A few years ago my sister introduced my to the website "youarenotaphotographer.com". Occasionally I will peruse this page and cringe in pity at the photographs displayed here. While I can definitely admire the creative forethought that some of these photographers had before attempting to produce their latest and greatest works of art, there is a certain lack of technical skill, or perhaps just ignorance, that prohibits these photos from truly being great. (Although I will admit that some, ok... a lot of those ideas are just weird. And shouldn't be recreated. Ever.)

So I thought I'd put together a list of 5 habits and tips that I hope will prevent your photos from ever gracing the lofty feed of youarenotaphotographer.com:

1) If you have a DSLR, switch to manual mode right now. Yes, a LOT of your photos will probably look like crap at first. Yes, at first it will take you forever to get your settings figured out at the beginning of each shoot (and every time the lighting changes). Yes, you will be frustrated beyond all get out at first. DO IT ANYWAY. Hang in there and follow through until you've figured it out. If you really want to take your photography to the next level, shooting in auto mode will never get you there. There is no better way to learn the basics of exposure and lighting, than manually controlling it yourself.

As I side note, I'm not going to lie to you and say that I never shoot in auto mode. I do on occasion. HOWEVER, I only do so when I know the camera will be able to expose the photo how I want it, and that knowledge only comes after learning HOW your camera works. Shooting in manual teaches you this. Do not skip out on this! There is a reason I made this the number one piece of advice I am sharing with you. SWITCH TO MANUAL MODE.

2) Study. Study composition. Study color. Study style. When you're looking at a photographers work that you like, don't just look. Study! Where are they placing the subject in the frame? What colors do they tend to use in their photos? What poses are they using? What angle are they taking the photo from? You simply are not going to get results if you frame the model the same way you always do, with the same poses, and the same lighting, no matter how much you hope to get a different result. It's just not going to happen.

3) Nail your focus. There are a few telltale signs that someone is a beginner, and out of focus pictures are one of the primary giveaways. If you are struggling to get your focus right, my suggestion is to first read your camera manual. Sometimes it's just a simple matter of not understanding how your camera focuses. Other times it's simply the difference of having the optimal focus settings turned on in your camera for your style of shooting. If you are still struggling, try switching to manual mode. Don't be afraid to switch to manual focus. 100% of my portrait work is manual focus right now. One hundred percent.  For me personally, I prefer it this way. If I was a child photographer, I'd probably shoot in auto mode, as you simply do not have the time to manually focus AND chase children around at the same time. My subjects are stationary, I can afford to take a little bit of time to set up my focus EXACTLY how I want it.

4) Don't buy the latest and greatest gear just because you can get a halfway decent photo out of your existing camera. Better gear does not equal better photos! Get the basics down first (exposure, composition, focus) and then start producing great photos. When you are consistently creating excellent photos straight out of camera (meaning you didn't have to Photoshop the heck out of them in order for them to look good), and find yourself feeling held back by what your CAMERA can't do, not by what YOU can't do, then is a good time to start looking to upgrade.

So what gear should you be using? If you want to get into portrait photography, my recommendation would be to get a nice beginners dslr, such as the Nikon D3200 or D3100, or whatever the Canon equivalent is (obviously I shoot Nikon), and a 50mm lens. And stop there. If you get the camera body with a kit lens, use the kit lens for landscape photography. Yes, if you make a concerted effort, you will most definitely outgrow the camera body and the kit lens fairly quickly, but these are good places to start. The beauty of the 50mm lens is that you can ALWAYS use it on many different camera bodies and still see differences (and hopefully) improvements from camera body to camera body. I just upgraded my camera body last month and still fully intend on using the same 50mm I bought five years ago. To better prove my point, here's two photos I took, several years apart (the first is from 2010, the second from 2013). Despite using the same lens, there is a huge improvement in my work (at least I hope there is)!

5) DON'T OVER-EDIT! I know it's super fun to push the "color pop" button, or to see how bright you can get the prom-goers' dresses, but please, just don't do it! Mastery is in the subtleties!

And for heaven's sake, don't do selective color! I can tell you right now, before I've even seen your fancy red umbrella taking center stage in your fancy black and white photograph, that it's a bad idea. If it isn't dating your photo already, it will in a few years... in a few months... who am I kidding? I'll be up front about this: it dates your photo the second you push that selective color button. Just don't!

And while I would TOTALLY recommend sharpening a smidgen to give your photos a little crispness, you don't need an overpixelated, super texture-ified rendition of your greatest portrait work to date. Again:

DON'T OVER-EDIT!

The vast majority of the time, when I edit, I don't even touch the saturation slider, and all of my other adjustments are made just a SMIDGE one way or the other.Trust me, minor adjustments go a long way.

And there you have it. My five tips to a better you! Or at the very least a better you as a photographer. Hopefully I didn't hurt too many people's feelings, and have helped a lot more on their way to photo greatness! I firmly believe that everyone has a creative talent, it's just a matter of repeated trials and (hopefully) fewer errors. So take my advice for what you will (meaning you really should heed it), and get out there and create!