DAM as in Digital Asset Management – As a long time user of iView Media Pro software, I spent years avoiding the versions that MicroSoft put out after they acquired the company and renamed it Expression Media. iView Media Pro did it all, read all types of files, and worked fast and smoothly. It just plain worked. In four years of MS development, I never read of any improvements. I was excited to read that Expressions Media was recently purchased by Phase One and would once again be the go to software for managing a collection of digital files on a Mac. Who wouldn’t be. Phase One is a major player in the high end digital imaging field in both hardware and software. Unfortunately, this upgrade is a step backwards. The performance of even displaying an image file on screen is many times slower than than the 10 year old software that was iView. I made the mistake of paying for this “upgrade” and installing it first before reading the forums. Now I see posts from plenty of users who are not happy with this release and feel like they are having to pay to be beta testers for Phase One. There is a lesson in there somewhere…

This event has come to a close and what a great time it was. Thirteen boats signed up and fished the tournament. And the winner was the 58′ Merritt boat “Renaissance” out of Ft. Lauderdale. Over 25 fish were seen and plenty of fish jumped off over the three days. We were blessed with incredible weather and clean blue water offshore. And the land activity was world class. The Big Game Club is the perfect facility for a fishing tournament with everything happening right at the base of the marina docks and around the pool. From their waterfront restaurant to the outdoor party tents, everything flowed smoothly. And the service and staff could not have been better. There were some great stories told in the Hemingway bar by industry folks like Guy Harvey, Frank Johnson (Moldcraft), Kent Ulberg (sculptor), Bill Shedd (Aftco), Ed Pang (sculptor), Tim Choate, John Graves (Virginia Institute of Marine Science) Mike Myatt (IGFA) and Charlie Forman. Joining this roster of stars were media folks like photographers Bill Boyce and Pat Ford, along with publisher Fred Garth. Even with the slow fishing the warmth of the people and the uniqueness of this event have me looking forward to coming back next year.

Bimini Big Game Inaugural Billfish Tournament winner “Renaissance” arriving back at the dock.

Team Renaissance accepting their stainless steel jumping marlin sculpture from it’s creator Kent Ulberg.

Groups photo of VIP’s presenting the Big Game Club perpetual award to Frank Johnson.

A cool looking school of fish hovering around an early morning blue LED transom light.

The artist and mogul Guy Harvey has released his latest project. A glossy magazine with the theme “The Art of Ocean Conservation”. Guy Harvey Magazine is a uber classy product full of interesting stories about our ocean, all who love it, and the critters within. Not to mention packed with Guy’s incredible art. Each quarterly issue they also feature an outside marine artist, and this “Spring 2011” they feature me. I was lucky enough to get a 12 page photo portfolio of some random shots from my stock file. If your local newstand isn’t carrying this magazine, call the publisher to get dialed into a subscription 1 (888) 275-2856.

Bimini is back. Big Game Sportfishing returns to Bimini this May 18-21 with a world class event. Guy Harvey Outpost and Bimini Big Game Club are holding a billfish release tournament. I’ll be there to cover all the action and I hope to see you there. For more details visit the tournament web site.