Smugmug Aims to Conquer the Earth ...  One Picture at a Time

  "Travel and photos go together like peanut butter and jelly.  Putting them
           together was a 'No duh' concept," says Smugmug founder.

    MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Aug. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Smugmug Inc., the ultimate
photo sharing site, today announced the launch of smugMaps -- a feature that
allows users to combine photos and maps with a click.
    "If you've been there and done that, smugMaps let you prove it," said Don
McAskill, co-founder and Chief Geek, Smugmug Inc. "Bragging rights aside, it's
a great way to store your photos by location or let your friends and family
experience your travels as though they were actually there."

    How?
    Customers can enter an address for any photo or just click a spot on a map
to link their pictures to any latitude and longitude on Earth.  When friends
visit their online albums, they click a map button to see stunning photos
seamlessly integrated with scrollable, zoomable Google maps.
    Photo-geeks who use handheld GPS (Global Positioning System) devices or
GPS integrated cameras and camera phones to digitally tag their photos with
precise location data will rejoice when they discover that Smugmug
automatically reads it and instantly makes their photo galleries mappable.

    Why?
    After experiencing Google's hot, new 3-D satellite imagery-based mapping,
the Smugmug team decided that if a picture's worth a thousand words, then
pictures plus maps must equal 2,000, and save users a few words in the
process.
    "We watched our customers typing awkward captions like, 'about 18 miles
south east from Canyon Creek, Washington, up some wicked cold river,'"
explained cofounder Chris MacAskill. "They can skip that now, leaving only the
good part: 'I can't believe I bungee jumped off that!'"

    Where?
    1 Fans of adventure motorcyclist The Striking Viking, author of Two Wheels
      Through Terror, use smugMaps to follow The Viking on his world
      motorcycle tour.

    2 New York photographers Andy Williams and Shay Stephens use smugMaps for
      their breathtaking online gallery, "Smugmug's Eye on NYC."

    3 Members of the photo community Digital Grin compiled a gallery of their
      finest global photography to create a breathtaking galley entitled World
      Landmarks.

    4 Smugmug itself hosts a snarky gallery called Rated and Located where
      they classify Silicon Valley companies as "The New Hotness,"  "Business
      as Usual," or "Old and Busted."  See where your favorite company (or
      stock) sits on the map or in the ranking.

    About Smugmug
    Smugmug, one of the fastest-growing photo sharing sites, hosts 32,000,000
photos from customers as diverse as grandmothers, senators, renowned
photographers, and The Wall Street Journal. An unusual success story among
Internet companies, Smugmug is family-owned, profitable and thriving. Smugmug
was founded in 2002.

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