ve done anything dumb like putting your thumb on the lens, you know better than that. You’ve invested in a good camera, you’ve spent some time learning how it works, and you really thought that you ought to be taking good photos now.

But every time you look at your photos you’re disappointed in the result and wonder why you aren’t taking better photos. They just don’t convey what you wanted them to convey.

Sometimes it may be just a little step from taking average, or poor, photos, to taking good photos. You don’t need to spend years studying photography at College, you just need to learn some simple things that every professional photographer already knows.

Like how to go about composing a good photo. How to use the light to best advantage. How to take some good photos of people. How to take pets, and outdoors. How to use a tripod. How to use your flash properly.

Modern cameras are excellent. They are manufactured to take good photos, but it isn’t sufficient to just point and shoot as the ads seem to say. You still need to know some photography basics. There is no camera in the world that will take great photos guaranteed, every time, if all you do is to point and shoot.

I’m sure that if they could build one they would, but to date the technology doesn’t exist to build a camera that will take great photos regardless of the skills of the person behind the lens. Even with the technology behind great digital cameras you still need to learn some basic photography skills to take good photos each time.

It’s not that hard to learn, it takes a little practice, but if you enjoy your photography you’ll love practicing. It’s just a matter of learning some of the secrets of the pros, practicing them and applying them.

You’ll go on holidays next time feeling confident with good reason. You’ll be able to be confident to hand them around to your friends and you might even find them asking you for some good photography tips.

And your girlfriend will be smiling, both in the photos, and when she sees them.

I’ve got a book about how to take good photos, get it on my website.