Film, it's the stuff photographers used to put in their cameras to take pictures before digital came about. Back then, it was fairly simple to keep track of your images since you had a physical object to go back too.

However, with the advent of digital, that goes out the window. Digital allows a great amount of freedom to take as many pictures as we want, BUT, what do we do with all those thousands of pictures?

One friend estimated he had over 18,000 pictures but could not find what he wanted when he wanted. When I asked him about organizing it, he said he didn't have time or the know how.

So what can one do to get organized? Simply, use a DAM.

What the heck is a DAM? DAM is short for Digital Asset Management. It's what keeps those of us who do this professionally away from doing rash things like jumping off buildings or banging our heads against the wall.

As with anything out there, the option vary from how many photos you have to what you want to do with it.

For those interested in just dabbling with DAM and giving it a try, there is Google's Picasa.

Picasa used to be a standalone company til Google wisely bought it and made it free for the masses. Besides organizing your photos, it turns into a swiss army knife of sorts allowing you to e-mail photos (via Gmail), share photos (via Hello) and post photos (via Blogger).

The best part, it's FREE!!!

So what are you waiting for?

Next part in the series will deal with what programs are available and how to pick one.