Nine Great Things to Do with Your Photos

Photography has become an increasingly popular hobby. Thanks to digital cameras, it's easy to learn more about composition and to get plenty of practice capturing a great photo without the expense of developing film. The more that you get into digital photography, however, the more that you'll want to do with your photos. If you want more than just a photo that you can look at on your computer screen, in a digital frame or as a print, here are nine great ways of doing more with your photos.

1. Create a photo book. With a photo book, you can tell a story the way that you would in a scrapbook to preserve memories. You can also use photography to illustrate a story that you tell your kids or to create a recipe books that shows your favorite meals and ingredients.

2. Put your photography skills to work and create unique stationary with your photos. From notepads to greeting cards, it's easy to use your photo to brighten someone else's day.

3. Choose your favorite photos and create a personalized calendar. If you have kids, consider taking a photo at various times of year and then using those photos to create a calendar for grandparents that don't live nearby.

4. How often is your pet the subject of your photography? If you have a great photo of your dog or cat, why not look into creating a custom food or water dish with your pet's photo?

5. Photography is a fun hobby that can also lend itself to fun and games. Why not take a favorite photo and use it to create a deck of cards or a jigsaw puzzle?

6. Celebrate the holidays by turning a favorite photo from years' passed into an ornament for the tree - it's a great way to build a family tradition year after year.

7. Consider using your own favorite travel photos to create postcards to send to far away friends. You can either have postcards printed or you can often find peel and stick postcard backing sheets that you can place on the back of a photo.

8. Love coffee and photography? Why not have a favorite photo used to create a one of a kind coffee mug for yourself or someone special in your life?

9. Create a collage poster with photos from a favorite vacation. If you've taken a great trip, chances are good that you came back with a number of memory cards filled with photos. Why choose just a few to have printed when you can create a photo collage poster that lets you choose the size, shape, angle and number of images that you include?

Photography isn't just about taking pictures. Photography is a hobby that preserves memories and brings people together. By using a simple photo and turning it into something else - a calendar, a story, a puzzle, a mug- you can easily share your memories and the moments that you've captured with your camera. After all, photos bring joy to more than just the photographer who captured them.