If there's one bit of advice that has stuck with me it's: "Never miss the opportunity to shoot an image."

Put in to practise, this means taking your camera everywhere with you, batteries charged and memory card formatted, but also taking more formal opportunities when subjects are willing to give up their time. I put this theory into practise recently, while shooting some images for my day job as editor of Digital SLR Magazine. The office where I'm based is clean and tidy, but this doesn't lend itself to interesting images. 

Photographers have to be problem-solvers. When we're met with a brick wall, we need to find a way to climb over it. The solution to my loaction problem was right outside the office door - a little cut-through alley that, even in midday sun, cast enough shadow to allow for an interesting flash set-up (left).

When people ask me how they can improve their images, I pass on the same advice I was given - you have to commit, 100% and be 'that guy who always has the camera'. The day you leave it at home is the day you'll stumble upon the coolest location, with the best light and the only shot you'll bag is on your iPhone.