As photographers are guilted into using Manual mode many have discovered a new cheat! They have found

Here are some popular photo tips you should definitely not follow.

1. Just shoot everything horizontal, then you can crop it vertical later. No! By doing that you have at the least lost 30% of your image. Why not just spend 5 more seconds to shoot the vertical?

2. Always use a monopod. NO! if you have a point and shoot camera do you really need a monopod? NO! Not all instances require a monopod.

3. Always use hand grips, they are better than neck straps! Obviously this one was written by a large man with large hands. Although hand straps can be great and many like the feeling of adhering their hand to their camera, if you only have a hand strap it means that your hand never gets a break. If you are shooting all day this is a lot of fatigue.

4. Always use Manual focus, it's the only way to attain critical focus. NO! The majority of Americans require some sort of glasses. If your glasses are out of date, you will never be able to focus manually. If your diopter is not set properly all manually focused images will be soft. In today's modern camera auto focus will in most cases render the sharpest image possible.

5. The rule of third works 99% of the time. no it doesn't. Simply putting things into the rule of thirds grid does not make or a great photo. You must still think through your composition and don’t forget centered images work great too!

This example of the rule of thirds definitely did not work!

6. Never over expose your image. NO! see below. Ostensibly this is an over exposed image. Why is this bad? (see image)

7. Never under expose an image, another bad piece of advice. (see image).

8. Lens flare is bad. If it's used properly there is nothing wrong with lens flare. (see image)

9. Lens flare is good. Wrong again, if you are not paying close attention to your images lens flare can be very very bad. See below:

10. Never shoot down on children. What about this?

11. Always use a polarizing filter. No, unless you actually need one, a polarizer will only serve to reduce the already limited amount of light you have.

12. Never use a protective filter. Sometimes you need a filter. No one person can speak to all situations or needs.

13. Always use a filter. No you don’t always need a filter. See above.

14. The more expensive the filter the better it is. Various tests have shown that although very cheap filters can be really bad, the most expensive filters don't always measure up to their price either. Often the middle of the road (price wise) is where you'll find the best filters and value. But only a test will tell you that.

15. If you think the weather causes you discomfort it's also bad for your camera. The operating temperature for your camera is generally: 32-104F (0-40 C) which means it's capable of operating well outside your comfort zone. Some of the best photos are taken in extreme conditions.

16. Shooting in Manual mode is the only way to get a great photo. Join us for a safari and we'll show you why this isn't true.

17. When photographing a landscape simply put your lens to infinity focus. No, always find focus. Decide what you want to focus on and make sure you get focus there!

18. Never use a flash? Then why do they sell flash equipment? And why do all professionals use flash (other than the landscape and wild life folks?).

19. Every photo needs to tell a story. No it doesn't. What story does this photo tell? And does that lack of a story mean it's not a nice photo?

20. Always have foreground middle ground and background. Always is a really long time. Here's an example of why that doesn't always work. Just like this one:

Many believe that the only way to get a truly sharp image is to use a monopod (aka unipod). Unfortunately this is not true

Chromatic aberrations: what is it and what causes it? For a scientific answer we asked Dr. Rebecca Theilmann at the University of California San Diego.

For many using a memory card is simply putting the card in your camera and then shooting away. If you

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What are the best ways to achieve critical focus. There are those who will argue that the best way to achieve critical focus is

Auto has always and continues to receive a lot of bad press but it's high time Manual got the same treatment.