Pros have a long list of DOs and DON'Ts in their heads so deeply ingrained they don't even think of them anymore. They walk into a room and immediately know what belongs in the shot and what doesn't. They know this because they made these mistakes over and over when they were beginners. Here are ten of the biggest ones.

1. The old "Pole Growing from Someone's Head"

This is a compositional error that comes from not paying attention to what's in the background. Trees, poles, and even bits of other people will appear as strange antennae or odd growths. Always keep a vigilant eye on what's behind your talent and how it affects what's in your viewfinder. Also look for things like telephone wires that seem to go in one ear and out another. Even changing your angle slightly can fix these. If you're completely unable to move, you can try lowering up your f-stop to blur out the offending object, or zooming in to crop it out of the frame.

2. High Noon

Gary Cooper looks great when he faces down Ian MacDonald in the 1952 classic High Noon. One thing the beleaguered sheriff had going for him was a Hollywood lighting team making sure the harsh shadows of the overhead sun didn't completely obscure his face. The sun directly overhead on a cloudless day presents some of the worst, most unflattering lighting conditions. People's eyes, recessed in their sockets, get lost in shadow which become great black pools. There are two ways to combat this - add more light, either from a lamp or a reflector - or move your subject into the shade. If you can't move your subject into the shade, you can bring shade to your subject by holding a large diffuser between them and the bright sun. The bigger the better. They're made by companies like Lastolite and Photoflex, or you can make your own from some PVC and an old bed sheet.

3. People Eating

I've never made a friend by videotaping them while they're wolfing down a plate of spaghetti; you won't either. Use the dinner break to change tapes, check your batteries, plot out your next shots, or interview someone who isn't shoveling food into their face.

4. Shooting in the Office Lighting

Fluorescent tubes mounted in the ceiling might be the most economical way to keep an office illuminated, but they provide some of the most unflattering light ever invented. Many tubes have a decidedly green cast and highlight imperfections in the skin. In addition, the overhead position doesn't give much fill to the face and like the high-noon lighting of the sun, people's eye sockets get dark. When professional video crews shoot in office buildings they have a number of strategies to combat this - one is to turn off all the overheads and light the room with their own equipment, another option is to move your subject into window lighting and let the sun fix things. A third option is to color correct the florescent with gels and add some fill from a tungsten lamp either through a light modifier like an umbrella or a softbox or bounced off of a card or wall.