An Early Fall Country Drive

One of my favorite times of the year is the fall. I do quite a bit of family portraits in the fall, but when I get some spare time I like to drive around in the country to see what I can photograph. My other hobby, cycling, plays into this as well. When I am out riding my bike I see things I wouldn't see driving in a car. If I see something while riding I usually try to go back with my camera and photograph it.

Here are a few images I captured the other day. The leaves are turning, harvest has started, the days are getting shorter, and the air is cooler. What's not to like about this time of year?

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Archiving Your Digital Photos

What in the world do we do with all of these digital photo files we have? How do we preserve the memories for future generations when technology changes so fast? Have you backed up your photos recently?

There is no real clear answer but here is my take on it.

For me I shoot a lot of pictures using the JPEG+RAW format. The RAW format is basically a digital negative that is easier to manipulate in post processing. The cost of RAW format images is the very large space needed to save it.

I have a hard time "trashing" digital photos so I tend to keep more than I throw away. All of my files are sorted by date (yyyy_mm_dd). I have created various folders for my kids, family, special vacations, etc. In order to prevent bogging down my PC I first save all of the photos from the camera to a external hard drive #1 (500GB) that is always attached to my PC.

Every six months I copy (backup) the files on that external drive #1 to another external drive (#2) that is only plugged in when I need it. I then create a 3rd back up with CDs/DVDs. If you wanted to be extremely safe then create a 4th copy to DVDs and put in a bank safe, work office, relatives house etc. Once the external drives get full I just buy another external drive.

On the CD's/DVD's I write the date of the backup and the range of folders (i.e. 01/01/2009 to 07/01/09) so that I know where I left off from the most recent backup plus it helps to catalog them.

I go through all my backups (external #2 and CDs/DVDs) once a year to make sure they still read the photos. For example a few years ago I had a stack of floppy disks full of pictures. When I got a new PC it didn't have a floppy drive. So before I got the new pc up and running I saved the images on the floppy drive to a CD. Floppy's are a thing of the past. I am sure sometime in the future they'll stop putting CD/DVD reader in PC's so I'll have to switch medias again.

In general I have 3-4 copies of just about every picture I have taken.

I need to get better at this but another thing to do is actually print your "most memorable" photos.

The cost of memory is getting more affordable very day. You can get a 500GB external drive for less than $100 and you get a 1TG external drive for less than $150 these days. That is a lot of storage.

If you asked 100 people how they save/archive their digital photo files you would get 100 different answers. The main thing is to have a minimum of three copies of your photos. The original, the backup, and the backup of the backup.

Try to also think about the worst possible event....a PC crash, a flood, a fire, or anything else and ask yourself, "if the worst happened will I still have my photos?" You never know what will be thrown your way all you can do is be prepared.

Having almost lost photos in the past I am a little more cautious.

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Great Photo You Must Have A Nice Camera!

I get that comment every once and a while when people see my prints or photos and I always let it roll off my shoulder. But, that comment begs the question....is it the camera or the person behind the lens?

My answer is that it is a combination of both. A great camera definitely helps but you have to know how to use it.

Think about these situations:

1) When Tiger Woods hits a 350 yard drive....is it Tiger or the driver?

2) When a Surgeon performs a successful operation...is it the Surgeon or the medical tools?

In the two above situations it is the "skilled" person using their expertise with the tools they are supplied to deliver the best possible result. Photography is the same way.

Just because you have a "nice" camera doesn't mean you will have exceptional photos. In photography there are so many variables (lighting, technique, lenses, color, etc) that a photographer has to deal with. The camera is a photographers tool. The important thing to remember is that it is the photographer that tells the camera what to do.

I tell the camera what to do based on the situation that I am in, in order capture the most pleasing, or desired result. The human brain and the camera brain register lighting, distance, color, etc differently. The camera tells me certain things, but I know to capture a scene as I see it through my eyes, I have to "trick" the camera and tell it what to do rather than what it wants to do. Have you ever taken a picture of a full moon that looks very large on the horizon to the human eye and when you look at the image the moon is a small dot? That is because of the way the human brain interprets what we see rather than any scientific physical principle. If I see a huge moon draped behind a city skyline I would have to perform a double exposure with the first exposure zoomed in on the moon then the second exposure zoomed back out to capture the scene. It is more complicated than that, but you get the idea.

Some SLR and DSLR cameras have different features and advantages, but in the end a good photographer is able to max out the cameras potential no matter what camera is in their hand.

To put it into perspective....after you have a good meal do you tell the cook, "that was a great meal Chef what pots and pans did you use?"

So always complement the Chef first!

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