photos/video

Function	What	Why
Shooting Stills and Video	Pentax Optio W10 - stills and video Casio Exilim EX-Z750 - stills and video Sharp VL-Z1U MiniDV	The Optio is "ultra compact" and waterproof - no external moving parts, great for outdoors, in canyons, on mountains, on kayaks, etc. Camera models change fast; check for new models. The Casio is an "ultra compact", which means there are compromises, but the payoff is that we actually carry it - so we get a lot more pictures and videos accordingly... The Sharp does a better job on videos, but it's heavier and more fragile 'cause it has more moving parts.
Converting VHS / Hi-8 / analog video to digital	Plextor PX-M402U	This works flawlessly on my 1.5GHz Pentium 4 with 1GB memory and a 7200 RPM HDD.
Creating and Editing Videos	Roxio Easy Media Creator for simple movies Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 for more advanced movies	Create slideshows from pictures, edit and interleave videos, add music, etc. EMC is easy to use. Premiere Elements has much more power; up to 99 concurrent video/audio streams. Be prepared to do a lot of waiting if you don't have a high-end PC.
Creating DVD's	Roxio Easy Media Creator Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0	Share your masterpieces. Most everyone has a DVD player these days.
Photograph Editing	Google Picasa for simple editing Adobe Photoshop CS2 for advanced editing	Picasa is free and has a lot of functionality. Photoshop CS2 is one of the best - the industry standard.

What	Website	Why
Learn how digital cameras work	123di.com	The more you know, the better you'll be able to use your digital camera.
Digital camera reviews	dpreview.com	To help you choose a new camera and to help you optimize the pictures from the camera you already have.
Adobe Photoshop tutorials	about.com,


Original photo taken by Jim Malette in Birch Hollow - it was dark in the slot. You can just barely see a helmet and an outline.	After Shadows (20%) and Highlights (20%) filter adjustments, an object appears.	After Glowing Edges filter - just for fun.