Given that auto-focus can be "really annoying," Steve Berardi from PhotoNaturalist has three tips for getting better control of auto-focus.

At Digital Photography School, Steve offers suggestions for recomposing, switching to manual focus, and using back-button auto-focusing.

Read his full essay here.

If you use Lightroom, you may or may not have tried your hand at organizing your photos into what Lightroom calls "Collections."

Photographer Helen Bradley writes on Digital Photography School that "Collections in Lightroom are a key tool for organizing images. There are some benefits to working with collections and some things that it helps to know about working with them."

She takes you through whether to use regular or special collections, how to sort images, set a target collection, gather images without duplication, find images, manage temporary collections, and more.

Read the entire tipsheet on the DPS website.

Do you use Lightroom? Do you like it?

"The path of photography is not always cheap," writes The Phoblographer. "As a family man and photographer, I really have to look at how I spend money.

"A person can go broke or in debt, trying to acquire and maintain cameras, lenses, and other equipment. People today have less money to begin with due to the economic downturn.

"With patience, one could save money for their photography needs. To me, it’s about anticipating what’s needed and wanted long before buying it."

Here's a list of his tips for saving money to buy your photo supplies.

How do you afford this expensive hobby?

Start with a half-empty garage with nice, 12-foot ceilings but a budget of just $200. The goal: Build a photo studio by getting control over the space, control over the light, and enhancing the ambiance a little.

Strobist blogger David Hobby is undertaking this project at his home, and chronicling his progress on his blog.

Light Remodeling: Part 1

Light Remodeling: Part 2

Digital Photography School writer Rob Dweck says Nik Color Efex Pro (retail price $99.95-$299.95) has several filters that provide a number of useful artistic effects that can be applied to almost any type of photograph.

He uses the Sunshine and Glamour Glow filters -- and a few other tweaks -- to turn a night scene into a warm yet vivid image.

Check out his essay here.