A Parent's New Favorite Pastime: Digital Pictures

A Parent's New Favorite Pastime: Digital Pictures

(ARA) - Face it: parents love to document their children's lives so that they can share the images with friends and relatives all over the country. And, when you add digital photos to the mix, it's even easier to do.

Just ask Derek Whiteside, a 33 year-old father of two daughters, Alice, who just turned two, and six-month old Helen. An entrepreneur at heart, Whiteside spent the last five years establishing and managing a boutique beer and wine shop that he recently sold.

So, as he ponders his next business adventure -- likely something service oriented he says -- in addition to caring for two young daughters, he fills his time by using his PC to enjoy all kinds of entertainment, especially digital photography.

"I have a sassy new computer in the living room," Whiteside says proudly.

But in the Whiteside household, the PC does way more than serve as a gateway to the Internet and a repository for spreadsheets and other documents: powered by Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows Vista, Whiteside's computer is his family's photography nerve center.

Using a Canon Powershot digital camera, Whiteside has rendered the shoeboxes full of photos stacked on closet shelves as relevant as the rotary telephone. "We've been comfortable with digital photography since before the girls were born," he says. Drawing on Windows Vista, he uses the PC to organize photos in several ways -- by the month they were taken, for example, or by subject matter - and shares photos with family and friends across the nation via email. One of Whiteside's more noteworthy recipients of his photographs is his 87 year-old grandmother, who recently bought a computer.

Whiteside also enjoys the ability to edit his photos instantly, resizing, for example, and eliminating red-eye.

"One of the great things about Windows Vista is that it has functionality for photography, music and home theater built into the system," Whiteside says. "Having an operating system that can do those kinds of things easily is very nice."

And, he adds, the entire operation is integrated into the living room. "There are no wires showing," he says. "It looks pretty. It has a lot of polish."

Finally, Whiteside is wading into the world of video chatting, following the lead of his sister-in-law's family. "They're into it," he says. "It's a really fun thing to do and only requires a Web cam, which is pretty affordable. It's sort of like the Jetsons."

For more information on Microsoft Windows Vista, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/features/memories.mspx.

Courtesy of ARAcontent