Cliff's Corner 1 - For some of my favorite photos, with tips, visit Cliff's Corner 2

Solving PC Issues - If your PC is running slow or having issues, visit Solving PC Issues to learn how to safeguard your PC, keep it tuned and fix common PC problems. Plus: What's all the hype about Windows 7?

Improve Your Photography - Photographs preserve memories of good times and special occasions, all of which happen only once. With a little effort, you can dramatically improve your skills and the quality of your pictures so that your photo collection becomes extra-special. It's certainly worth the effort. Photography has been my favorite hobby since the early '60s. It's fun and has been very rewarding. In 2004, I made the switch to digital, mainly for the ability to edit and print for the exact results I want. This is the greatest benefit of digital photography. Don't miss out on it!

Five Basic Tips - 1) Most cameras have useful and nice features that you'll never know about unless you read the manual. So read it front to back. Surprisingly, most people don't do this. 2) From your local bookstore, buy a book about basic digital photography. You will learn some great techniques, such as composition to frame and balance each scene for better results. 3) Don't just point and shoot. Think about each shot and make it count. 4) Use photo editing software to improve and organize your photos. 5) Back up your photos to CD or DVD so you don't lose them if your hard drive fails.

Editing and Managing Photos - In the days of film, people took far fewer photos, as there were only 24 or 36 shots on a roll. Plus film was expensive to buy, process and print. The smart hobbyist tossed the bad prints and put the good ones into photo albums for easy chronological viewing. With digital you don't have these limitations or costs. So everybody just shoots away, resulting in hundreds or thousands of photos in a very short time. This makes organizing a nightmare. But it doesn't have to be that way. Where to start? 1) Use a good photo software program. This will make editing a breeze and allow you view your photos in an album format, a very convenient feature. I use ACDSee which has a clean interface and excellent editing features, but the free Google Picasa is very good and has most of what you need. 2) Learn how to crop, straighten, fix redeye and enhance your photos. This will make the difference between having average or excellent photos in your collection. 3) When first viewing your photos, just keep the best few of each event and delete the rest. For example, you might take 50 photos of a birthday party and cull this down to 10-15. This is a great start toward photo management. When people visit PhotoPages or view my photo albums, they often comment that I take such good pictures. That's when I tell them that the secret to being a good photographer is knowing which pictures to throw away!

Buying a Camera - I own three digital cameras. My Nikon DSLR is my primary camera, but I often switch to my lighter Nikon super-zoom or sub-compact Sony when it is more convenient. For most people, I recommend owning two cameras: 1) Your primary camera should be mid-size, like the popular Canon S Series (about $250), with a powerful flash and a long zoom. 2) A sub-compact with belt case (or in purse for the ladies) is a great second camera for when you need to lighten up. For the serious hobbyist, an affordable entry level Digital SLR camera is the way to go, but they are not for point and shooters. DSLRs are larger, heavier and loaded with features that can overwhelm you. If you go this route, pick up a basic DSLR book at your local book store. Whichever camera you buy, learn how to use it by reading the manual front-to-back. Otherwise, you're shooting in the dark!

Converting Prints & Movies - Use a scanner to transfer old photo prints to your PC to preserve them and share with others (yourself growing up, your parents, etc). Click here to learn how. Some photo shops can convert your slides, photos and 8mm or VHS movies to digital CD or DVD format. I recently had all of my slides and movies transferred to DVDs for easy viewing on a TV or computer.

Sharing Photos - As you already know, it's not convenient to share photos stored in your PC. I suggest doing it the old fashioned way and keeping your selected best pictures in photo albums. Albums are a visual history of your family, friends and vacations. Plus it's easy to pass them on to your children. Posting photos online is a great way to share the very best of your pictures: 1) You can post a limited number of photos at one time with an online service like Snapfish. 2) You can get a free web space from your internet service provider, again with limited space. 3) For about $5 a month, you can host a web site like PhotoPages with unlimited space, allowing your online album to grow. Some even provide free site building software. Just do a web search for "personal web hosts" to find one that suits you.

Safeguarding Photos - I cannot stress enough the importance of backing up your digital photos to CD or DVD. A friend recently lost all of his digital photos, five years worth, when his hard drive crashed. Every single photo lost forever! Don't make this mistake. Click here for some good photo tips and learn how to back up to DVD or CD. I recommend using a DVD writer (about $50) as a DVD holds seven times more data than a CD.

In Closing - Remember that when it comes to photography, a little effort goes a long way and you will be nicely rewarded as your photo collection grows. For more than forty years, photography has given me much pleasure, with the added benefit of recording many very special moments of my life. And PhotoPages gives me an easy way to share my photos with family and friends.

A Little Humor - This 'Pearls Before Swine' strip sums it all up!

Move on to Cliff's Corner 2 for some of my favorite photos, with tips.