What I've done for a simple photo database is create a small file called and .iif (photo1.jpg has a photo1.iif). The file is XML and has a format includes descriptions locations, etc..I like the separate files because its easier to edit them and they will work with my slideshow viewer when I'm done with it.

I tag my photos on a local webserver, which creates the files. Then When I upload the files to my real live web server I can load the xml .iifs into the database. I actually stuff the whole xml .iif file into one field of the database so its easy to search.

There are some downsides. Filename changing is hard. Having data in 2 places is ackward and you have to go through all the files to see if there were any changes to the files that aren't in the database. Also the data part of the file isn't usefull when its in a text field.

This system works for me