Summer's here! At least it was when this guide went to press, though anything could have happened in the few days since. Still, the holiday season is definitely upon us, so here are a few dos (and one don't) to help you take better photographs, whether you're using a £1,000 SLR, a £100 point-and-shoot, or the camera built into your smartphone.
The dos
Get the kids involved. If you have young children, they will be under your feet even more than usual. So, if you have a spare camera that can take the odd knock or resist being smeared with Nutella, why not distract them with their very own "assignment"?
Photographer Eamonn McCabe remembers: "When my son was young, he went round Covent Garden taking everything from waist level – from bicycles to shoes to legs – and I've still got those pictures. They're wonderful.They had a style and a kind of form to them. The great thing about kids is they don't worry about following the 'rules'."
If you don't trust your kids with a normal camera, there's a wide range of hard-to-break models made for all ages, from toddlers upwards. Fifty quid will get you a pink or blue VTech Kidizoom: "The resolution's reasonable, the sharpness is always good and they're perfect for kids, because they have a double peephole viewfinder which kids find easier to look through," says photographer, blogger and father of two Ken Rockwell.
No children? Try a £20 video camera that clips on to your cat or dog's collar to record every maimed mouse or bottom sniffed.
Stop for lunch. The middle of the day is no time for outdoor photography: the sun is usually too harsh, and there are few shadows to add depth and texture.
"Lighting comes from God," says Rockwell, "and he makes the best light at dawn or dusk. Noon is usually the least flattering time, especially for landscape photography. So if you're on holiday with your family, get up before they do and get back before breakfast. Or, when everybody else is going to dinner, find some way to excuse yourself and get out."
If you absolutely have to shoot in the middle of the day, however …
Make friends with your flash. As you'd know if you had read your camera's manual (but who does?), flash is not just for indoors and night-time. It really comes into its own on bright days, when you have to photograph someone with the sun behind them. Normally you would end up with a silhouette, but by using "fill flash" you can light up that face. Flash can also neutralise the glare from water or a sandy beach.
Unfortunately, all camera flashes are not created equal. If all you have is a smartphone, for example, you may be out of luck. Console yourself with a game of Angry Birds.
Take more care over self-portraits. Assuming you're in a public place, there are two options: either stick your camera on a tripod, aim it at where you'll stand and work out how to set the timer (you may have to look at the manual again – sorry); or do what any normal person would, and ask a stranger to take your photo.
How, though, can you be sure you'll end up with something acceptable? Winchester-based photographer Tony Smith makes one of those points that's so obvious, you wonder why you never thought of it yourself. "Look around for somebody who looks like a competent photographer – someone who's got a decent camera around their neck. It's no good asking someone who's taking photographs only with an iPhone." In other words, ask someone like Smith.
Whoever's holding your camera, encourage them to get as near as they can while still getting all of you in. "A lot of people don't get close enough," warns photography writer Andrew S Gibson. "They stand back and include all the distractions, all the other people. Simplify it – get in close and only include the things in the frame that you want."
Forget about colour. If blue skies are nowhere to be seen, even on your holiday of a lifetime, you may get more striking results with black and white. "Black and white is what I shoot when it gets grey," says Rockwell. It's no great loss, he insists. "Ninety per cent of what people shoot could be shot in black and white. If the subject of the picture isn't colour with a triple exclamation point, black and white might be a stronger way to say it."
And if your camera gives you the option of seeing and shooting black and white from the outset, rather than converting from colour at a later stage, Rockwell says embrace it. "That way you're only looking for shapes and tones and values and textures."
And while you're stripping your photography to the bare essentials, do try to…
Travel light. "The more you bring with you, the more time you spend fiddling with it and the less time you spend using it," says Rockwell, who – having reviewed most big-name equipment on the market – says his ideal holiday set-up is one camera and just one lens.
"It's all about your eye, not your tools," agrees Guardian photographer Jill Mead. That said, if you're going away for any length of time, make sure you take enough spare batteries (and a charger), memory cards and any adapter plugs you might need.
Do your best to be original. If you're shooting a well-known landmark, do it at an unusual time of day, or from an unconventional angle. Otherwise you might as well just buy a postcard. And don't be in too much of a rush to start shooting – walk or drive all around it first.
Best of all, says Mead, get yourself a project – something personal that you can work on over weeks, months or even longer. "It's lovely when you really immerse yourself in a project."
Mead has spent years photographing washing lines – with washing on them, obviously. "I just love their openness," she explains. "I love the fact that they're exposing your pants, your vest, your shirts, your dodgy pair of tracky bottoms … Having a passion is brilliant."
And the don't?
Do not spend every evening in front of a computer. It's not unknown for keen amateurs to take a laptop on holiday purely so they can edit and manipulate the hundreds of photos they have taken. It's fine to review your shots on the back of the camera at the end of the day, so you can delete any obvious duds, but large-scale editing can wait.
If you're worried that you'll forget what you photographed, or in what circumstances, shoot a few reminders along the way – street signs or information boards, even a note you've written yourself. "This is me having fun," perhaps.
