Earlier today, I had a nice conversation with the woman working at the Photo Center at the Target Store in East Windsor, NJ. From time to time, I go there to pick up and drop off film from my 35mm SLR camera that does not need special processing. Normally, I have the choice of one hour service or one day service provided by the Kodak.

The woman said that she could not accept film for one hour processing because they are hopelessly backed up for the time being. I asked why. She told me that so many digital photos had been dropped off since Christmas that they cannot keep up with the demand for prints.

Apparently, the photo processing machine that they have at that Target Store can only make digital prints at a rate of one print per second. Before she arrived for work today, someone dropped off 300 digital images and asked for double prints.

This last situation sounds familiar. When I got my first digital camera, I used it in much the same was as I used my 35mm SLR, I just shot many more pictures. I got prints made of nearly every photo I took because I was a successful consultant and business was good. At the time, the only labs capable of doing a good job of digital prints were firms like Ophoto and Shutterfly. These labs did a good job then and still do.

Local one hour places like Target are now competing in this space. But, they are not equipped to handle the kind of volume that at least some of them are apparently receiving.

Here are some tips for you new digital camera owners:

1. Get a good piece of digital photo management software for your personal computer. An example would be iPhoto2, part of iLife for the Macintosh, or Jasc Paint Shop Photo Album 4, a Windows program that is discussed elsewhere on Operation Gadget.
2. Pick the best few prints.
3. Have them printed locally or by a remote lab.
4. Figure out a way to show the rest of the photos to friends using a PC or TV, if they are physically present, or via a web page or email, if they are not.
5. Don't print every photo you keep on your camera.

The fellow camera users in your community thank you.