It really is just like they say in that famous credit card commercial. Don't leave home without it. "It" in this case is your trusty camera. You can't take shots unless your camera is with you, and you'd be surprised what you miss when your camera is not by your side. Save yourself countless "gee, I wish I had my camera" moments, and just bring it with you!

If your full sized camera is too huge to bring with you everywhere, you may want to invest in a high quality point and shoot to keep with you in your purse or suitcase.

In the same vein of always having a camera with you, I recommend that anyone who is looking to become a serious photographer carry a spare camera with them when they go out on location. The real pros will carry two full Digital SLRs with them on most location shoots. Do you need to carry two $1000.00+ cameras with you at any given time? Likely not. Investing a couple of hundred dollars in a good quality backup point and shoot may let you capture memories that you would have missed if your main rig was damaged, lost, or simply out of batteries.

Remember that as life has its ups and downs, and your pictures should reflect this too! Shoot high, and shoot low. You can have an entirely different picture of your subject if you climb up a few steps of a staircase, or if you lie on your back at their feet.

Shooting from a high angle tends to minimize your subject, whereas shooting from a low angle will empower your subject. For a real blast, take a picture of a toddler from floor level!

Consider shooting through the branches of trees, and focusing on your subject beyond. Depending on the subject matter, this can create an air ranging from mischief to voyeurism. Experiment with this technique using a variety of people, places, and things.

Don't be afraid to get right next to your subjects. If you're shooting a flower or an interesting bit of architecture, I can promise you that they won't get bashful if you take a few steps forward towards your goal.

The exception to this situation is if you are shooting a subject or model, respect the individual's personal space. Warn the individual if you are going to get uncomfortably close. At the bare minimum you'll save your model a few awkward steps backwards away from you.

Before you go on a shoot, there are some basic pieces of equipment that you might find useful to include in your camera bag.

• Lens Pen and Brush - You can usually find these in a single great combo piece. Invaluable for quick touch-ups to your lens in the field.
• Hurricane Blower - Think turkey baster with narrower opening. These are great for blowing dust out of viewfinders, and cleaning dusty contacts.
• Spare Batteries - Carry enough battery power with you for a shoot double the length of the one you're about to start. You'll THANK me for that one later. First time you run out of battery on a shoot, you'll never be understocked again.
• Great big plastic bag. I would even carry this one on your person if doing wilderness shoots. It can be great on-the-spot protection against the weather for your equipment .

Unless you are one of those digital photographers who is blessed with a pretty cool notebook to boot, you will want to invest as much money into memory as you can for your camera. That 4GB card you got with your camera seems pretty big, but when you start shooting RAW files with Large Fine JPG backups, your 4GB card can become 130 shots. If you are in a position to offload your camera every 130 shots onto a notebook or portable hard drive you would still do well to carry a few spare gigabytes of memory with you.

The process by which your camera, or you, take three photos of the same subject instead of one. Image 1 will be under exposed by a certain amount (usually an F-stop or two), one will be properly exposed, and the other will be over exposed (again, usually by an F-stop or two). This will allow you to get a perfect exposure most of the time by creating three possible images. The extra image exposures can be turned into HDR (High Dynamic Range) images which are simply wild!

FYF! Fill Your Frame was another rule that was drilled into me by my Uncle Bernie.

The easiest way to explain the Fill Your Frame rule is that you should make sure that you are taking a picture of what you are taking a picture of!

If your focus is your family members in front of your house, you don't need to shoot the whole house. Frame your image around your subject, and forget the rest. On the flip side, if you are shooting the house itself forget the sky above it or items to the side.

There are times when you may want to break this rule. If your picture has been taken solely to highlight the size of something, you would be well within your rights to frame around the object, but leave a person or other object in frame for scale.

As well, if you are taking a picture of a dramatic sky, you often have no choice but to frame the image with articles in the foreground. There are exceptions to every rule!

Poor framing plagues the picture above. Fully 2/3rds of the picture is empty space. A roof can be seen above the subject's head, serving no purpose in the image.

When shooting a dramatic sky, feel free to bend the rules a bit!

This image illustrates far more effective framing. The entire subject is visible, and there is no wasted space. The lake serves as a nice, unobtrusive background.

Hardly a new concept in visual arts, the Rule of Thirds was published as early as 1797 in reference to the layout of scenic oil paintings. Here's how it works:

When you look through your viewfinder, or at your preview window, picture the image divided into nine boxes by two equally spaced horizontal and vertical lines. You should try to put the "interesting" parts of your image in line with, or at the intersections of, these imaginary lines.

Some of today's digital cameras have this feature built in, so you can see the rule-of-thirds lines super-imposed right over your image.

My personal experience is that I need to take 10 images before I get one that really pops. You should take as many images of your subject as you can. Because photography is a science of milliseconds, your subject, and the areas surrounding your subject are constantly changing. By taking as many images as you can of the same subject, you increase your chances of having a "winning shot".

These days, in the world of digital photography and live-previews, a not often used trick is to get a piece of cardboard, cut a 4" x 6" hole in it, and use it to observe your world. Once you find a view through your cardboard that you like, put down your cardboard, and pull out your camera!

We've included a template if you'd like to make your own frame.

A tip that was given to me by my Uncle Bernie involves getting a hoop of some sort (he had recommended rounding out a clothes hanger), and throwing it into a field. When it lands, step into the hoop and take 10 interesting pictures. Once you finish in the hoop, pick it up and give it a throw again!

Sometimes when I'm shooting certain buildings or bits of landscape, I like to take a shot from high above looking down on a particular part of the scene, and then go down to the place I just photographed, and shoot back up at my former position. I feel that it creates a better understanding for where you are when you shoot.

Babies: This should be a straightforward one for most new mothers, but springtime finds many new babies of other species being born as well. Keep your eyes open for all sorts of baby animals. Feel free to take pictures of the new baby humans too. You may find many an eager new proud mother willing to let you aim your camera at the new additions of their family.

Distract your human baby subject with one of their favorite toys. Mom will be able to help you choose the best one.

April Showers: Take a crack at shooting some images in the rain. Grab your umbrella, and go wild! I personally wouldn't attempt to go shooting in anything stronger than a light rain, especially if your camera isn't weather sealed. All but the most expensive cameras are not weather sealed, so be extra careful and keep a plastic bag with you in case things get out of control.

I have used my Columbia rain jacket as an impromptu rain cover for my camera in the past. This particular jacket had a Velcro adjustable sleeve opening. Admittedly I must have looked silly sticking my head inside of a rain jacket, but I'm comfortable looking a little silly to get a great shot. :)

May Flowers: What does all of that rain bring? Yes New growth in the way of flowers and foliage returning to gardens and trees all around. Soon enough you will feel overwhelmed by all of the opportunities to shoot the greenery around you.

Have fun with it! You don't have to visit a big private estate garden either. Sometimes a walk through your local conservation area will yield many opportunities to shoot wild flowers. Maybe some of your neighbours have a freshly emerging rose garden that you can aim a camera at?

Snow Snow Snow: Winter usually brings us a surplus of snowy goodness, and this will be a stellar opportunity for you to capture the beauty of a fresh snowfall. After a good snowfall, you'll want to rise early to catch your snowy subject free of foot prints.

My recommendation would be to shoot fast with the sun at your back. Snow is VERY bright to your camera. Grab a high F-stop, a fast exposure speed, and snap away.

Time Exposures: As any of you who follow my work may have noticed, I do enjoy my long exposure photography. Winter is a great time to try this technique out. Grab a tripod, dress warmly, and get outside. Night time is the best time for these techniques, unless you have some serious neutral density filters.

Something that would be lovely to try, but I haven't had the chance to try myself yet would be a time-exposure in a snowfall. I imagine it would do lovely soft things to the resulting images.

Fun in the Snow: Do you have kids of your own, nieces, nephews, little brothers or sisters? If so, grab your camera, grab the kids, and go outside! Go tobogganing, build a snow fort, or simply have a snowball fight. This is also an excellent excuse for a waterproof cover to be added to your equipment list!

Like shooting landscapes in the snow, you'll want to shoot fast to freeze the action, and again with the sun to your back. Be mindful of your shadow if you are close to the action.