ngdawg

Any digital camera will work as a 'hard drive'. You simply use the USB that comes with it(plugging it into your computer like any other hardware) and work with your photos from that, then save them to your computer.
A couple of things to keep in mind when doing so: Always take the photos at the largest setting the camera allows(if there is no RAW or TIFF choice).
By doing this, you can then reduce the physical size of the photos and increase the dpi if they need to be printed out. By working directly off the memory card, you have a lot more 'free reign' over what you want. For example, my previous camera was a 4.0mp that only shot in jpg with a dpi(dots per inch) default of 72. The largest setting on it is 2272x1704(approx. 40x27 inches). Working off the camera directly, I reduced the size to 8x10 and increase the dpi to 300, essentially compressing the pixels to give me a clear print. I also would adjust the pictures' contrast and brightness , crop when necessary(before resizing) and do whatever they needed, then save to a folder. For whatever reason, these 'tricks' don't work as well if the photos are first uploaded to a folder on the pc-they would pixellate upon printing. I got this tip from one of my professors after he'd seen a couple of my early prints and noted their blurriness due to pixellating.
You don't need special software; I would advise though, that you get the largest capacity memory card your camera can use so that you don't have to empty it after every shoot. Even if you don't need to print, increasing the dpi to 100 will give you a sharper image without adding too much more 'weight' to the file. Keep in mind that an image at 72dpi can be made smaller but can't be made larger, which is why it's a standard web-based setting-it helps avoid 'stealing' for print from websites. That and it keeps the website space usage to its minimum.

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