Someone recently observed that pictures provide such instant communication these days that "keep in touch" is not only what we say, it's what we do. Combine the freewheeling ease of digital cameras with the power and speed of the web and email, and we can communicate with anyone, anytime, from just about anywhere.

It started with a photograph. It almost always does.

"Great lenses pay off when the going gets tough," Jim Richardson tells us. Of course, "tough" can be a relative term.

Do your homework. Wherever you go in the world, a little research ahead of time will help you bring back better pictures, says Jim Richardson, a National Geographic photographer who has aimed his camera everywhere from the temples of Angkor Wat to the plains of the Serengeti, from Provence, France, to Cuba, Kansas.