It amazes me that people who want to learn photography don’t maximise their learning experience. They seem to just wander along like piece of driftwood tossed on the surf of the ocean hoping to land at the destination of great image taking. Here’s how to maximise your learning experience.Many people purchase a digital camera and then hope that by some miracle of technology they will start taking wonderful photographs. Chance and serendipity do not create great images, you do. In order for you to shoot really great photos you need to give it some serious thought and make a move on your way to great photos. Here’s how to do it.1. Maximise your thought processThe greatest photographers are thinking photographers. They take time out to think about what they want to do and how they will achieve those great images. If you are not thinking as you learn then you won’t maximise opportunities that stare you in the face. A thought process must start somewhere in order to reach its climax. So, take time out to sit, think and ponder what you want out of it.2. Maximise your photographic identityFind out who you are first and what you enjoy in life. Don’t copy what others enjoy. It’s not going to last for you if you follow a dream that isn’t yours. Sit down with a pen a paper and write down what you enjoy in life, your hobbies and interests. What pushes your buttons? A shiny vintage car or an antique pen set or perhaps a yacht in full sail. Define yourself as a photographer first. If close-up photos ring your bells then write it down. If wide open landscapes excite you then write it down. By defining what you like early on you will start heading in the right direction. I realised early in my journey that close-ups were my passion. Thirty years later it is still the same.3. Maximise your goal settingOnce you know what you like then set your goals out on paper. You must right them down so that you can measure whether you are reaching them. Plan what you are going to do on your journey and what you need to learn to achieve it. This means that you can plan to do a course, buy a book, research on the internet and buy or budget for the equipment necessary to achieve your goals. Those who fail to plan, plan to fail. Knowledge is power over yourself and your dreams.4. Maximise your practiseSimilar to goal setting is taking the time to practise your art or hobby. Allocate the time in your schedule no mater how busy you might be. Regular and focused practise will go a long way to helping you become a quality photo taker. Gary Player the famous golfer and winner of every major tournament over 5 decades says that the harder he practises the luckier he gets. You create your own luck through dedicated effort and practise.5. Maximise your review and evaluationYou cannot progress along your photographic journey unless you take the time out for review and reflection. Firstly on the quality of your images and secondly on where you are at with the goals you have set for yourself. Set specific review dates in advance of your planning then sit down and measure your self against these plans. If you aren’t aiming at the bull’s eye you may not even reach the target. Make the time to evaluate where you are at and then based on where you are, create a new set of goals for yourself.By following these steps I can guarantee that you will go a long way as you learn digital photography. The person who is focused and looks for results in their learning experience will maximise that experience. Simple steps to follow but maximum results will be achieved. Happy shooting!
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Bad Credit Debt Consolidation Loan – The Advantages And Disadvantages
Bogged down by too many loans to clear off? Are you a victim of a bad credit history and finding it hard to get any more loans? Are you looking for a single loan that will consolidate all your high interest debts? Then the solution lies in a bad credit debt consolidation loan. As the name suggests this loan is specifically for those with a bad credit history and it gives the freedom to repay one single consolidated loan every month at a lower rate of interest.There are a few types of loans that can act as a bad credit debt consolidation loan and they are secured loans (e.g. against property), personal loans and credit card balance transfer. The rate of interest in all the three varies quite a bit and it is important to understand each loan and choose the one that suits your needs best.The advantages of a bad credit debt consolidation loan:1. Finances made easy: The debt consolidation loan is one single loan that will take over the other small and usually high interest loans. These consolidated loans are usually at a lower rate of interest as compared to the many small loans you had previously. Since it is one loan that you need to pay off every month, it saves you the hassle of remembering the number of loans to pay off.2. A single defined loan term: Since this is a single loan that consolidates all the other loans there is a defined time frame within which you have to pay it off.3. Stop creditor harassment: Creditor harassment can be daunting. The innumerable phone calls asking to repay the loan can drive anyone up the wall. The bad credit debt consolidation loan can save you from the constant harassment of creditors.4. Chance of getting more money: With a bad credit debt consolidation loan there is always a chance of getting a higher loan than what you have to pay off. This can be a blessing when you are in a bad financial state. Unsecured loans however have a defined limit.The disadvantages of a bad credit debt consolidation loan:1. Fear of losing house/property: If you don’t repay the secured loan on time there is always the fear that you might lose the house/property you have given as security.2. Cumulative interest: If you increase the time span of your loan there is always a chance that your cumulative amount of interest to be repaid will increase.3. Excess borrowing: With a secured loan you can get too much money in your hands that you may overspend. You will be able to afford a car you wanted to buy or a holiday you wanted to go to. This will increase unnecessary expenditure thus causing more problems.4. Extra charges: There are usually extra charges that need to be paid with the bad credit debt consolidation loan and this may increase the total amount that needs to be paid and the financial burden ultimately.Bad credit debt consolidation loans should be taken after due consideration and all the pros and cons must be looked into carefully.
Some Unnecessary Small Business Expenses to Avoid
When you start a business, you have to be extra careful with how you spend your capital. There are many ways for small business owners to increase their profits. Reducing their costs is one of the simplest and most effective ones. A lot of the times, entrepreneurs would add costs to their budgets that they don’t necessarily have to make. It might appear to them that these are necessary expenses when that’s not the case. They can add many of these expenses once their business has established.Expenses That Small Businesses Should AvoidExcessive AdvertisingYes, advertising is quite important for businesses, but excessive advertisement is not. It still makes sense for large businesses to go full-on with advertising because they have the budget to do so. However, when it comes to small businesses, they must do intelligent and selective advertising only. Their first course of action should be to identify the advertising channels that work best for them. Just because you are a restaurant at the corner of a street does not mean you have to use awnings, vinyls, neon signs, and all other types of materials for advertising purposes. Pick the ones that work and skip what doesn’t.Too Many Work HoursYou don’t necessarily have to follow the trends of your competitors to compete with them. It does not matter how good they are, even the best ones can make mistakes at times. Many business owners choose to keep their premises opened for customers for long hours. They will open the business early in the morning and close it late at night just so they can serve more customers. However, one must do cost calculation before taking such a step? What if you are getting only five customers in the first three hours of the business and five more at the last two hours?Now imagine the cost of utility, wages of your employees, etc. Are you covering the costs of keeping your business opened for five additional hours with only 10 customers? Even if you want to continue this way, you better test it for a week only. If the response is cold, you should quit this practice as soon as possible.Pursuing the Best of EverythingThe idea sounds great but is not the way to go about doing business when you are in your early stages. You should spend your money on things you need, not the things you want unless you have the budget to do so. If you are renting space for your office, you should look for a place that you can easily afford. Going for the best location in the most commercial area will cost you a lot of money. You can save your money even when it comes to internal equipment. Why buy new couches, seats and brand new computers when you can do with high-quality used equipment?Why go for a printer with fancy looks and capacity to print hundreds of pages in a minute when you won’t ever need that many printouts at a time? Go with simple and beautiful when it comes to decorating your office. You don’t want to spend your budget on things that are not going to yield any benefits for your business.Hiring IT StaffIT is integral to any business today, tech or non-tech. However, it does not mean you have to have an IT team on board. One of the beauties of modern technology is that it allows you to outsource a lot of the business processes. The best thing about outsourcing business processes is that you can save a lot of money by doing so. Managed IT services are a perfect way for you to save IT costs while benefitting from expertise of the best professionals of the industry. Rather than paying thousands of dollars to three or four IT people, it makes more sense for small businesses to outsource their IT processes for a small monthly fee.The good news is that you can outsource almost anything IT-related. From basic helpdesk to on-demand data officers, IT outsourcing can cover a lot of ground for you.Unnecessary DebtsTaking loans when starting a business is imperative for your growth and to have enough cash in hand to support your operations. However, there are more ways to fund your business than you might realize. Many small business owners follow venture capitalists and conventional banks when it comes time to fund their businesses. However, crowdfunding has emerged as an amazing funding option for startups and small businesses. The good thing about crowdfunding is that you do not necessarily have to offer equity to the investors in your business. Sometimes, you can just reward them with a sample of your product.Hiring Only Full-time EmployeesIf you own a small business, you might want to consider hiring interns. Interns can benefit your business in many ways. First, you do not have to pay them the salary of a full-time employee. Second, you can ask them to do a lot of the mundane tasks that otherwise affect the productivity of your full-time employees negatively. While it might not be the best practice, in some countries of the world they have free internships as well wherein you do not have to pay your interns. However, that’s not the right thing to do, and you should compensate their work to keep them motivated.ConclusionYou should consider avoiding these expenses if you are a small business owner or about to be one. You can always take advice from those who have their own businesses to figure out what’s necessary and what’s not. Keep yourself up-to-date with new technological advancements. Taking advantage of modern software and hardware solutions can help you save a lot of money. Take the example of a printer with duplex printing option. You could cut your paper costs in half by printing on both sides of the paper. In the end, look into your current setup and operations to see what some expenses are that you can easily live without.