You’ve stored thousands of digital images, but can you find the right one when you need it?

The hottest topic in digital photography today isn’t the newest digital SLR announcements, how many megapixels can fit onto a new chip or even how many images a blue laser DVD can hold. No, the latest, greatest and hottest acronym in the digital industry is DAM: digital asset management.

And DAM, there are a lot of products trying to get a piece of this exploding market. Even Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are trying to get a foothold in this area. Just look at Microsoft Plus Digital Media Edition or Apple’s iPhoto to see what I mean. So, how do photographers, professional or amateur, sift through all the tools out there and figure out what they need?..

Whether you're a casual shooter or a working professional, how and where to store your digital images is a growing concern.

For my fifth—grade English class, I had to write my autobiography, complete with photos. So one evening after dinner, Mom and I sat down to work on this "huge" project, thoroughly documenting the first 10 years of my life. Mom pulled out this old shoebox that contained all of our family pictures. Everyone, in those days, had a shoebox full of envelopes from the photography store. Each envelope contained negatives and a set of black—and—white or color prints, with scalloped edges and the month and year printed in the border...

To meet the needs of a new digital market, some studios are offering clients a full-service package, providing assistance from concept to print.

It’s no secret that over the last two decades digital technology has sparked a revolution in the way printed materials are made. That change has now swept into the high-volume photography studio, and it involves a lot more than just buying and using a different kind of camera.

Even when an image is captured on film instead of in bytes, sooner or later (and these days it’s usually sooner) it enters the digital world through scanning. That’s when the real changes kick in...

Before you transmit that digital image, are you using the right file format?

Whether you are creating a brochure, a fine-art print on watercolor paper, a web page or a PowerPoint presentation, a variety of image display options are available to you as a digital photographer. Yet before your image is ready for display, there are many technical considerations to understand to make sure that the intended audience views the intended image...

The issue of whether to switch to a digital format is on the minds of nearly everyone who has not yet done it.

Is this a question you are now asking yourself, your friends or your clients? Well, you are not alone. The issue of whether to switch to a digital format is on the minds of nearly everyone who has not yet done it. Ultimately, it's a question only each individual can answer, but as more and more clients switch to digital media, the case for digital may become compelling.

If you have already answered the question in the affirmative, you will be faced with a bewildering array of digital cameras. Some cost $500, some $5,000. Some are suitable only for web use, while others deliver...

You might have seen the television commercial with the suburban family who drove their sport utility vehicle to Tibet (actually some idealized rugged outdoor location) for a picnic and the inept dad locks the keys in the car. Saving the day, is a generation X customer service representative who locates the car from a far off high tech data-center. Satellites locate the car, unlock the door, saving the family picnic!

The space age technology seamlessly working behind the scenes in this scenario is GPS or Global Positioning System. GPS is a satellite locating system developed by the military, which is now available to the general public. GPS units locate a specific point on the earth through the low frequency radio communication with a minimum of 4 satellites of the 24 GPS satellites orbiting the earth. Location is determined by comparing the time for the radio signal to travel from the satellite...

Traditional product photography has accompanied websites, print brochures and related sales collateral for many years now. With the global reach and 24/7 timeliness of the Internet, new demands are placed on the seller. As e-commerce matures with the ever-expanding Internet, many companies are now looking for new ways to display and sell their products. When it is not possible for a buyer to see or hold a product for purchase, the next best thing to being there live is an interactive digital image which is now commonly called a Virtual Reality (VR) Object or Immersive Image.

A VR Object consists of a series of digital images shot in sequence then authored into an interactive digital file. These sequential shots simulate the rotation or functionality of an object and display different views...

Without ever leaving home, you can do everything from finding a camera, ordering images and processing film to taking photo workshops, encrypting images and creating a storefront.

Even for people using 35mm film, the online world has plenty to offer. It's pretty commonplace now for online photography websites to offer film processing, a place to store images and a way to create and share an online photo album with special effects and personal messages—all for free.

Community-building websites such as Robert Farber's
 Photoworkshop.com offer a wide range of product reviews, discussion boards...

Instant composition is strength of next-generation digital gear.

Digital capture is becoming a reality for the professional photographer. Montizambert Photography Inc. built its dream studio and went fully digital last July, a move made possible by Foveon’s next-generation digital capture workstation.

With workflow much more streamlined than with traditional film photography, we are...

Digital capture is becoming a reality for the professional photographer. Montizambert Photography Inc. built its dream studio and went fully digital last July, a move made possible by Foveon's next-generation digital capture workstation.

With workflow much more streamlined than with traditional film photography, we are finding that clients are embracing the technology with us. My partner/brother Mark and I are also reclaiming previously outsourced revenue streams since going digital. These include fees for digital manipulation, color correcting, retouching and CMYK conversions, plus immediate sales on people shots.

Since we began advertising our digital capture capabilities, numerous projects we've secured have been directly attributable to the quick turnaround and impressive session capabilities of our new Foveon digital...