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What do a Canberra jet aircraft, a 5-year old boy’s curiosity and digital photography have in common? The answer to this question lies at the heart of camera technique, as you’ll discover.

If you’re new to photography or have never altered the default menu settings on your camera, help is at hand. I talk you through setting up your camera so it’s working for you and reveal why your choice of file modes – JPEG or RAW – has a lot to do with jigsaw puzzles.

In purely technical terms, the purpose of White Balance is to eradicate colour casts but did you know it has a creative side too? I visit a blacksmith to explain some simple tricks that will help change the look, feel and mood of your photographs. 

Exposure is often seen as a bit of a dark art, complicated by strange numbers and odd “laws”. I’m going to change that view. I head to a polo match, a remote waterfall and make a large stone completely disappear to show you how getting a faithful exposure is far simpler than it seems.

ISO is a really useful function on your camera but only when it’s used wisely. To explain how to get ISO working for you and avoid it ruining your images, I visit a Swiss vineyard.

Okay, so there’s more to exposure than I explained in Module 3. But, with the help of a game of chess, some swans, Thomas the Tank Engine and a science lab, I show you how easy it is to pull a white rabbit out of a hat … actually, a bucket.

After exposure, I’m guessing getting perfectly focussed, pin sharp images time after time is next on your photo-challenges “to do” list. With the help of some super-fast race cars and a steep hill in Dorset, a team of galloping horses, 10,000 daredevil birds and Bertie, officially the world’s fastest tortoise, I show you that, with a little bit of knowledge, it can be done.

Let’s face it, we all love buying photo gear. Me included. And lenses are high on our list. But with so many to choose from, it’s hard to know where to start. So, here are some pointers. I tell you what’s in my bag and why. I explain the reason my favourite lens for wildlife photography is a 50mm standard lens and chat about how I decide where next to spend … sorry, I mean invest my money.

I’m going to be honest with you … I’m terrible at golf. And there’s a good reason for that. But I’m a half-decent photographer and there’s good reason for that, too. Now I’ve shown you what to do, the rest is up to you.

There’s no such thing as good light. Really, there isn’t. A controversial statement. Maybe. But if we only ever took photos when light fell in a very specific way, we’d hardly ever take photos at all. I’m going to let you into one of the best-kept secrets in photography: Light is what it is – light. And all light is good for something, you just have to know what to do with it.