Feature: Last-Minute Holiday Gifts
I love everything about this time of year. In my house, I get no fewer than three lavish holiday feasts in the space of six weeks. All the restaurants start serving muffins, pies, and ice cream in my favorite flavor (pumpkin) and, of course, there are all those exciting gifts to open.
I know what I want this year. But in case you're still adding to your own holiday wish list, or you're searching for goodies to give to your favorite digital photographer, read on for this year's edition of my last-minute holiday gift ideas.
New Image Editing Programs
It must be that time of year, because the big image editing suites have been "revved." You can read about all the new programs in "Do More With Digital Photos."
Adobe has released Photoshop Elements 3, which integrates some clever new tools and the formerly stand-alone Photoshop Album image organizer. I found it for about $80 to $100 at the PC World Product Finder.
Microsoft offers Digital Image Suite 10, which adds a sophisticated color toolset that improves on traditional Level and Curve controls, plus an insanely easy panorama stitching tool that automatically arranges the pictures in the right sequence for you. (In the interest of full disclosure, I am a Microsoft employee.) It's selling for about $100 to $135.
The newest version of Ulead's PhotoImpact 10 has a very cool feature that lets you "stack" pictures with different exposure settings to capture images that have a dramatically higher exposure range than would generally be possible. It's available at the Ulead Web site for $90.
And Jasc rolled out Paint Shop Pro 9--right before the whole company became a part of Corel in October. The updated package comes complete with a phenomenal "undo anything" feature that lets you selectively undo a single step in the undo history without reverting the entire process. I found it for about $90 to $120 at the PC World Product Finder.
Stocking Stuffers
Looking for something less expensive than an image editor? You can't go wrong giving someone a media card to expand their shooting capacity. Flash memory like CompactFlash and Secure Digital Card has never been cheaper, making this a good year to put 256MB or 512MB in someone's stocking. At PC World's Product Finder, I found a 256MB SD Card for--are you sitting down?--less than $30. Likewise, you can find a 1GB card for about $70 and up. I still cringe when I remember how I spent $500 for a 1GB card just a couple of years ago.
Know what goes great with media cards? An external reader for your desktop PC--you could put away your camera's USB cable and just copy pictures via the card. You can't help but trip over these devices at any computer or office supply store. Make sure that the one you buy is USB 2.0 compatible; it should be a lot faster than a USB 1.1 device (assuming that the computer has a USB 2.0 port). I like SanDisk's ImageMate 8-in-1 Reader/Writer, which sells for about $20 to $40.
Memory cards and memory card readers are certainly appreciated--sort of like the way people appreciate socks and ties--but if you want to give a memorable gift, give something unusual that'll spark a little creativity. Try a special effects lens from Lensbabies, for instance. The company's add-on lens works with a variety of different cameras to let you selectively blur certain parts of a picture. You can order a Lensbaby for $96 at the company's Web site.
An add-on flash can also get the creative juices flowing. For example, a slave flash like the Phoenix D91-BZS ($99) can be set to fire anytime your camera's built-in flash goes off, dramatically extending your range. I reviewed this model not too long ago.
Get a Good Book
Finally, it's time for my annual plug. My editor lets me do this only once a year, and even then it's only because I send him a fruitcake. If you know someone who just got a new digital camera, what better gift than a copy of my best-selling book, How to Do Everything with Your Digital Camera (McGraw-Hill/Osbourne, 2003, 877/833-5524)? It's $16 well spent--and it's eligible for free shipping if included in a $25 order from Amazon.com.
Ad Choices