6. ADJUST LIGHTING AND CONTRAST

Some of your photos may have come out washed out or too dark. You can automatically adjust color, brightness and contrast of your photos. The better programs like Photoshop Album 2.0, Jasc and ACDSEE also have tools for making manual adjustments for fine-tuning. Be careful not to overdo it, though, or your picture could come out grainy.

7. PREPARE TO SHARE

There are a number of ways to share your images. Several programs, like Roxio Photo Suite 7, ACDSEE7, Photoshop Album and Paint Shop Photo Album allow you to create digital photo albums or slide shows, complete with music, transitions and captions. You can burn them to CD or resize and optimize for emailing directly from program.

Online photo services such as PhotoWorks, Shutterfly, Snapfish and Kodak EasyShare Gallery (Ofoto) also let you share your photos on line, for free. You simply upload your images to their server into your own photo albums and add captions if you wish. Then email your friends with a link to your albums. With most of online services your photos stay on their servers as long as you have an account with them, for free. Signing up for an account is free, you only pay for photos you choose to purchase.

For hardcore photo sharers, there are also dedicated photo sharing applications such as PiXPO v1.5.0, which lets you share photos right off your hard drive. This is a peer to peer software application that allows you to connect directly with your friends and family to share and view pictures online with no uploads. Unlike traditional photo sharing services, you have unlimited storage and you don't have to upload your photos to a distant server or wait for friends to log onto some photo sharing site. The application is easy to install and use and it's inexpensive, around $30. PC Magazine rated it an Editor's Choice in their January 3, 2005 issue.

Both versions of game can be purchased and participated in by those interested in this British construction. The milder form of Croquet is great for family reunions, company parties, birthday parties and other get-togethers. The classy 6-wicket Croquet is typically played in clubs where membership fees can pay to maintain manicured greens. With well documented rules for both versions one can easily learn how to play Croquet at any level, although it may be preferable for beginners to start with a more basic set of rules. A simpler version of game called Golf Croquet can be easily learned and game time can be as short as 30 minutes. Domestic and international rules apply to club and tournament play and slightly differ from one another.

Croquet has truly transformed into a gentlemen’s, and for that matter, a lady’s sport, requiring physical skills similar to those found in billiards and golf, yet strategic mind of a chess player. George Gershwin would be proud to see progress of Croquet in America and perhaps even respect mainstream attention that it has received, I’m sure he was a croquet enthusiast.