You just got back from the family reunion and are confident you got the perfect portrait of the whole clan — after all, you did make all the kids and grandparents stand still while you snapped ten identical pics just to be sure. Sadly, when you upload the photos and see them on your computer’s big screen, there isn’t a single one in which somebody isn’t blinking, frowning, or (in the case of your nephew) sticking his tongue out. Enter the new version of Adobe Photoshop Elements, available at around $80 for either Windows or Mac: This friendly little application boasts a raved-about feature that makes it super-simple to craft one perfect picture out of many shots with minor flaws — just steal a smile from shot #4, a wave from shot #7, and blend them into your base shot using Photomerge, and you have something worth putting in this year’s holiday card. Which, incidentally, Elements can help you assemble, with an array of pre-designed layouts for scrapbook pages, slideshows and any number of other display options. As you’d expect from any program with “Photoshop” in its name, this one knows a thing or two about the technical details — color balance, contrast, et cetera — that make one pic pop out and another look drab. Fortunately for those of us who aren’t tech-minded, the programmers have harnessed Photoshop’s industry-standard tools into a format that’s novice-friendly: click here to tone down the red-eye, click there to make the colors more vibrant, and so on. Elements won’t turn a sloppy snapshot into an Ansel Adams, but it can help a curious amateur assemble a family photo album that looks better than most.

For many, the word “vacation” and the thought of lying on a pristine beach taking it easy don’t go together at all. Given how many hours we spend at our computers, sitting in offices where perhaps the most exciting thing that can happen is the arrival of a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, is it any wonder we yearn for the jaw-dropping sights and pulse-quickening adventures of the great outdoors? If you dream of using your senses as they were meant to be used and maybe even seeing great creatures in the wild, you need to visit Big Animals Photography Expeditions. Started by photographer Amos Nachoum, whose explorations have been featured in National Geographic and on the Discovery Channel, this travel company limits the number of guests to give each participant the chance to move about and take pictures (under Nachoum’s expert tutelage, if desired) and, most important, to leave the wildlife and their habitat undisturbed: “Our goal is to see, photograph and interact with the most imposing inhabitants of the animal kingdom, and to observe special behavior such as predation, migration, nursing, and parenting.” Choose from scuba diving and wildlife adventures in Antarctica ($9,950 and up, plus airfare); a once-a-year month-long expedition to Africa, which includes an encounter with the great white and the whale shark, in addition to the traditional “big five” (lions, leopards, cheetahs, rhinos and elephants) for $40K plus airfare: or witness a 1,000-mile sardine run over the Wild Coast (east coast) of South Africa ($5,900, plus airfare). Even if you aren’t a photographer or long-time diver, you are welcome. All you need, says Nachoum, is a passion for nature, the spirit of adventure and a desire to step beyond the typical experiences offered by the usual travel agency. Large sums of disposable income are also helpful. If you go, we suggest taking a pair of focus-free Bushnell binoculars (sale price: $59 to $83) because you don’t want to waste a second focusing. An excellent photography book to get you ready for the trip is The New Complete Guide to Wildlife Photography: How to Get Close and Capture Animals on Film.

Remember those concert ticket stubs and posters you misplaced some time after college? Well, they’re worth money now as cultural artifacts. These days, collecting rock memorabilia may be akin to building a fine art collection that appreciates in value – the market for it is strong and here to stay, according to a recent New York Times article. If you think you might have something of value, the Rock and Roll Trust offers appraisal and authentication services that can be used for legal, insurance, estate and tax purposes. If you want to start collecting, this historically significant note written to a fan by Brian Jones after the Rolling Stones appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show is so expensive that you have to e-mail or call American Royal Arts to get the price. Take a look at these framed concert posters for shows at the legendary Fillmore West from 1966 to 1971, such as the Jefferson Airplane and Grateful Dead poster (pictured). Again, if you have to ask how much, you can’t afford them. If you want something that has at least a range of prices, check out Wolfgang’s Vault, a go-to place for it all, where you will find photos of John Lennon before the last concert in San Francisco, Jimi Hendrix at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, or the youthful and cocky Bob Dylan ($1,400 to $5,000). For $535, you can nab this 1978 Bruce concert poster, and for just under $26, you can get this Springsteen Amnesty International backstage pass suitable for framing. Once you register at Wolfgang’s, you can go the Concert Vault and listen to the Who play at the Fillmore East in 1968 and Springsteen playing at Max’s Kansas City in 1973 for free. At the Rock and Roll Emporium, you’ll find Jim Morrison’s autographed 1969 laundry ticket ($6,000), a guitar autographed by Brian Wilson ($1,200) and this autographed Nirvana album ($5,500). Always wanted a pristine copy of Introducing the Beatles (on vinyl!)? The opening bid at eRock Auctions is $2,500. Now, don’t you wish you hadn’t thrown out that KISS lunch box?

There are lots of reasons to thank the people in our lives who make hard times easier and good times especially good. They can be strangers interviewing us for jobs, friends and family buying us wedding gifts, hosts and hostesses offering dinner. You get the idea, but do you actually follow through and send an appreciative note? On paper? It’s never too late to “get etiquette.” If handwritten notes sent through the mail are foreign to you or if you already practice this gracious habit, read on for great card ideas. At Etsy, there are something like 2,800 handmade cards to peruse. We like Macaroniandglue’s Butterflies and Blooms boxed set of eight notes for $12 (pictured). Added bonus: The seller will add an inside message and will even send them out for you for an extra charge. At Noulou Cards & Paper, choose from flat or folded cards based on original (now enhanced) art by Baton Rouge native Erin Moniotte (10 for $14). All are printed on quality recycled cardstock and packaged in clear biodegradable sleeves. These are hand-cut and made to order; free personalization — adding additional text — is included with the purchase. Speaking of personalization, if you do a lot of thanking, consider the handsome damask and toile cards at the Stationery Studio. They come in sets of 25 and range in price from $38.50 to $66. If that’s over the top for your modest needs, one of our favorite card makers, Papyrus, has five pages of boxed thank-you cards, such as the Dramatic Paisley design, with 16 cards and envelopes for $16. Once you’ve got the cards, you can find help saying thanks well at Thank-You-Note Samples or with the Dos and Don’ts of Thank You Notes from Donna Pilato at About.com. It feels wonderful to count your blessings in thank-yous sent.

When the Japanese artist known as Hiroshige produced his famous series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo in the 19th century, the woodblock prints were issued piecemeal over the course of three years and bought by people who probably pasted them up on walls already covered by cheap prints. So it’s fitting that these images have made their way over the years not only to dorm-room posters but to note cards, address books and wall calendars. The series has always attracted highbrow attention too, though (Monet and Van Gogh were greatly influenced by Hiroshige’s striking compositions), leading to a consistent market for books reproducing it in its entirety. It’s hard to know how many catalogs have been published, with recent versions ranging from an $85 edition published by George Braziller Publishers to the bargain hardback published by Barnes & Noble. Now comes one to trump them all: A $150 package published by art-book kings TASCHEN.  It’s enormous, about 13-by-16 inches, approximating the scale of the original prints; it’s bound Japanese-style, sewn up elegantly with thread and housed in a sturdy folding box (with faux-ivory clasps, no less); and the reproductions are taken straight from the collection of Tokyo’s Ota Memorial Museum of Art. The images are preceded by a thorough introduction (in three languages) detailing their history, influences and techniques. Here’s hoping TASCHEN’s publication is so successful they’ll give similar treatment to some of his other famous series (one example of which will be the subject of a book published this October). While waiting for that, fans of Japanese art should take a look at Shin Hanga ($25), a lovely little survey of prints made from the 1920s onward by Japanese artists expanding the tradition of Hiroshige to more modern subjects.

There are things we know about ourselves — thoughts we dare not utter, weird stuff we’ve done or wish we could do — that no one on the planet knows about. Except maybe Frank Warren. He’s the kind soul behind Post Secret, where each Sunday he posts 20 newly received and anonymously authored postcards, each containing the sender’s secret turned into a visually imaginative work of art. The secrets range from the admission of embarrassing habits, poignant regrets, deep longings, even criminal activity.  To see a 5-minute film about the international community project, narrated by Warren, go to this YouTube link. There are many examples of the work, as well as the phone number for the National Hopeline Network, a suicide prevention hotline for teens, who comprise the project’s biggest fan base. (Warren contributes a share of his profits to the organization.) The project began in 2004 as an art installation for a gallery in Washington, D.C. Warren left 3,000 blank-on-both-sides postcards, addressed to himself, all over the country with instructions that they be decorated and portray a secret that had never been revealed. The website was created on Jan. 1, 2005, to be updated weekly. Since then, Warren has collected thousands of secrets, many of which never make it to the eyes of the public. In October 2007, the Post Secret Community site was launched. This is where you can get info about how to mail in a postcard of your own, chat with others, including Warren, watch videos, or purchase one of the four books that have resulted from this wonderful art phenomenon.