I'm glad to hear that other people buy post cards, too! I've been doing that for years but wondered if it was tacky. I put the post cards in my photo albums right along with the photos. That way I know for sure that I have beautiful pictures of the places we have visited. And, as someone else already mentioned, often you are not allowed to photograph interiors of churches, so I definitely buy post cards of those. Such as the interior of St. Mary's Church in Krakow, which is absolutely stunning!

I love digital with respect to storing and organizing. The digital images never fade. I can organize and annotate to my heart's content on my pc at no cost, other than my time. I do usually print a book from each destination, so there is something to show people who don't have computers. I even save the pictures that are less than perfect (except for those when someone forgot to take off the lens cap), as there is no cost involved.

This reminds me. Despite our best efforts at keeping notes, we have been unable to identify one of our favorite pictures, which I am almost certain is from the Louvre. What's frustrating is that the title placard is in the picture, but the resolution is just not good enough to read. I have put it on a web page at

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/wbrown...nt/photos.html

If anyone knows this piece, please identify it for me.

Patrick, you may have a good point, but is it that bad?

Have not run into that issue yet - I try to give myself plenty of elbow room when taking pictures. LW always gets pissed with me trying to "wait forever" until cars or just a few more people have left the frame!

I don't "draw the line" - I'm one of those people who just cannot bear to throw away photos I've taken, especially from my precious trips to the U.K., so I usually end up keeping virtually all of them, even the not-so-great shots. I enjoy taking the pictures, and just can't seem to make myself let go of any as my hand trembles over the trash can. What if I never see that place again in my life, I want to mae sure my visit is well documented. My advice is, don't leave the photos you've already taken in boxes, that is the kiss of death and such a waste of the time, effort and expense you've already invested. Take the time to put them into photo albums, but make sure it's the acid-free type with slip-in pockets. DO NOT use those albums with the sticky "magnetic" pages as the glue will destroy the color pigments in your prints over time. I also take the time to label my photos as soon as possible after a trip, using my travel journal, brochures and travel guides to refresh my memory, so when I look at the pictures next year - and I will - I can remember exactly which castle or famous person's birthplace that was. However having said that, for future traveling, I agree with the others here that digital is the way to go. If you don't have a printer or aren't satisfied with the qaulity of the prints you get from printing out your "best of" digital shots, there are lots of websites where you can upload your digital images and order prints & enlargements at very reasonable prices. I've used Snapfish and have been very happy with the prints they did for me.

Oh, and as for buying postcards as you mentioned as a possible alternative - I buy them also, mainly to have photos of places they don't let you take pictures at - like inside many buildings - and the big images that were taken from helicopters or such, but they can't replace the real photos we take and certainly can't replace the precious photos of oneself in front of the special place you are visiting.

That's why I switched to digital. I can shoot to my heart's content and then just cull the bad shots that night or crop to the good parts when I get home. Then I store them on a disk and an online site for friends to see. No more shoe boxes of photos or albums with no titles. Keep taking those photos; you never know when one of your gems might win you a prize from a travel contest!

I personally can never take enough photos. I'm a bit of a camera junky. Now I bring a SLR and digital on vacation. If it's a beach trip, I even have an inexpensive underwater that I bring along. I also put my photos in an album as soon as possible so I don't forget where the photos were taken (expecially if a multi-location trip), I try to make notes of where the photos were taken, etc. Now I have my 2 children into taking photos too, so many times they are in charge of the cameras (and each tend to take photos of the same things!). If I can take photos, I may pick up a postcard or 2 and in museums I frequently buy a book of their collections.

With the digital photos, I upload them to one of the printing sites and invite family and friends to view. If they don't care to look at them, they don't have to, but most of them actually do. As for my albums, we don't look at them all that often but I still like to have them.

I also get rid of the poor shots or extra similar shots.

<b>WARNING!</b> Back up your digital images to more than one medium.

It is quite certain that some CDs and DVDs do not last long enough to archive photographs for any significant length of time. In general, you get what you pay for, but suffice it to say that some disks deteriorate within a very few years, and you can't tell by looking at them which ones they are. Since digital media have been around for such a short time, no one knows for certain how long the ones that have lasted five years so far are going to last into the future.

I keep all of mine on the hard drive and back them up to a fresh DVD when I have added a recent vacation to the collection.

(While I've got the floor, I might as well remind you to <i>verify that you can read the copy</i> before you erase your camera's memory.)

I think it's such a personal thing. I personally believe that film is relatively cheap, and I don't buy a lot of souveniers on vacation, my pictures are my souveniers and reminders of the trip. I have a digital, but it just doesn't always do the things I want/need it to do!! You'll laugh, but 99% of the time, we get off the plane and drop the film off before we even get home. After an hour, I put the pictures in an album, and then over the next few month I make a scrapbook with all the pictures and postcards (yes, me too!), and other things I have collected along the journey. Mostly it's so I can relive my travels, but I hope that someday my kids and grandkids will get a kick out of it, and know exactly where we went if they ever return to those places. I got such a kick when I was in Germany to try to find the places and objects my father took pictures of 20 years before.
After I finish the scrapbook, I get rid of the excess, though I do save the negatives. But I have also gone back and had prints made later.

Just my thoughts.....

Patrick, I just heard a comedian commenting on the epidemic of the lack of civil in our civilisation and he specifically talked about people on their cell phones. He said now when someone starts screaming into their cell phone, he reaches into his pocket, pulls out a small tape recorder and points it at them. Shuts them up everytime! I guess they don't care if we hear but they don't want us to listen. I think I will start giving them advice to share with the person on the other end. &quot;She didn't like her hair? Have her try my hairdresser, his name is Mac and ...&quot;

I now return you to your normal discussion.

Diane

Guess you heard about the guy who stopped at a rest area to use the bathroom. He went into the stall and the guy in the next stall said, &quot;Hi. How are you?&quot; &quot;OK&quot; the startled man said. &quot;Everything going all right?&quot; asked the voice. &quot;Well, yea.&quot; the man answered. At that point the man in the next stall was heard to say, &quot;Hold on a minute will you Blanche. Some fool in the next stall keeps talking to me.&quot;

Love that tape recorder idea edhodge.

A couple weeks ago in the Admiral's Club in Dallas, I was amazed at a businessman who was actually conducting a business interview on his hands free phone. He didn't merely sit in a chair to do this, he paced all about the lounge filled with people. His voice was booming and we were all treated to his questions about job experience, goals, blah, blah, blah. It was simply amazing that anyone could be that oblivious to the rights of others.

Sorry, guess I'm way off topic from the original post now.

I switched to digital a couple of years ago. I find I take more pictures because they don't cost me anything until I want to print the good ones.

And now it's so easy to get professional prints. Sams Club has the best prices I've found so far ($.18 per 4x6 print.)

I just read an article a couple of days ago stating that the new x-ray machines for checked luggage are using technology that will ruin exposed film. It was suggested that since so many people are going digital it wouldn't be a major problem, as long as people are aware. Sorry I can't recall the newspaper, most likely the NY Times or SF Chronicle.

Fltboy- me too! I put together a photo album with pictures, ticket stubs maps,and use my journmal notes to caption. I have one shelf where they all go, and any time I want a 5 minute vacation, I take one down. I have not switched to digital - I love that National Geographic throw aways description. I don't want to view the shots I want to take it and worry about sorting them out later, say on my living room floor. Sure I have my &quot;Legend of Sleepy Hollow&quot; phases (scary, headless pictures) but some great surprises of how on-target, and in-the-moment I often was. I think the hardest thing was when the photo shop gave me double prints of my entire Grand Canyon visit. It's not like you can really send your amateur shots to people. I used as many as I could. It took me a long time to finally throw out many of hte little 3X4 duplicates. How do you throw away The Grand Canyon?

I read an article or something on TV about how some historians were lamenting the digital age because people are discarding &quot;imperfect&quot; pictures when some of those are the ones they like the best later or end up historically significant. The Smithonian has a bunch of them and are sorry that they may be no more in the future.

In other words...don't be in a hurry to throw out those pictures you don't like ...

Joelle

I agree. Having just upgraded my computer and scanner, I'm looking forward to going back over decades' worth of duds (all the black and white negatives from my teenage years!) to see what can be retrieved by judicious cropping and adjustment - the wonders of digital imaging, eh?

When cropping and enhancing my digital photos (or old photos I've scanned) I always do a &quot;save as&quot; and keep the originals intact. I burn the originals to a CD so I always have them.

You never know when that old pic of Grandpa that you cropped and enhanced to get a nice face shot will prove more interesting later when you want some of the background included.

If only my software had a &quot;slimming&quot; function when I pretty up a picture.

Well, I haven't gone digital yet, but since Canon is now coming out with a new digital SLR I am planning on it soon. As for shooting film, I don't find the cost of film expensive at all, even for pro film, since I buy from B&amp;H, but processing is another story.

I am one who believes wholeheartedly in really working a subject. I will always try to get some type of shot of important travel sights, even if the conditions are not all that great (e.g., mid-day sun or overcast), but I have learned what to expect enough that I will not waste film if the conditions are not right as to subject, lighting, etc.). If the conditions are right, I like to use multiple lenses with important subjects and try all kinds of compositions. I am a lot more likely to get just the right shot that way. As for things that can't be worked in this way, I have some &quot;rules&quot; that I go by. For example, I will likely be more pleased with a closeup of a person if I shoot vertically.

I buy postcards as a habit (kind of a collection I suppose), especially of subjects where I can't shoot or don't have the right equipment or conditions to do a good job. Honestly, they rarely match my own shots though because they don't capture my experience.

Where I fall down on the job is capturing the traveling aspects of the trip (e.g., hopping on the train). With young kids traveling along, it is enough of a job to handle all the luggage, tickets, and the kids to keep me from pulling out the camera. I am also so tired in the evenings that I rarely pull out the camera in the hotel room.

For the most part, I feel that photography greatly enhances my experience (although lately, I have been picking up the camera a little less to just take in the environment). I notice things like beautiful light a lot more when I am trying to find a good subject to photograph, and it makes me slow down and see everything around me.

AnselmAdorne, we're like you in that we bring an iBook laptop with us when we travel. We've found it greatly enhances our trip experience every night to download the photos from the digital camera on to the computer and run a little iPhoto slide show of what we did each day. Often we travel with a few friends, and this is a nice way to relive the memories together and comment on the day.

When we're home, we have a computer set up where we can see the trip photos as a continuous slide show / screen saver. Again, it is so much fun to be able to relive the trip and remember how it felt to be sipping wine in that sidewalk cafe or viewing a magnificent landscape or cathedral.

We have gradually moved away from film altogether. It's so easy to get prints of any pictures you want, but our photos are much more part of our lives when they're easily accessible on the computer.

Also, of course, it's great to share digital photos with friends and family. You can just post them on the web and if they want to see them, fine, but if they aren't interested, that's okay too.