As a blogger and not a columnist I am feel like my job is to mostly give you some news and quick information and then point you in the proper direction to get all the rest of the information you need.  So when it comes to DAM, Digital Asset Management, I suppose I could write out an entire artical outlining what it is, how to use and and much more…but if you realized there were entire 300 page books on the topic, you can see why I must only give you the most important part.

The skinny on what DAM is exactly is quite simple, it is a way to store and catalog digital files like photographs, videos, music and anything that you have a large quantity of really.  It is found in many programs and other programs are made just for it.  It is used for many different reasons and in many ways like helping one go through a project to find which photographs he enjoys more, to make a persons library searchable by metadata, or just like any other business you need to have an easy way to go through your files in order to sell, print and otherwise enjoy your photography.  We take thousands of photographs of hundreds of things in many different formats and we throw all of this information into folders on our computers.  (more…)

I got a little quick one for ya:)

WikiHow, if you didn’t already know is a great site that allows one to search for instructions on how to do things. Now of course you can’t miss the resemblance in name to its older brother Wikipedia, but it is a great spin off with lots of great information all by itself. I found an article today that I thought would be really helpful for any starting photographer. A lightbox, in photography simple terms, is a really bright light focused in a box usuallythat creates a light similiar to daylight but even across an object. They are also used often for viewing negatives or slides.

Anywho, Wikihow has a great article on creating a cheap but effective lightbox for yourself without spending a bundle on one from a photography store. Check it out! These things are super useful.

WikiHow Lightbox Article - CLICK HERE

Microsoft, while adding tons of things to its Windows Live portfolio today announced a new product Live Gallery. Live gallery looks to compete with the very popular Picasa from Google that many home users have decided to use for their photo management. This is of course all part of Microsofts “Live Era” which is trying to catch up with all the little programs that many people still go to Google for. We shall see where this goes. For those who like a little more out of their software I mentioned Lightroom a few posts back, you should go check it out.

I am a long big fan of long exposure photography, I feel like not only can you get shots in dark areas otherwise impossible to see but you can get shots that you really can’t even see with the human high. Bringing out colors, lights and atmosphere otherwise hidden. Roxanna Maynard over at thinkcamera has written up a great little article going over lights, moving objects, ghosting and lots more! I think it is a beautiful example of how to take advantage of long exposure in many ways.

A must read! I hope to get a few of my long exposure shots up soon….stay tuned!!

In an interesting article from the Washington Post, it looks like the folks at on the yearbook staff decided that rather than gathering photos from students why not just tap into the place where kids are posting the most photos of all….social networking sites! In this case Facebook was the place, and to the students surprise to boot. I guess this teaches everyone a lesson…what you put online is open to the public whether you want it to or not. If I was in a crunch I must admit, I probably would have done the same thing.

It looks like Google has added a way to search through their news section which allows a user to select news articles based on the pictures that are associated with them. Alone with the Standard and Text views we now have the Image View which allows us who are a bit more visual to see before reading. Of the 4 learning styles I believe that visual is far more prevelant in todays society especially with the younger generations than at any time before; so maybe Google is onto something with this one. They are tricky!!

If you didn’t realize just yet, apart from being a complete tech freak I am also a photography nut and in fact it is what I take the most pride in, DUH!. Over the past I would say 7 or 8 years I have really taken photography for myself to a new level. Anyways, that story will go on www.phoobl.com later:) Tonight I am at the San Francisco Giants game sitting in the press box waiting for my father to get back with some killer photos of the game. We have the incredible opportunity to come to local sporting events and take photos for a small italian newspaper here in the city……I am not sure if one could ask for a better opportunity to get some great photography pratice in.

My to all aspiring photographers would be this, create situations for yourself. Go out there and find people who need photographs taken and offer to do it for free or little. Its the best way to get started and I think the fastest way to learn!! Get out there and take some pictures!!!

Before I go into what this post is going to be about you should know that FTW means For The Win…which is a geek internet term for something that is awesome:) So anyways, I recently have started to use a program called Lightroom and if you are not familiar with such a program it is a media management tool geared towards photography guys such as yours truly. The great thing about programs like this is that they offer an entire development process that can’t been had in free or cheap programs such as picasa and iphoto and the likes.

I mean check this out:

OMG! Today, I had the incredible pleasure of going out on the San Francisco bay for the birthday celebration of one of my favorite people Ms. D Playa! To make a long story really short Dreya wanted a 25th birthday on the bay and when mentioning this I happen to know a guy, Captain Bob, who rents out beautiful sail boats and takes people out on the bay for the best experiences ever! So I hooked the two of them up and before you knew it we had a party in the works, and thank god for that! The day was beautiful, the sky blue, the sun bright, and the bay begging to be sailed! With a crew of 20 we set out on the bay….check out some giants and then the open water

We ended the day with some grub at Pier 23 and then hardcore napping at home:)

First flickr cell post

I love you for letting me do this flickr you are the best! Check out the view from my fam apt in italia!