#3 Tripods do not guarantee focused photographs. Just the wobble in your finger when depressing the shutter button can make your shot blurry. Consider putting your camera on a timer to ensure minimal camera shake.

#4 Get people in your pictures. Not only are they easier to sell, but they spice up an otherwise average shot.

#6 Look for patterns. One of my fellow snappers shot all sorts of patterns - watches for sale at Eastern Market, the grates around the trees in Chinatown, Maryland blue crabs steamed and ready for sale. These all made great fine art shots.

#7 Look for patterns interrupted - at the Fish Wharf here in D.C. one of the attendees shot a display of gray scaled fish with one red fish thrown into the bunch.

#8 When shooting reflections, be sure not to get your own reflection in the picture!

#9 100% of professional digital photographers use Photoshop. If you don't know how to use it, you should learn. It's worth the investment.

#10 Be simple with what you do in Photoshop. It is easy to turn a pretty good shot into a disaster if you over manipulate the photograph.

#12 Your best way into the photography market is your local newspaper, even if you have to offer your photos there for free. It helps you establish your track record for getting more of your photographs published.

#13 The best way to package great photographs is in a Photo Essay (also known as a round-up article). There isn't a whole lot of writing involved, and this is a sure-fire way to get your foot in the door as editors love round-ups.

#14 Look for the Editorial Calendars of a variety of publications. These will give you plenty of advance warning about what pictures editors want and when.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: If you’d like to learn how to travel the world as a travel photographer… enjoying freedom & independence to travel where you want… when you want… and get paid to do it… here’s your chance to do it: http://www.thephotographerslife.com/phc/ea
 

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