$1 Million Dollars! Anybody?!...

Most people had bid items on Ebay. But how many people had bid DOMAIN NAMES in a live auction?...

Last week, I was covering a live domain name auction hosted by SnapNames.com in Los Angeles. As part of the DOMAINfest Global events, the live auction had bidders from all around the world bidding live and over the Internet web cast. With around 300 domain names and a few million dollars on the table, 3 amazing auctioneers warmed up the room and started the auction. Small players quickly dropped out of the race while major players stayed calm and continued to evaluate the situation as the bidding went on. The 2-day live auction yielded over $3.1 million in sales with top sellers Porn.net sold for $400,000, Bookmarks.com for $300,000, Photograph.com for $195,000, and Yemen.com for $100,000.

You can read a very fine coverage of the event and auction written by DN Journal’s Editor Ron Jackson here.

Soooooold!!!! Auctioneer Mark Buleziuk just closed one more deal!

One of the auction assistants congratulated EuroDNS partners on winning the bid.

One of the domainers studying the market and taking notes.

Auctioneer Mark Buleziuk hosted the live auction with buyers attending from around the globe.

Miracle! My Hand is Moving!

Paralyzed muscles can be reanimated by electrical stimulation in order to prevent disuse atrophy and restore functional movement. Led by Dr. Gerald Loeb, researchers at the Alfred Mann Institute have developed a new class of implantable medical devices, BION^® (for BIOnic Neurons), that can provide precise and inexpensive interfaces between electronic controllers and muscles. See more information on BION.

I was invited to photograph this tiny little device and its inventor Dr. Loeb. I tried to provide a little different angle and make the device look less cold and medical. The challenge in photographing this device was that a lot of details are packed inside a very tiny glass tube. Those details had to be brought out while creating the cool multi-reflection for the glass tube.

In the background is the coil that’s used to transmit the stimulation signal to BION.

Dr. Loeb standing in front of an X-ray image that shows the BION in a patient’s arm and holding the insertion tool that is used to insert the BION (the semitransparent device at the tip of the needle) into a patient’s body to demonstrate the functionality and the size of the device.

Will be happy to hear your thoughts on this product photo, and the photo-story "told" by Dr. Loeb.

Web 2.0, or 1.0?... Your take.

Web site has replaced print portfolios and became the first marketing tool for many photographers. During the last year, I have been diligently updating and improving my web site, so that visitors could have the best viewing experience possible.

My web site had to convey two key messages to my visitors:

1. I take stunning images.
2. I am a corporate/commercial photographer with various customized service packages that help my clients achieve their business goals.

The initial web site (www.intouchliving.com) is geared to showcase my photos in a more artistic way. While it achieved that goal, I had received feedback that information about my business could be more accessible. Hence, I developed the 2nd web site with a different address www.InTouchStudios.com. This web site is much more simplified, therefore has a lot more logical user interface. On a separate note, this web address is more consistent with the InTouch Studios branding, and the viewers can access both business information and image portfolios with just a few clicks.

I am committed to keeping both of the web sites constantly updated, but please DO let me know which site you think achieved both of the communication goals, and how I can further improve them. Thanks a lot in advance for your comments!