13 ideas for creative camera work

13 photo ideas for creative camera work
You have your new camera. Now get out and use it!

After kicking last week off with a 41MP camera phone, the worst-kept secret in photography, the long-awaited Canon 5D Mark III, became a reality at 5am on Friday with little more fanfare than a ping in your inbox.

And in between everyone going ape for cutting edge camera technology, we were sucker punched by the death of a beloved Monkee. Can we have a break before next week, please?

Like us, you're all here because we love new cameras, but the fact is that unless you're using it to take pictures, your camera makes for quite an expensive replacement for a watch.

To help inspire you to use your camera more creatively, our colleagues at Digital Camera World have compiled a list of 13 ideas for helping you to get creative with your camera.

So without further ado...

Try this x-ray photoshop effect

13 photo ideas for using your digital cameras

1. Confuse small children and make beautiful women think twice about posing for your camera. Give your pictures a Photoshop X-Ray effect in just 6 easy steps.

2. Canon photographers: ignore the haters. In-camera effects are only as gimmicky as you make them. Our colleagues at PhotoPlus make a good case why the Canon Picture Styles offered up by your EOS DSLR form a powerful and creative set of tools.

Try this simple strobist tutorial

13 photo ideas for using your digital cameras

3. Strobist distilled: using off-camera flash no longer has to be as complicated as blowing up the Death Star. Our colleagues at N-Photo have offered a simple Strobist tutorial that shows you how to capture the striking effect in six easy steps.

Winter photography ideas

13 photo ideas for using your digital cameras

4. Just because it's been miserable outside doesn't mean your camera can't get some exercise. Here are 53 winter photography ideas to help keep you creative.

Learn new digital camera effects

13 photo ideas for using your digital cameras

5. Is your Flickr page full of a bunch of different versions of the same photo? Live a little! Get wild and try capturing this fun range of digital camera effects, from abstracts to zoom bursts.

Learn how to copyright your photos using your camera's metadata

13 photo ideas for using your digital cameras

6. What is metadata? Don't worry, you're not alone in asking. It's one of the more mundane elements of photography, but completely essential to learn if you want to copyright your photos.

7. If you've mastered all the techniques listed above - or if you're already so good you didn't need to - why not put your camera where your mouth is and learn how to be a Getty contributor. Getty Images' director of editorial content tells us what he looks for when recruiting new photographers.

8. Or why not hear it straight from Getty photographers themselves? OK, not all of these photographers shoot for Getty, but you're sure to find something valuable to take away from these 225 inspirational tips from famous photographers.

Top tips for getting better pictures of birds in flight

13 photo ideas for using your digital cameras

9. If you don't mind getting up at dawn, dressing in nylon and lugging around a bag of expensive, heavy glass, then these tips will certainly help you bag better pictures of birds in flight.

10. Or if you'd rather have a lie in and admire another photographer's pictures of birds in flight, that's just as fun and much less expensive.

11. Whatever you do, please take pictures. Even if you're Britain's worst photographer. The only way you'll get better - and we'll all get better - is by shooting.

Free photoshop textures to download

13 photo ideas for using your digital cameras

12. Well, we tried not to make this post as dull as watching paint dry. That said, we find it pretty exciting watching paint peel. Keen Photoshoppers won't want to miss the free Photoshop textures uploaded every Tuesday by our colleagues at Practical Photoshop. This week: peeling paint!

Win a nikon v1 kit!

Win a nikon v1 kit!

13. And finally… any other camera geeks planning to visit the Focus On Imaging show in Birmingham this week? It's Europe's biggest camera trade show and all the new Nikons, Canons and other brands that have been released in the last year will be there for you to ogle and hold.

Plus,the Digital Camera team will be there. Come visit at stand E42 and you could be in with a chance to win a Nikon V1 kit. All you have to do is say hello!