Top 10 ways to improve your photography

1. Read the light! Be aware at all times of how much light is falling on your subject, from what direction, how hard or soft it is, what colour it is and whether it's brighter or dimmer than the light falling on the rest of the scene. Learn to "squint" - scrunch up your eyes so you're almost looking through your eyelashes - it will give you a better idea of the contrast in the scene, i.e. the difference between the brightest and darkest areas.
2. Control the light! Once you understand the available lighting, take steps to control it to your advantage. Move your subject. Move yourself. Close a door. Open a door. Hang a white sheet over a window. Wait until that shadow gets longer. Come back the next morning. Do whatever you can to improve the lighting of a subject. Cameras don't make pictures: light does!
3. Move! Closer, further away, left, right, up, down, whatever! Without thinking about it, we all tend to take pictures from the standing position. Move around, crouch, lie down, stand on a chair, climb a step ladder - 9 times out of 10 you'll find a better shot than the one you were going to take.
4. Turn the camera! Whilst you're moving around to find the best shot, try turning the camera. Try upright (portrait). Try level (landscape). Try swivelling it to any crazy angle! Not every shot has to be "straight on, dead level"! Angling the camera can contribute to the composition and heighten the impact of many shots.
5. Fill the frame! Many people seem to be scared of filling the frame. Zoom in or move in! This is particularly effective when photographing people and is often what makes the difference between "a picture of Aunt Agnes" and "a portrait of Aunt Agnes".
6. Know your camera! Today's digital cameras, even the little pocket ones, are packed with interesting and useful features. Learn how to use all of them. Go out and deliberately take some pictures using features you have not used before. Knowing how they work will help you realise when to employ them to improve your pictures.
7. Take more shots! Digital pictures don't cost anything until you print them. So blast away! Click until your finger hurts! The more shots you take, the better you'll get. Don't take one picture of Aunt Agnes - take a hundred! This is one of the dark secrets of many professional photographers - it's not that they always take better pictures than you - just that you don't get to see their 99 rejects!
8. Develop a specialism! Few people can excel at everything they do, so don't dissipate your efforts over every branch and style of photography. This is like trying to learn 63 languages at the same time! Concentrate on one area. Obsess on it! Take thousands of pictures of that type/style/subject or whatever. You'll improve quickly, quicker than you could imagine! And, as if by magic, you'll find you've improved your skills in all the areas you're interested in, just by focusing on one of them!
9. Become a computer whizz! With digital photography, clicking the shutter is only half the job. The real fun starts on the computer: there's an infinite number of improvements, adjustments, corrections and variations available at the click of a mouse. You need to do more than just download and print your pictures. Learn how to tap the full potential of digital photography!
10. Copy other people's work! Yes, really! The best way to get to being able to take pictures like David Bailey is to choose some David Bailey pictures and try to copy them! Once you can do that, you can apply the skills you will have learned to your own, original work.