Okay, so you already have 21 images of the elephant bathing in the mud or drinking water. Do you shoot 40 more or drive off in search of your next target? Wait, what about a third option? Zoom in really tight and take closeups or abstracts of the animal. What about trying your hand at more creative images?

Taking images like this can be difficult and frustrating. They require a lot of patience and trial and error. Most of your images will probably end up in the trash bin. But then again, you may end up with one or two creative images like the one of this elephant throwing mud on itself. Because we are zoomed in so tightly many images will have cut off the trunk. Or the nice mud pattern will be too high and out of shot.

          Here are a few tips to help you play the creative game:

• Zoom in tight on where the action is or what you want a shot of.

• Set a very fast shutter speed and high frame rate. This is needed to catch that moment just right. A split second can make all the difference.

• Shoot and shoot and shoot.

• Quickly review what you got and make adjustments accordingly.

• Shoot and shoot and shoot again.

This is a numbers game that just requires you to keep on going for some time. The moment will come when you get that perfect image. These kinds of images are very cool. People can just stare at them for a long time. They evoke smiles. They sometimes evoke questions. You are presenting something that few people have seen that way or even noticed before. You get images that are different, that stand out. These are images that are not only a recording of the sight everyone saw, but art. This is creative.