Sure, shooting pictures is fun-–but showing them off to family and friends is the real payoff. And while you can always go the traditional route and pass a pack of 4x6 prints around the room, there are more streamlined, easy-to-access and, let's face it, impressive ways to share your shots. Here are some of our favorites.
Create a Digital Slide Show on CD
Digital photo slide shows aren't like those boring old family slide presentations where you were held captive for hours by your dad and a noisy projector. With cool transitions, panning and zooming effects and a funky soundtrack, the latest digital slide shows are a wonderful way to enjoy pictures together, or send to friends and family on CD or DVD.
There are plenty of programs available for creating slide shows, but we especially like Adobe Photoshop Elements ($99). Already one of our favorite image-editing programs, Elements 5.0 borrows from its video-editing brand cousin Adobe Premiere Elements to make creating truly cinematic slide shows easy and fun.
Order a Photo Book or Make One Yourself
Today you can either upload your photos to an online service and order a bound photo book or enjoy the pleasure of creating your own bound photo album.
If you're ordering online, there are great options on both the low end and the deluxe side. At Apple's online store (store.apple.com), for example, you can order a 20-page palm-size, paperback book for $3.99. It makes a perfect remembrance of a family gathering or the ideal thank-you.
On the other hand, we were knocked out by the luxurious quality of the Legacy Photo Book offered at Kodak's online gallery (kodakgallery.com). Starting at $70 for 20 pages, these 12x14-inch lifelong keepsakes are printed on premium paper and hardboard in linen or leather.
Print at a Party
Every time we go to a party these days, people are passing their digital cameras around so the other guests can admire photos from the event on a tiny screen. How much cooler would it be to actually print out copies of your best shots and hand them out?
The Canon Selphy CP730 ($150) makes that easy, even if there's no electrical outlet for miles. This compact little printer (it weighs less than three pounds) turns out beautiful 4x6 prints in under a minute each. And with the optional rechargeable battery pack ($70), you can take the Selphy to a soccer game, picnic or into the car and print on the go.
Post to a Photo-Sharing Site
Uploading your pictures to an online site to share with your nearest and dearest has definitely improved recently. First off, more and more sites (notably Flickr and Photobucket.com) now let you upload cell phone pics directly, so you can share your adventures scant moments after they occur.
And second, we dearly love Shutterfly's new Studio software, which offers all the photo-editing and organizing features most users will need, makes uploading photos to shutterfly.com extremely easy, and sells for the tempting price of free.
Share Via Instant Messaging
E-mailing photos back and forth works, but it can easily overfill the recipient's inbox, especially if you're sending full-resolution photos, and some users are wary of large file attachments in these virus-plagued days. A handy alternative: start a free instant messaging session (using AOL Instant Messenger, Microsoft Windows Live Messenger or Yahoo Messenger), and you can either drag-and-drop files from your computer into the open conversation window or choose File Transfer from the program menu and choose the file to send.
Carry a Portable Viewer
Carrying a few snapshots isn't much of a challenge, but what if you want hundreds, or even thousands, of images at your fingertips? This is a job for a portable multimedia player! The iPod is one possibility, though its 2.5-inch screen doesn't offer much room to admire your photographic treasures. We prefer the new Creative Zen Vision W, with its brilliant 4.3-inch widescreen display and support for photos, music and video. The 30-gigabyte version sells for $400, the 60-gigabyte for $500.