Photography is reportedly now the #1 hobby on the planet.  The digital camera has revolutionized photography and has basically made it much more accessible to the masses.  People now have an exciting new outlet for their creativity.

If you do own a camera, you probably want to take better and more creative photographs.  That’s good.  You have an idea of where your want to be with your craft.  What might be more important, though, is knowing where you are right now with your photography.

Bruce offers us some of his photos (above - Mouse Boat, and the waterfalls - shown below) that he really likes and that took getting the camera into an angle where the subject is shown in a flattering way, and shown in a way most don’t see very often.

Now, visualize a “towel snap.”  You know, ornery kids with wet towels you may remember from summer camp, school gym class, or maybe even one of those “B” movies we’ve all seen.  If you find yourself photographing a subject, just standing there, eye in viewfinder or LCD chin high and out in front like always- Towel Snap!  Try something different!  Get on a knee, lay on the ground, anything!  Creative photographers have dirty knees and elbows.  Creative photographers have rubber boots when they know they’ll be near a small stream, because they might be “in” the water and not just “by” it.  (They will do this safely, too, and not risk personal injury or damage to expensive equipment!)  If you see a pretty flower and you find yourself with that bloom in your sights- dead center and dead on- Towel Snap!   What’s special about that composition?  Experiment with different camera positions and with composition.  If you find yourself going to the same places, at the same time of day, shooting the same subjects- Towel Snap!  Do something different!  And you don’t have to go to Thailand, either.  Slow down, slow way down, and look for new photographic opportunities.  They’re everywhere!

In no time at all, when you line up your camera for a photograph, you’ll instinctively recognize and avoid the “snapshot” photographs and fill your memory card with more exciting, creative, and visually stimulating work.  You may discover, too,  that you’ve already taken your last photograph looking down at that duck at the park!  (You’ll be looking for a way to shoot up at that duck!).

You can see more of Bruce’s work at his online photo gallery at Stone Post Photography.

Bruce is also a well know member and community leader at the Sharing Digital Photography Worldwide Forums.