>The only problem with really good quality photos on a website is the length >of time to download them. They can be cropped, if necessary to reduce the >file size and download time.
Bob makes a good point here. (At the risk of boring too many subscribers with technical discussion on digital photography, anyone who could care less can delete this message now. If you're interested in discussing further, please contact me offline.) Digicams are wonderful for a couple main reasons. They allow the photographer to view shots immediately and to discard any with obvious imperfections like poor focus or exposure. They also eliminate the ongoing cost of film and processing (and the frustration of having paid money to develop and print out of focus or poorly exposed shots ;-) Most digicams also save directly into JPEG file formats, which are one of the two primary graphic file types used for web sites. However, the photographer not only needs to crop judiciously, but *lower* the effective resolution of a digicam shot. Whether it's intended for a web site or as an email attachment, not many people will have the patience to wait 20 minutes or longer for a 2 or 3 megabyte file to download. Especially if it ends up being out of focus or poorly exposed. As a web site designer, one of my main tasks is to create component graphics that are deliberately small, making for quick downloads and a speedy site. For example, the photos used on the WAFF site in Wes's Rocky Ford, Mike Santangelo's Situk Steelhead, and Leland's popper articles are typically 7 to 10 kb (yes, kilobytes!) in size and none more than 15 to 20 kb. Their download time can be measured in tenths of a second. A key when using a digicam to create optimized web graphics is to edit your photos using the image editing software that comes with many digicams, or with standalone software like Microsoft's low-end PhotoDraw or Adobe's high-end PhotoShop. Such editors let you *scale* your image to a size appropriate for it's intended purpose. For example, a 3 mb file created by a typical newer digicam will measure about 16 x 12 inches at 72 dpi (computer monitor resolution.) That 3 mb file can take 20 minutes to download using a 56kb modem and phone line. Instead, determine the size you wish the photo to appear online, and then use the image editor to scale it to that size. For instance, that same 3 mb file can be scaled down to 4 x 3 inches at 72 dpi and it'll be only about 20kb when you 'save as' another JPEG file. Hope this helps, Kent Lufkin
