First of all, you do not need to learn how to work with Camera Raw format. That format offers you abilities to do work on an image that a JPG doesn't, but if you mostly want to publish photos on the Web, then working with good quality JPGs is going to be quite sufficient. And yes, digital cameras all produce some degree of "noise" in images. It works pretty much the same way as film does: the higher the light sensitivity (ASA) the more visible the grain or "noise" becomes. So if you are setting your camera with a very high light sensitivity, 1600 ASA for example, the noise ("graininess") in the photos will go way up. Setting the sensitivity as low as you can is always advisable as long as it doesn't compromise your getting a sharp, clear image. Getting a good image depends on three basic factors: 1) shutter speed - the duration of the opening of the shutter must be as short as possible, within reason, to eliminate any motion of the subject or shaking of the camera operator's hands. Generally you want to use a shutter speed of at least 1/125 of a second or less. 2) depth of field - this controls how sharp the photo is by determining how much of the subject from closest-to-camera to furthest-from-camera is within the range of focus of the lens. Depth of field is determined by how small a lens opening (aperture) you set. It is usually a balancing act between shutter speed and aperture to get lots of depth of field and still use a fast enough shutter speed to eliminate any motion. Most inexpensive digital cameras don't allow you much (or any) control over these settings and simply make a decision for you. This isn't always ideal, but you may not get a full range of features from a camera in your affordability range. If possible, look for a camera that does allow you some manual control. 3) image quality settings - set the ISO/ASA ("film speed" or light sensitivity) as low as lighting conditions will allow. I personally enjoy shooting under overcast conditions which I feel best displays the full range of color of flowers and eliminates hard shadows and highlights. On a cloudy day you can often get a much more painterly look than a bright day. This means you may have to set the camera's light sensitivity to a higher setting, like 400 ASA/ISO or even higher, in order to get both a fast shutter speed and reasonable depth of field. (Keep in mind that depth of field is optional for some kinds of photos: sometimes you don't want everything to be sharply in focus from front to back, and so you may want to shoot with the lens wide open = very little depth of field) Under cloudy conditions I will often set the camera sensitivity to 400 or even 800 if necessary. If you are very lucky and the air is very still, you can use a tripod and leave the ASA/ISO setting way down at 100 (or however low your camera allows) and when you do that, you are reducing the "noise" in the image to minimum. I work exclusively with a Nikon D80 and I find that at its lowest ASA/ISO (which is 100) I can get a very large image that shows next to no noise. Even when I turn up the sensitivity to 800, I can still get a very good image with very little image noise. Its only when I turn sensitivity up to 1600 or more that image noise becomes very noticeable. A few other points: Jeri mentioned image editing software. Your needs are probably going to be very basic at the start and so perhaps Photoshop Elements might be all you need. I'm not sure what other tools might be available in the cheap-to-free range. I gather that Google's Picasa offers the basic photo editing tools. See link below. If you are up to grappling with a fairly steep learning curve, there is a free Photoshop type editing suite called The Gimp and it is almost as powerful as the full Photoshop suite, minus a few of the tools and filters. There are plenty of tutorials online to help you learn how to use it. Also, as Cass mentioned, if you are working on an OS X iMac (as I do) then you can do many image manipulations using the built in iPhoto tools. I can't tell you much about iPhoto though, since I use Photoshop CS4 as my tool of choice. If you can get your head around the idea of buying a used camera, you will undoubtedly get a lot more camera for your money. You might be lucky enough to get a DSLR for what you have to spend. I sold my Nikon D70 two years ago for less than half what I paid for it and the person who bought it got a really good deal. It was an excellent camera and I'm sure it still has years of service in it. So, you may want to consider buying second hand. People often sell their current camera to upgrade to a newer, more capable one (as I did) and there is absolutely nothing wrong with the camera they are selling, they just want to move up a level. Finally, if you already have an understanding of the basics of film camera photography, then you already know most of what is important in digital photography. All of the same basic principles apply to both, its just a matter of learning how to use the specific camera controls to get what you need from a digital. No need to be intimidated by digital imaging, especially if you have a friend who cam teach you along the way. Regards, Paul B. Here is a link that might be useful: Picasa

Heidi, I followed your links back to you album and can't see a way to post the individual pictures on here but am able to post a link to the album that you have the pictures you were trying to post from earlier. Without further ado, here is Heidi and her family! (see link below) All of you are adorable. I especially love your little pancake helper and Donald Duck Jr. The boys are so cute! You and your hubby look so happy in your wedding photo. you have a wonderful family!

I don't know your market and certainly can't tell you what your home should sell for, but it should show very nicely if you can do just a little for the curb appeal. If the neighborhood is good and desirable, it's too bad you aren't enjoying it, but someone else should. I suspect the realtors are having a hard time because of a difficult market and/or the fact that your charming studio could be worth nothing to one buyer and worth a great deal to another. You'll need to play it up for the later. By way of example, we are facing a 25% increase in our appraised value this year because the only two homes to sell in the last 2 years have been very large corner lots with huge backyards on a greenbelt. As our area develops out, lots are getting smaller and there are some folks who will pay a HUGE premium for a large lot and a greebelt. My backyard though, on the oppposite side of the street, is small. I have to go in and argue that the recent comps on my street are not as accurate for my home as the next street over. Some neighbors are protesting and others are not -- they want to refi and remodel. The appraisal picture will continue to get fuzzier as the area ages. Back to your home and getting it sold. From what you have shown, the inside is lovely and the studio is charming -- play them up, but you have to get folks inside to do that. That means doing what you can to help the curb appeal and draw them in. If you can't paint the whole house and fix everything, try to fix anything that is structural and small enough that you can do it yourself without a significant expense. A small piece of rotted trim or a hole that can be filled and touched up might be repaired at little or no cost to thinking of but suggest thousands of dollars -- even no interest in making an offer for a buyer. For the cosmetic side, you just need enough to draw them in. Can you use your artistic nature and create a slightly weathered, but warm and inviting picture? The white shutters do stick out like a sore thumb. They were probably picked to tie in with the white window frames, but by themselves, they aren't working. I'd paint the porch columns, spindles, trim, maybe even the brick (or sandblast off the paint on the brick railing and spindles, but that would be more money and mess if you can't do it yourself and don't have the equipment). I was originally thinking black -- reminds me of New Orleans and wrought iron, and use it as a neutral backdrop to the plants and some color. Maybe more white or another color. Maybe someone with photoshop can help you there. Looks like the garden has color but could be a little neater -- maybe just trimming. Do you have a couple of mosaic pieces to add some color and interest? A birdbath or one larger piece might do it, or a couple of smaller pieces. If your studio has a bath and can be used as in-law unit, guesthouse, a rental, etc., really play that up in your listing and perhaps also in how you stage it for showing. It may be only workspace for you, but find ways to include some furniture and/or accessories to suggest an additional living area. Do some work yourself to carefully analyze the comps you are being given. What do they have that is the same, what is different, what is their condition (cosmetic and structural -- inside and out) and what would a person have to spend to get your home into tiptop shape? Good luck.

Just to provide an update: We listed for $113K and we're under contract for $107K. The buyers are a late-middle-aged couple that wanted a single-story and called the house "pretty." They really clicked with the next-door neighbor that showed them the house too, so that probably helped. :-) BTW, sorry for abruptly dropping off this thread before. I felt like I was arguing (particularly about the condition of this house relative to its neighbor comps) when there was no way to settle it other than to let the market speak. NC, we did send DSS to visit the comp around the corner. He said it was very nice inside, and the sellers said it had been on the market for a couple months. It hasn't yet sold, and the listing expired mid-December. I'm assuming that was either the 60- or the 90-day mark, as that's how listing contracts run with QCFSBO. I've been watching all the comps since we listed and none of them have sold yet either. Some have dropped off the MLS, but they're not showing on the assessor's website as changing hands, so I'm assuming.... Could just be a time lag, though.