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You have a terrific digital camera that you use to take awesome pictures. A great quality camera case that holds that camera, plus all the accessories you need on your photo shoots. You have the memory cards and the equipment to transfer the images to your computer once you get home with your treasured photographs. And you have boxes and boxes of those wonderful photographs that, occasionally, you sit down and look through and then put back in the closet.

Wouldn't it be great to be able to enjoy some of those beautiful shots of that skiing trip you took to Colorado every day? Or those great shots of the kids at the beach last summer? And, how about those wonderful tintypes of your ancestors who came into this country through Ellis Island years ago. Wouldn't it be special to see them proudly displayed, rather than stuck away, forgotten, except for those rare occasions when you drag them out to show the kids? There are so many ways to display photographs today, the possibilities are almost endless.

The traditional way to display photographs is to frame them, or put them in a frame, and either hang them on a wall or place them on some surface. The best way to see how a group of pictures is going to look on a wall is to lay them out on the floor. Move them around, work with them. After you get the placement that is right, then start putting them up on the wall. Remember the general rule for hanging any art, hang it at eye level. And, as with most things, odd numbers are more eye appealing than even.

If you have a staircase, it's the perfect area to display your photographs. It removes the need to hang the pictures in a perfectly straight line, and the effect of the photos traveling up, following the stairs, can make a dramatic statement. It can be made into a theme wall, such as a wedding wall, hanging wedding pictures dating back as far in your family as you can find them. Pictures can be set on anything, a fireplace mantel, piano, dressers, coffee tables and end tables, the television, basically, anything that has a flat top surface can have a picture placed on it. But, you want to place them with purpose. Group a few like pictures together and combine them with a couple quality accessories to make a beautiful table arrangement.

When hanging your photos, there are many options, the most traditional is the picture hanger and wire on the back of the picture. But, there are some other, more creative ways to hang pictures. Using ribbon, for example. There are many techniques for hanging photos with ribbon. You can take two lengths of ribbon and attach them to the back of the picture frame at the top corners. Then bring them together, tie them in a bow, and hang the picture on the wall. A couple pictures hung like this along with a few complimentary pieces, makes a lovely grouping.

Armed with these creative ideas for displaying those photographs you're going to be taking, you'll want to be sure to keep your camera and camera bag close by. Because once you have your photographs arranged, you can cycle the photos with new photographs in some of the frames.