Tips For Taking Great Holiday Pictures

(NAPSI)-For many people, the holidays are about spending time with family, and wherever there is a family gathering, the camera is never far behind. If you're like most Americans, chances are you are snapping up memories with a digital camera. In fact, according to the Consumer Electronics Association, the digital camera was the most popular gift last holiday season.

Kevin T. Gilbert, president of Blue Pixel LLC, a company dedicated to making digital photography fun and exciting, lends some helpful tips and simple guidelines to capture great holiday photos:

• We're all family here. Making your spouse and mother stand next to each other and smile might result in an unnatural-looking shot. So move away from the poses where everyone stands in a line. Have fun, move around, go outside and experiment.

• Get that mistletoe out of the way! Wreaths and presents create clutter and take the focus away from your subject. Try moving around to make the picture simpler. You can also have the subject move closer to the camera, to reduce the emphasis on the background.

• Don't be flash happy. Know when (and when not) to use your camera's flash. It may seem funny, but sometimes turning the flash off in low light or on in bright light can make your photos really shine.

• Red-eye is for the weary. Red-eye can ruin an otherwise perfect picture, but there are ways to overcome it. Use your camera's red-eye reduction feature. It sends out a quick series of flashes to reduce the dreaded red-eye.

But remember, don't stress if your pictures aren't perfect. One of the greatest benefits of digital photography is that you can use your computer to change and correct countless aspects of an image after it's taken.

You'll want a software program that makes it easy to get started, but lets you enhance your skills once you are ready. If you are a Windows XP user, Microsoft Corp.'s Digital Image Suite 2006 (ERP $99.95) has everything you need to enhance, create, share and organize your photos. With simple tools such as one-click Auto Fixes, along with more advanced features such as RAW support, Digital Image Suite grows with you as you advance from a novice to a seasoned digital photographer.

With a few simple photography tips and the right software, you can have a collection of digital memories to cherish throughout the year and for generations to come.

For more information about Digital Image Suite, visit http://www.microsoft.com/discover. For more digital photography tips for all levels of users, visit http://www.bluepixel.net.

Picture this: Your holiday photos can be easily improved with the help of certain software and suggestions.

Picture This

(NAPSI)-Face it, when you give a gift, a picture can be a beautiful sight-especially if you save it in a scrapbook or turn it into something unique and personal. An easy way to do so is with Faces.com, a photo-networking community offering unlimited digital photo printing for a monthly fee.

Personalized gifts made with your own photos are marvelous presents. Faces.com prints, which are made by professional photography labs and printed on archive quality paper for superior image quality, also make for timeless treasures during the holiday season. And it's fun and easy to do, since you can upload your photos from almost any source, including digital cameras and camera phones. Photos are saved on each subscriber's private, personal Web site online.

Once you've got your pictures on the site, you can then send for more than just prints. You can use them to make special presents, such as mugs, calendars, mouse-pads, aprons and T-shirts.

Superior Scrapbooking

Faces.com has a wide variety of free photo-editing software, including popular scrapbooking templates, tools and ideas, offering popular scrapbooking software.

"Digital scrapbooking is a fantastic fit for today's fast-paced society-and with tools such as Faces.com, its easier, quicker and more fun than ever before," said Jeanne Wines-Reed, co-author of "Digital Scrapbooking for Dummies" along with Joan Wines; owner of The Great American Scrapbook Company and Scrapbook Retailer Magazine.

Sharing Your Photos

Faces.com takes the widely popular blogging phenomenon to a new level by adding personal photos into the mix. Members can share photos online with friends or with other members with similar interests, then add their own comments. Members choose the level of privacy for their account, so your images can be seen only by the people whom you want to see them. The social networking aspect of the site, combined with opportunities for photo blogging, makes this an excellent community "meeting place" for scrapbookers to share projects and offer feedback.

Unique Gifts

You can even use the gift-giving occasion to take a photo, print it on souvenirs and send them to all the participants.

You can learn more about creating great gifts and getting fine photos online at www.faces.com.

Picture perfect: Next time you take a terrific picture, you can use it to make great gifts.