Top 10 Tips for Digital Photographers Fair Use: http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/answerstips/story/0,23008,3346799,00.html

These helpful hints will have you well on your way to shooting high-quality pictures.

By Rick Sammon September 10, 2001

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Remember, cameras don't take pictures, people do.

That's right. You can have the greatest digital camera in the world, but it's still up to you to compose your picture carefully, make sure the lighting is just right, and press the shutter release button at exactly the right moment.

One way to get good at any kind of photography is to practice, practice, practice. One advantage of digital cameras is that you can see your results -- and your mistakes -- instantly in the camera's LCD screen.

Choose your camera carefully.

Go for a 3.1 megapixel camera if you want to make great prints up to 11 inches by 14 inches; go for a 2.2 megapixel camera if you want to make 8-inch by 10-inch prints. If you only want to take pictures for a website or for emailing, a 1 megapixel camera is fine.

Charge!

Digital cameras need batteries. Don't be caught dead in the water with a dead battery. Before each photo session, make sure your battery is fully charged. If you will be outdoors for a while, take an extra battery, or two.

And, to save power, use the camera's LCD screen sparingly.

Read all about it.

Camera instruction manuals are packed with information on what your camera and software can and cannot do. If you take the time to read that little booklet, you'll get a higher percentage of good pictures -- and you'll be able to navigate through the software easily.

Get memory for memories.

Get a storage device with as much memory as you can afford. I recommend a 64MB card for most photo enthusiasts. Because when you run out of memory, you can't record your memories.

Think file size.

Digital cameras let you take pictures at different quality settings. The higher the setting, the better the picture quality. High settings take up more memory (space) than lower settings. If you intend to make a print from a file, shoot at the highest setting. You can use lower settings when you only intend to email photos or use them on a website.

Don't delete too quickly.

If you don't like the picture you see on the camera's LCD screen, you can delete it at the touch of a button. Be careful, however, about which pictures you delete. Once that button is pressed, your pictures are gone forever. Remember, you can touch up and improve many images in your computer.

Download ASAP.

I download my pictures to my computer's hard drive as soon as I can after a photo session. After that, I can delete the pictures from my camera's memory card and free up space -- so I'm ready to shoot at a moment's notice.

Fix it up and have fun.

Camera and digital imaging software lets you fix photos, even if they are slightly underexposed or overexposed, soft, and off color. Some imaging software also lets you correct red eye and remove unwanted objects in a scene. Have fun with software. It can improve your images -- and your image as a picture taker.

Store files safely.

Always store your pictures on a ZIP, JAZ, CD-R or DVD-R for safekeeping. That way, if your computer bombs, you won't lose your precious memories.

-- Anonymous, September 18, 2001

Answers

Your State Home Page

Are you getting tired of the same old home page news? Do you really care what Alec Baldwin said yesterday? Why not look around for a more attractive and less annoying home page? One option is to use your state's home page for a while (until you get tired of it).

Most states, probably all, have Web pages. We checked Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Maine. Then we got tired of checking. You can check to see if your state has a Web page. Indiana's was recently named the best state Web page.

To set the state Web page as your home page, navigate to the page, then choose Tools|Internet options. When the dialog opens, go to the General page and click Use Current. Click OK to close the dialog box and save your new selection.

In Netscape, navigate to the page and choose Edit|Preferences. When the dialog box opens, select Navigator and then click Use Current Page. Click OK to close the dialog box.

Of course, you can use this to set any Web page as your home page.

- Sue Whitehouse

-- Anonymous, September 18, 2001