I hope you had a fun and safe Thanksgiving holiday with your family. I'm still getting my house back in order after nearly a week of family visits! Now we are just four short weekends away from Christmas. Since holiday shopping is probably on your mind, this month's newsletter will focus on what is hot for holiday gifts and where to find the best deals.

Holiday Photo Cards

If you haven't gotten your Christmas cards yet, there is still time to order personalized holiday photo cards (and photo gifts) at great discounts. Throw in the Thanksgiving photos you need to get printed and get everything done at once. Several companies are also offering free shipping on all photo products. I've listed the major deals on photo printing services below.

Photo Ornaments

A fun, inexpensive gift for friends, teachers, grandparents or your children is a photo Christmas ornament. I have seen some really nice pewter and porcelain ornaments with a photo embedded (in the case of porcelain the photos are imprinted right on the porcelain). Most are under $15 and they make unique Christmas tree ornaments. I think it would be fun to have a new ornament each year with your kids' photo. Snapfish and Kodak Gallery have the best selection, including a variety of porcelain and antiqued pewter ornaments. Shutterfly also offers a nice pewter ornament and PhotoWorks is the only one with a ball-type ornament with your photo printed on one side. I've put up a special page with more info on all the photo ornament options and where to get them.

Digital Photo Frames

Digital photo frames seem to be one of the most popular gifts this year. What a versatile way to display your favorite photos! A digital picture frame has a photo-size LCD panel that displays your photos. You plug it in, insert a memory card with your photos, and then select a single photo or a group of photos that can be shown as a slide show. Some frames have built-in memory that lets you store the images within the frame so you don't have to keep your memory card attached.

What to Look for When Buying a Digital Photo Frame

You can get different frame sizes with display areas ranging from approx. 5 1/2 inches (measured diagonally) to about 10 inches. An important thing to consider when buying a digital picture frame is the size of the images in megapixels that you will be displaying. Smaller frames generally don't have high enough resolutions for images over 6 megapixels. So if you have a 7MP or higher camera, look for a larger frame -- an 8 to 10 inch screen is recommended. Most models will accept a variety of memory options including Compact Flash, Memory Stick and SD cards. Be sure to buy a frame that supports the same type of memory card as your camera.

For more information on digital frames, read my page on digital photo frame comparisons to find the best features and value for your money.

Digital Cameras, Printers and Accessories

Retailers are cutting prices on digital cameras, printers and accessories. There are so many good deals, and they keep changing, so I put up a special page featuring current sales and discounts. One of the best deals is from Kodak. They are offering 25% off Kodak all-in-one printers and free shipping on all products (except printers). There are also excellent deals from Ritz Camera and Wal-mart.

Best Selling Digital Cameras

Amazon.com's current top selling cameras are:

1. Canon PowerShot A570IS 7.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom - $157.94
2. Canon PowerShot SD1000 7.1MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Silver) - $178.15
3. Canon PowerShot A560 7.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom - $134.94
4. Canon PowerShot SD850 IS 8.0 MP Digital Elph Camera with 4x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom - $258.99
5. Canon PowerShot A720IS 8MP Digital Camera with 6x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom - $199.53

While it may seem that Canon has the lock on the digital camera market, there are other great cameras like the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 - 7.2 MP superzoom. 10x optical zoom, 280 mm telephoto and 3 inch LCD screen (Cost: $260-350) and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 (Cost: $449-$600) as well as the Nikon D40 - 6.1 Megapixel Compact D-SLR (cost $496-$650). See my list of top rated digital cameras here.

Have a great week and Happy Holidays!

Valerie
www.digitalphotos101.com
How to get the best from your digital camera

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