Stories by: Dave Johnson

Panoramas--images that combine a series of photos into a sweeping vista larger or wider than what you could capture in a single photograph--are among the most exciting and unexpected benefits of digital photography.

I've been using programs like Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, and Corel Paint Shop Pro for so many years that I sometimes have trouble remembering what photography was like before the digital age.

Theft comes in many forms, but it doesn't matter whether we're talking about your car or an old cassette tape of Frampton Comes Alive that you left lying around at work; you feel violated either way. Digital photos are no different. I hear stories all the time about people who post photos to online photo sites and later see one of their images gracing some stranger's blog. How can you protect what's rightfully yours?

A lot of photos arrive in my inbox each week -- entries for the Hot Pics of PC World (US). I feel honored to be privy to so many slices of my readers' lives. I see artistically crafted vistas taken on vacation; silly moments with kids and pets; special events like birthdays and proms; and photographic experiments captured on lazy Saturday mornings. Sometimes the entries are even inspired by tips or suggestions from this very newsletter.

If eyes really are the windows into one's soul, then it probably helps to keep those windows bright and clean.

Back in the days when photographers used film and darkrooms, you could control the look of your prints with techniques called dodging and burning.

It's digital photography's very own catch-22: You can't e-mail a full-size 10-megapixel photo to Aunt Carol, because many ISPs don't allow file attachments that large. But when you resize it to a slim, trim 1-megapixel image, it's too small to print at anything bigger than wallet size. When Carol tries to print it out at 8 by 10, she calls you up to complain that the photo is a pixelated mess.

We used to say that seeing is believing. These days, when almost anything can be made to look photorealistic, that quaint expression lacks the sincerity it might have once had. Can you really trust the images you see on magazine covers, on television, and on the Web?

Razor-sharp focus is not always the right prescription for a perfect photo. Adding subtle blur effects can impart a surreal or a romantic tone to your image.

In a perfect world, all the photos we take would emerge from the camera perfectly formed, sharp as a tack, and ready for framing at the Louvre.

For some people, "efficiency" brings to mind a hotel room with a kitchenette. When other folks hear the word, they think about ways to work faster and smarter. I suppose I fall into the second category.