Take care to keep the camera straight. Spending ten seconds on composition and alignment can hugely improve your picture quality. And in spite of what you may see others doing, always hold your camera in both hands when composing and taking the picture.

Try to avoid objects obstructing the view of your subject. Choose a different angle, or (if the obstruction might go away) come back later. In any event, avoid cars as far as possible, especially numberplates (in this image, the number plates had to be blurred out later).

If your camera creates a timestamp, please turn that feature off before starting.

Don't chop off the top of the building or, as some people like to say, "make sure you get the cross on top of the steeple". It can ruin a good picture if the viewer expects to see something which has been chopped off.

If the entire building won't fit in the frame, move back if you can, or try a different angle. If there is nowhere from which you can take a decent picture, concentrate on something else instead such as some of the smaller architectural details.

Don't chop off the bottom of the building unless it's unavoidable. It's tempting when you point your camera up to get the top of the building in to forget about the bottom.

If the entire building won't fit in the frame, move back if you can, or try a different angle. If there is nowhere from which you can take a decent picture, concentrate on something else instead such as some of the smaller architectural details.

Avoid pointing the camera too close to the sun. The amount of flare here makes the picture unusable even though the sun is actually outside the frame.

To avoid camera movement, especially in dark church interiors, use the font or a pillar as a support. Blurred images such as this are of little use.

This picture seems to have been taken one-handed; remember that you should always hold your camera in two hands? And notice the annoying chopped-off candle holder on the left.