by Pat Wright

While waiting for my Photo books and feeling totally uninspired to do actual work I wandered into Click•Scan•Share’s Create Holiday Cards section. Danger! Too much fun and time disappears quickly. I still have actual work to do. 

It took me about ten minutes to get the hang of how this works. I’ve seen this type of thing before but I never pursued it. One would think I’d have a technical bent but I still can’t even operate a DVD player or other mundane tasks.

And I know if spent a little longer there is so much I could do – but I got the basics:

This was a test run. But I still put a valuable message on it and posted this image to my Facebook page. (2 “Likes” already!) I somehow manage to get all those “lost ferret” calls on the day after Halloween so this is relevant. (Ferrets get out when the trick or treaters rings the doorbell.)

I wonder if my partner would allow a pet-centric Christmas card for this year. Time to get out the silly dog costumes and the camera . . .

Media-sharing via mobile device continues to advance along side technology. We can accomplish more with just our phones than any generation before us, and Viber has taken sight on helping us advance even farther. And though Viber probably won't replace your core text service completely, it's features, and the fact that it is completely free to use, just might entice you to use it more often.

HDR (high-dynamic range) cameras are indispensable when trying to capture high contrast scenes. Dynamic range, for those who don't know, is just a technical term for the ability to capture the highest highs and the lowest lows in a photograph. The result when you aren't using an HDR camera is usually washed out whites on the high end, and black blobs on the low. HDR processing remedies this and makes a middle range solution possible.

Here are the top 5 HDR cameras in no particular order (remember, price doesn't always mean everything):

Panasonic Lumix GX1

A good camera for those on a budget (about $500), but well worth the price. The Panasonic Lumix DX1 has a 16 megapixel sensor and utilizes the "micro four thirds" system, or MFT, a standard created by Olympus and Panasonic (you can read more here). It has a nice 3" touch screen and comes with a stock 14-42mm lens that shoots wide-angle and has a bit of a zoom. Overall, a good camera if you are just beginning.

Nikon D7000

This high-res camera is a great camera for under a grand. It always gets positive reviews from users, and it's really no wonder why. The D7000 is another superior camera for a beginner. It's simple to use, but packs a wallop in regards to features (16.2mp, 3" LCD screen, high-speed 6 frame shooting, and shoots well in low light). The Nikon D7000 comes in around $900, but is worth every penny of it.

Sony Nex-7

Another good camera, but one that is on the high end of the price spectrum (about $1100) in regards to what is considered "good." It has a 24 megapixel lens, a 3" LCD screen, and a thousand features that it's hard to believe you get for such a low price, honestly. A perfect all around camera that delivers on quality and comes in at a great price.

Nikon D800

Moving up the scale, we get to a top notch camera that many photogs favor. This gem of the camera world runs around three grand and is a bit more traditional looking as a camera, but it shoots 36 megapixels. Honestly, this camera can pretty much do it all (even run 1080p video), and why wouldn't it for $3000?

Canon EOS 5D Mark III 

Up the scale once more and we get to a camera that may be one of the best on the market (no fighting!). The Canon EOS runs about $3300, depending on where you get it, and has 22.3 Megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor, a 63 zone dual-layer metering sensor, HD video, and a lovely 3.2" LCD monitor with a 170° viewing angle, and on, and on, and on. It also makes you pancakes on demand (okay... that's a lie, but this baby sure can take pictures).

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