With the New Year and change in season we tend to feel ready to slay our year, and set new goals.

Last year I wanted to improve my photography. I wasn’t horrible, yet there are always areas in which we can improve. Today I'm sharing with you six tips in which you can improve your photography skill and organization.

Learn to shoot in manual mode. I know many photographers who are still stuck shooting in automatic mode. There’s nothing wrong with it. We all have to start somewhere.

However learning to shoot in manual mode is SO easy! The reason I love it is because I like having full control of my camera. The creative possibilities are endless shooting in manual mode.

I’d also add on read your camera manual. So many of us skip that step and use it straight out of the box *raises hand*. Once I actually read through my manual I found things that I didn’t know my camera was capable of.

Learn to use photo editing software. When I say use it, I mean to it's full potential. There are a lot of choices out there.I mostly use Lightroom, but I need to up my game in photoshop.

There are so many resources out there to help you learn. You can invest money in a course. If you are in the NYC area I highly recommend Photo Manhattan. The class prices are very reasonable. When I say reasonable I mean you’ll be able to eat and pay the rent as well. Youtube is also a great source of learning that is FREE. Best of all, you can learn while in your pajamas. Which leads me into tip number three.

Keep learning! We never stop learning and we can never have too much knowledge. Take a class as mentioned above, or shadow someone you admire. I meet up with other photographers, and creatives from time to time and bounce ideas off of each other. Study photographers present and past and learn from their work.

“There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning.”

-Jiddu Krishnamurti

Organize your files!!! When I first started out I was a hot mess. I had large files all saved on my laptop. I couldn't find them when I needed them, and it was time consuming. Organization will save you time, and headaches.

Now I organize them by year. For example 2016-Client name. That way I find them more easily. I’d also add learn the difference between web sized image and high resolution files. There is a great tutorial from Clickin Moms to teach you how to save and organize the two. Click here to read it.

Take care of your equipment! Invest in a good camera bag in your price range. Keep your SD cards in a hard case. Make sure your lenses have caps. Turn your camera off when not in use. Treat your gear well, and you will get lots of milage out of it.

Lastly stay inspired. I know at times we get burn out shooting clients. Take the time to do something that inspires you. When I burn out on client work I work on photo projects. I’m currently in the midst of my 30 Strangers series. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen a few of them. If you aren't following me on Intagram feel free to click here and follow.

Hopefully you can implement a few if not all of these this year. I’ve done all of these things (with the exception of slaying Photoshop to the max) in 2016. They have helped me tremendously in becoming better, and a more organized photographer. We all have to having a starting point.

“Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Do not bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.” -William Faulkner

Tidbit Tuesday! 6 Tips to become a better and more well rounded photographer