There are a lot of good photographers these days. Photographic technology has advanced rapidly, particularly since the digital revolution. Modern cameras capture images with incredible resolution, color, and dynamic range. Sophisticated autofocus and automatic exposure controls make it possible for beginners to create images that, a few decades ago, would have been once-in-a-lifetime photographs. In the hands of an experienced photographer, modern equipment can produce truly jaw-dropping results.

These advances in photographic technology have arisen alongside rapid developments in communication. No longer do photographers just share images with a few colleagues at their local camera club. Instead, we post images on our websites, e-mail them to friends all over the world, and submit them to online photo communities like Flickr (for any kind of photography) or Naturescapes.net (for nature photography) to get feedback from other photographers. These online communities offer tremendous learning opportunities for photographers at every level of experience, and bit of friendly one-upmanship pushes everyone to create the best images they can.

Verdin (Auriparus flaviceps), Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

I think these online photo communities are good for photography (especially for beginning photographers), but I also think they have a homogenizing influence on the field. People tend to post images that they think will appeal to everyone, rather than images that they’re not so sure about. It often seems like everyone’s trying to produce the same kind of image. Fortunately, there is a community that breaks the mold: Creative Nature Photography.

I discovered Creative Nature Photography a couple of years ago, and I make a point to peruse its image critique gallery now and then for artistic inspiration. Compared to the images at Naturescapes and the other nature forums, the photographs posted at CNP are “outside the box” – sometimes way outside! Some of them are spectacular; others, to be honest, leave me cold – that’s the inherent risk of creating unconventional photographs. But whether an image on CNP reaches me or not, it inevitably leaves me thinking more than just “that’s a pretty picture.”

The community is managed by a group of Indian photographers, including Ganesh Shankar, a photographer whose unique images I had often admired back when I participated actively on NaturePhotographers.net. Ganesh has an uncanny way of using available light to draw a viewer’s attention to a particular aspect of an image – an animal’s eye, or perhaps an interesting shape in the landscape. His website and blog are worth a long visit.

Verdin (Auriparus flaviceps), Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California

The last time I was in the desert, I tried to capture some creative views of birds that I’d photographed before. It’s tough to break free from the classic front-lit, big-in-the-frame aesthetic that I usually strive for when I’m photographing birds. I’m still a long way from Ganesh and some of the other photographers at CNP. I came away with only one “unconventional” image that I really liked. Compare the shot of the Verdin (Auriparus flaviceps) that I took in the fall of 2008 (above) with the one I took in March 2010 (below). Which one do you like better, and why? I’d love to hear your opinion.