Hardwares aside, there are applications that we can’t do without.  One of which is Aperture.  It truly is our unsung hero.  Between the two of us, we usually shoot 500 to 800 photos on each of our trips.  Every night in our hotel room we would download the pictures to Aperture.  It makes viewing, sorting, categorizing and grouping so effortless.  The first thing I usually do to the pictures is to rate them.  Out of 500 pictures, I often find less than 10 that deserve a rating of 5-star.  These 5-star pictures undergo some editing (mostly cropping and minor adjustments using NIK Viveza) before they are posted on Flickr.  I don’t know how I would manage my digital photo assets without Aperture.  It is a life-saver.  So, if you haven’t tried it, I suggest you download a demo copy and put it through the test.