Autofocus is great, spot mode for still images, continuous mode for moving subjests easy??? Ok most of the time for still images spot or local (selected focus point) is great. Moving subjects not so much, if you know your subject is moving in a predetermind line like motor racing, cycle racing, running well you get the idea, continuous mode will track it without any trouble, other sports like rugby, football ect. and wildlife do not follow set paths, so you loose focus find your subject again then you lens refocuses but this all takes time. Manual focus does not "hunt" so with a little practice it will be faster than continuous mode. Soon you,ll never miss that crucial shot. Practice on still life take you shot on auto focus then refocus in manual mode you might be surprised by the results.

Have you ever noticed that photographers who say that photoshop is cheating, are always rubbish at photoshop.
All digital images can be improved in photoshop or similar program even if you don't like photoshop, a levels adjustment and sharpen will always improve an image.

My enjoyment of photography has been lagging of late. Everytime I get a chance to go out with the camera, I have images that is needed for college or camera club, but I have promised myself this weekend weather permitting Im going to go shoot some landscapes and a bit of wildlife if it strolls by me.

Most of you will have heard of flickr or other sites like picasa where you can share your images. Though these sites are not a portfolio, they still represent your work, so while you share more images on them than you would on your own web page you still need to consider the content. All images should be in focus, sharp, exposed properly and displayed correctly.
I have over 4,000 images on flickr with over 150,000 views, my hard drives have over 20,000 images on them and god alone knows how many that has been lost/deleted over the years. Thats a ratio of 1 of every 5 keepers that are good enough to share.

Hi
Event photography is a good way to make some extra cash. Check your local paper for up coming events, dog shows, horse shows any short of show. I have done a few of these and I dont need to push for sales I just stroll around taking shots, people see my dslr camera with a 300mm lens on it and ask me to photograph their dog. I have my homemade business card to hand out which has link to my photobox gallery where I sell prints from. Photobox is free to set up and once you add the images you do not need to do anything else, photobox collects payment, processes prints and delivers direct to the customer. This is also a good way to make extra money from print sales from weddings or portrait shoots.

Following on from my stock sites post. I sell my images through a couple of online sites, there's redbuble, fine art america and the one I prefer most photo4me that sells your images in various formats. The set up varies from site to site but on photo4me I have a base price of £15 (minimum amount I recieve) then on a percentage scale so if someone buys a large canvas for example I can make £60-£100, it's totally up to you I know some members that have a fixed price of £100 but I believe that makes the smaller sized prints too expensive. Photo4me is a moderated site so your images need to be accepted but so long as there exposed correctly and in focus your ok.
The advantages of these sites over your own website is the amount of traffic they get, there ranked highly by search engines so their keywords will show up before yours. I will discuss why you should have your own web page soon.

Most keen photographers know about stock sites, I used to be on some but I dont really bother with them any more. Most of them dont want landscapes or sunsets no matter how outstanding they are, the whole image must be be pin sharp so no depth of field and even if you do get images accepted you need about 5,000 images online with the proper titles, discriptions and keywords (very time consuming). How much you get paid varies from site to site but be warned it can be as little as 30cents not even 30pence. My next post will tell you what I do.

Friends keep on telling you that your photos are amazing! You know you take good photographs and want to take better, but not sure how to go about it.
To get some real critique on your images there are several photography forums out there, I use photography-forum.org and talkphotography.co.uk I have learned a great deal from these sites. Most guys on these sites are not full time togs but have a passion for photography and are willing to share any knowledge they have. You can see their recent photographs and ask them questions on how that effect was achieved.
Most importantly you can post images and get feedback, wonky horizons will be spotted, boost contrast will be advised along with any number ways to enhance your shot or you could be told amazing shot and be asked questions on what youve done. The imortant issue is these guys dont know you and will give you honest feedback most will be polite, one or two not so.