| Here are 12 ideas to get your creative juices | | | | serial number. Then burn a CD or DVD and store |
| flowing and increase your skills and value as a | | | | it off site. If you have a fire or other loss, this |
| photographer. | | | | could save the owner thousands of dollars. |
| TIP 1 - Time Lapse photos. I showed my niece | | | | TIP 7 - Family Recipe book. Anytime those family |
| how to do this with clay figures and stitch the | | | | favorites are prepared, copy down the recipe and |
| resulting frames together into a video file, and she | | | | take some photos of the food. You can produce |
| was busy for days. If you control the exposure | | | | a printed or electronic cookbook of family |
| consistently to keep the images consistent with | | | | favorites that everyone will love. |
| one another, you can do some really fun | | | | TIP 8 - Stock Photography. This is a very busy |
| stop-motion animation. Or, you can set up your | | | | market niche, but the cost of entry is low. |
| camera to capture other slow motion effects | | | | Specialize in things you love, and you may be able |
| such as flowers opening and seedlings growing. | | | | to generate some income from your stock |
| TIP 2 - Night Lights. Things look very different at | | | | images. Search for stock photography sites, and |
| night. Shooting city scenes with available light | | | | make sure you understand your rights before |
| creates some interesting images. And shooting | | | | you post images. |
| outdoor images under moonlight or with "light | | | | TIP 9 - Special Effects. Maybe you want to |
| painting", where you open up the camera shutter | | | | specialize in high-speed images of athletes, or |
| for an extended exposure, and "paint" your | | | | surrealistic collages. Try your hand at using your |
| targets with colored or plain light, can create | | | | editing skills to put someone in a soda bottle or |
| some truly bizarre images. | | | | floating on a candy lifesaver. Often more artistic |
| TIP 3 - Astrophotography. Hook that SLR up to a | | | | than photographic, it will test your composition, |
| telescope, and you are ready to peer into the | | | | lighting and editing skills to come up with believable |
| depths of space and time. You'll need some | | | | artificial realities. |
| adapters, and ability to compensate for the | | | | TIP 10 - Still Life. Ahh, the bowl of fruit. |
| earth's rotation for really long shots. Start with | | | | Sometimes a simple object or collection, properly |
| the moon and move on from there. | | | | lit, shot and edited, is a thing of beauty. It's a |
| TIP 4 - Macro photography. From flowers to | | | | great way to study light. Start with an egg on a |
| coins to stamps, you can polish your skills at | | | | light background, a lamp and a window and see |
| close-up photography and capture some really | | | | how you can learn about lighting and composition. |
| detailed images. Often a macro lens or close-up | | | | TIP 11 - Computer Control. Many cameras have a |
| attachment will help. See my tips on Flower | | | | USB interface and remote control software. You |
| Photography to get more information. | | | | can actually control the camera from the |
| TIP 5 - Micro photography. If you can interface | | | | computer. See if you can get it to work to your |
| that camera with a microscope, you can get | | | | liking, and maybe even program some time lapse |
| some really crazy images. Or, stack up a bunch | | | | or exposure bracketing experiments. |
| of close-up magnification and try your hand at | | | | TIP 12 - Be Like Andy. Take some images of |
| turning salt crystals into surreal imagery. | | | | everyday items and try to create those neat |
| TIP 6 - Insurance Photos. OK, maybe a bit boring, | | | | colored backgrounds like Andy Warhol used to |
| but you and your friends and relatives will thank | | | | make. Create a 4-up print of the same image and |
| you. Take a couple hours and touch and | | | | change the colors of each quadrant to make an |
| photograph everything of value, with a full shot or | | | | interesting square print. |
| two if each item of value, accompanied by a shot | | | | Have fun with these ideas, and let me know |
| of the identifying marks - manufacturer model or | | | | when you become famous! |