I was searching the web for interesting stories and found an article in Ancestry.com that sparked my imagination. I have always been interested in photography since I got my first Brownie camera when I was ten years old. The article talked about building a digital camera that could capture images in all sorts of light – infrared, ultraviolet, incandescent and more.

I just found out that Ancestry.com has improved their search engine.

In the past, if I searched for someone with a birth date in the early 1800s I could expect to see results from the 1930 census or other 1900-era records. Sometimes this resulted in lots of untimely results that we scanned through to make sure we didn't miss an important fact.

Everywhere I look I see online genealogy databases that promise instant access to your ancestors. I spent hundreds of hours sifting through any website that I could find looking for that illusive ancestor that seems just out of reach. I bet you have done the same.

I was reviewing past articles in my Family Tree Magazine© and I found an entry that I had previously missed. When I first looked at it I realized that I had not used my Census research properly. I'm guessing that many of you have run into the same problem.

I was researching my family tree over the weekend, and realized that I had missed a number of opportunities to find a particular ancestor that I have been researching for several months. Have you ever missed a great opportunity to find one of your long-lost ancestors?

There is a wide variety of genealogy forms available to the budding family tree historian. Choosing the right forms, charts and logs is difficult when you first start your research. Using these templates effectively can be a challenge for even the most seasoned amateur genealogist. How can we expect to choose the right template with so many to choose from? More importantly, how do we learn to use each of form, chart or log correctly so that we don't miss opportunities that may only come our way once in a lifetime?

What service should I choose for my family tree research?

Sometimes tracing your family history presents challenges that you might not have expected. However, searching for your ancestors' story and heritage has been a very rewarding hobby for many throughout the past. But that doesn't mean finding your families' stories will be easy. Frequently, amateur genealogists run into dead end after dead end. Fortunately, there are tools available to help you find your ancestor.