Backup Workflow for Photographers.

Backup, backup, backup. I know that we all know these words and think about them from time to time, but how many of us really have a solid backup solution for our digital files. The honest truth is that a drive will go bad, they are not designed to last forever and if you are just editing and storing your images on one drive you are asking for trouble. You should always be looking for ways to safeguard clients important images. After all you are getting paid to produce them so you certainly don’t want to loose any of them.

            So the best practice is for you to keep 3 copies of your files. This way you have 2 copies onsite and one copy offsite. It is very important to have the offsite copy in case of fire floods or theft. And when referring to a offsite location it should be 50+ miles from your location because if you flood out most likely everything near by will be doing the same. For some it might not be feasible to keep a drive 50miles from their location so in this case I would recommend using cloud based services though they do cost yearly to have and use.

            My Workflow is to upload my files directly onto my external drive, from there I copy them to a second external drive. I don’t really have a place to keep an offsite external drive so I use a cloud based service for my third copy. By having 3 copies of all your RAW files you can be assured that you will not loose your customers flies and that can be extremely important.

            I personally use Seagate drives but you may find one that you like better. I don’t really think that there is a wrong solution just as long as you have one in place. When looking into the cloud based services I would make sure that you shop around on them because some are unlimited files including RAWs and some are jpg only. They also charge different fees depending how much space you need. When you first start up a cloud service be ready to spend hours if not days awaiting all your files to upload to the cloud. When buying external drives I wouldn’t buy them any larger then what you think you will shoot in a year. This way though you have to keep buying new ones each year they are always fresh and shouldn’t break down.

Backup Work Flow:

Example 1 Main Drive  --  Backup Drive1 – Backup drive 2A  -- Backup Drive 2B

Example 2 Main Drive – Backup Drive  -- Cloud

Seagate Drive 2014

Looking for and going to a Photo Expo near you.

Last week I went to the PhotoPlus Expo in NYC. It was a great experience getting to see all the different new products and even some of the old. It a good place to run into people you know or even make new friends. While you don't always have to spend money at the photo expo it is usually a good place to look for a deal. You can also bring your questions that you might have for the different products. When I went I had the intentions of buying a book bag to put my camera in because I have out grown the shoulder strap bag that came with the camera. I was able to walk around and look at all the different ones each company had and see what one had the best price.
          While the companies where offering a good price on some of them I was still able to purchase the bad cheaper with my student discount. It was nice because there was no shipping or tax and I took the bag home that day. I know I can't fit everything I have in this bag but it will work for most shoots. I will have to only take what I think is most important. I also sat in a couple of classes at the show. While some of them where very basic and gave information I already knew it was a good refresher as well as a place to get some new ideas. Of coarse they show off the gear you only dream to own, but not all of it was expensive.
           The one product that they showed was called a Eye Lighter by Westcott, it was great. It was used to bounce light back up into your subjects face and fill the shadows. While you probably would only use the for head shots I can see it paying for its self very quickly if that was your main business. I would have never know about this product if I didn't goto the show and sign up for some classes.
            There are photo expo type shows all across the country so take a look in your area and see what's available. I know they gave a big one in TN and Vegas. For more information on the Eye Lighter take a look at this link.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search/mode/edu?Ntt=Eye+lighter&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&Top+Nav-Search=


TBT

Thursday Ambassador

Have you ever waiting in line for hours in hopes to get something free?

Hello, everyone Thursday Ambassador here. I just wanted to share with you an experience I just had this week. I seen on some Facebook group pages that Samsung was going to give away a $847 mirror-less camera to anyone that exchanges their DSLR . Though I didn’t have a used camera that I would be willing to part with I figured I could buy one and use that. So I decided to go to NYC yesterday morning and try to get this Samsung NX30.  I left my house at 4am so that I could be in the city and at Times Square by 530am.  After getting in line I find out that I was #104 in line. They only had 250 free Cameras to give away. So I was lucky this time. There where a few that decided that they needed to be in line the night before. It only too me about 10 hours round trip from my house and waiting in line for the camera. While it was a Long day waiting I think it was well worth it so far.Over the next few months Ill be trying out this new Mirror Less camera so I will bring it up again from time to time telling you how I feel about it.

Has anyone ever sat in a line like his? Did you get what you went for?

Keep on shooting!

Throw Back

Thursday Ambassador

Your New "TBT" Thursday Ambassador is here to help!

Hello, everyone my name is Mathew and I have been selected to be the new Thursday Ambassador. I have been attending AI now since last June and what a great experience I have had thus far. I am currently studying for my Associates degree in Photography. I live on the East Coast in the great state of New Jersey! I have really enjoyed photography since I was a teen but back then digital wasn’t heard of or affordable. Back then I would shoot with a 35mm Olympus camera. I worked hard to save up enough money to buy this camera used from a store. After that I was hooked, shooting many rolls of film per week. It seemed like I had to work just to develop my film.

Up until last February 2013 I never owned a good digital camera. I finally saved up enough to purchase one. I found a Nikon D600 and regained the passion I once had. Over the next few months I debated about going to school and learning all I can learn about photography. So last May I looked into it further and applied to AI, I love all the new things I have learned and continue to learn. Hopefully I can share with you my experience and help you with any questions you may have. Currently I have been shooting a lot of night photography and Astrophotography, sometimes sunrises. I will share with you a shot that I have taken this past month and I look forward to discussing some of my shots and experiences in a future blog. Feel free to message me, or any of the other great Ambassadors here.

                               

How long have you attended AI?

What are your career goals?

Sunrise, Pre-dawn colors, Sea Isle, NJ. Personal photograph by Mathew Renk. 2014.

Keep on shooting!

Throw Back

Thursday Ambassador