Bonus – How to live a Visual Life.

How many cameras do you own?

I went through the house to count up every digital, video, web and old school cam in the place – I came up with 13. It’s a funny thing. A decade ago, I owned a single film camera. These days, it seems, I’m living the Visual Life.

I’m also betting that you’re doing the same thing. The cell phone cam in your pocket. The point-and-shoot on the shelf. The kids’ toy cam in the playroom. They’re everywhere!

And so we don’t have much of an excuse to not miss a great moment. Except that we do. It’s a hassle to edit the photos. It’s cumbersome to upload them to a website. We forget that there’s a memory card stuffed with them the next time we grab our cameras.

It doesn’t have to be this tough. You can catch every baby giggle and 29^th birthday party by just putting a few really simple rules into place. Here’s how you can live a great digital life…

Take a camera with you everywhere.

You don’t have to lug the six pound SLR with you everywhere. A cell phone with a good cam and/or a digital point-and-shoot will do. I keep my G11 in my bag and my iPhone in my pocket at all times. It’s a lifesaver to know that I’m ready for just about anything.

Edit in a way that’s fun and easy.

Photo software for your phone is getting super popular. The likes of Hipstamatic and Instagram make it crazy easy to edit your photos in milliseconds. Want to go a little deeper? Consumer programs like iPhoto (photos, Mac) and Lightworks (video, PC) are plentiful, feature rich and mostly easy to use.

Make it easy to share a file.  

You know that somewhere in your house is a digital camera full of photos that need to be downloaded, tagged and shared. But who has the time? End the headache by sharing photos on the go with your phone. Shoot a great shot, pick one site to use regularly (Facebook, Flickr, Instagram…) and upload. Using your point-and-shoot? Hit the local electronics superstore and pick up an EyeFi card. You set up this little memory card to wirelessly upload your photos whenever you’re close to your home WiFi network. It’ll send them to your computer or to a bunch of different online sites. No more hassles!

We love to take pictures. We hate the red tape involved in getting them to the world. Try these three tips and your Visual Life gets a whole lot easier.

Intel is running a pretty nifty little contest called – you guessed it – “Visual Life.” Want to check it out? Hit the Intel Canada Facebook page here.