Shutterbug partnered, once again, with GuruShots for another exciting photo challenge. This time, the theme was "Magnificent Macro," and the bounty of excellent entries proves you were all ready for your close-ups.

Winter is here, which means it’s finally time for us to cozy up by the fireplace and review your best “Winter” shots. Yes, Shutterbug has teamed up with GuruShots for another amazing photo challenge, this time with the timely theme of Winter.

Komotion, Inc., the makers of the Web Gallery Wizard, has announced the release
of Shozam Web Gallery Generator, which automatically creates Web galleries to
showcase photos, video and other digital media.



Shozam is said to put content ownership back in the hands of users. It is a software
tool that lets users create and control their own multimedia Web galleries. Users
import and arrange media, write captions and descriptions, add audio and select
a professionally-designed theme. With the click of a button, Shozam generates
a Web site with seven different page layouts, including a slideshow view, which
users can upload to any Web host.



Shozam automatically optimizes images, and the entire gallery is uploaded at one
time. This process is said to be up to 40 times faster than submitting original
photos to a photo sharing service. Shozam is said to eliminate the need for online
photo sites which can over-compress photos, clutter the site with ads, impose
restrictions, or require minimum purchases of add-ons like prints and calendars.
The makers say that if the said service goes out of business, the gallery --
and the work and time that went into it -- can disappear. Even worse, precious
photos can be lost.



Available in five editions for Windows, Shozam Web Gallery Generator starts at
just $49.95 and grows with a user's needs, from simple photo gallery creation
to a full-featured Web site with image protection, shopping cart and more. For
more about Shozam Editions, features and pricing, or to download the free trial,
go to www.shozam.com.

We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again: Lightroom is such a deep image editing and organizing program, most photographers only scrape the surface of what it can do. And that’s fine.