Photography

As a photographer who is paranoid about the safety of my work, I’ve been looking for the best possible backup system for a while. I’ve tried it all – online backup companies such as Carbonite/Mozy , tried many types of external storage devices, custom built systems, etc.  At the end I’ve finalized the specification list for the ultimate digital content professional storage and backup system:

1.    Redundant hard drives
2.    Fast network transfer speeds
3.    Ability to automatically synchronize with device or service in a different geographical location
4.    Low power consumption
5.    Easily replaceable hard drives
6.    Support for Windows and Mac backups
7.    Support for Windows and Mac file browsing
8.    Access permissions
9.    Ability to back up the backup device
10.    Ability to access backups/files over the internet
11.    Ability to access images from networked TV to play slideshows for clients/friends
12.    Failure notification
13.    Ability to increase capacity on the fly

Surely this seems like a tall order for any system, but I have found just the perfect device line up by storage manufacturer QNAP, which makes these systems for home, small business and enterprise use. I have acquired two units from Amazon.com (the place with the lowest price and best return policy) – one single drive QNAP TS-119 Pro and a second one QNAP TS-259 Pro. (Full spec list of features)
Here is how and why QNAPs fit the bill:

1.    QNAP systems come with space from 1 to 8 hard drives. Each system supporting 2TB drives or larger. All models with 2 or more hard drives can be configured for RAID 0/1/5/6/5+hot spare. This allows one to configure the desired level of fault tolerance on the unit in order to safeguard the data.

2.    These units come with 1 Gigabit network adapters, in fact most of them come with 2 built-in network cards. These cards can be “teamed” to make a single super-fast connection (requires switch that supports this feature). To top it all off – QNAPs put more memory and faster processors in NAS devices than any other manufacturer at this price point. This combined with well written software results into very fast network transfer speeds. On a 2 drive unit TS-259 Pro I see sustained speeds of 60+ MB/s range with only a single gigabit connection in use. A single 7GB file can be copied in less than 2 minutes.

If you are looking for a great camera bag that doesn't really look like one, while keeping quite a bit of gear - check out this Tamrac Express 7.

I've searched for a great bag, had tried many but was not satisfied with what I've seen - LowePro, ThinkTank, Domke, Kata, etc. Then I've got one of these a year ago as a present and can't be any happier with it. Bag fits several large lenses, two large bodies, flash and other stuff in various combination. Here are the two sets I usually have in the bag:

Combo 1:
Sony A900 + 70-200mm f2.8
Minolta 7D
24-70mm f2.8
16mm f2.8 fish eye


Combo 2:
Sony A900+70-200mm f2.8
24-70mm f2.8
50mm f1.4
HVL-F58AM flash

of course the bag also housed a ton of memory cards, spare batteries, notepad with pen, keys, wallet, cell-phone, filters, pocket knife and more. it is well padded on all sides, has large pocket up front with several smaller compartments. One large pocket on the top of the bag, and one sleak pocket in the back. That pocket in the back of the bag is quite large, but barely noticeable. In fact - it is perfect for keeping papers or wallet, so it is completely out of site.

I recommend you buy this bag from Amazon - they have low price,  free shipping and no tax for most states.

Check it out - it is really that good!

Since I own Sony A900 I will try to compare it and Sony A850 to some other popular new cameras and tell you which one is better for what purpose.

Let's take a look at A900 by itself: 
    *  24.6 MP 35mm format full-frame CMOS sensor
    * Full frame image sensor shift stabilization
    * High Speed Dual Bionz processors
    * Eye-level glass Penta-prism OVF, 100% coverage, 0.74x magnification
    * 9 point AF with 10 assist points, center dual-cross AF w/2.8 sensor
    * 5 frames per second burst, newly developed mirror box
    * Intelligent Preview Function
    * Advanced Dynamic Range Optimizer (5 step selectable)
    * 40 segment honeycomb metering
    * 3.0" 921K pixel Photo Quality (270 dpi) LCD display, 100% coverage
    * Direct HDMI output
    * ISO 200-3200 (ISO 100-6400 expanded range)
    * CF Type I/II and MS slots
    * Magnesium Alloy body and rubber seals for dust and moisture resistance
    * AF micro adjustment
    * $2699.99 body price

Sony Alpha A850 is identical to A900  except for:
    *  3 frames per second continuous mode (5 fps in A900)
    * 98% viewfinder coverage (100% in A900)
    * IR remote is optional (comes with A900)
    * $1,999 body price ($2,699 for A900)

As you have noted already by the San Diego Photography and DSLR classes that I'm offering - I believe in usefulness of external help in improving one's skills. And as I have noted in previous post - there is no end in a search for perfection. Which means that just like anyone else - I need to keep on learning and improving on what I already know.

To follow my own advise on taking classes and actively searching for someone with more skills, I've signed up for a photography workshop by Melvin Sokolsky. If the name doesn't ring any bells - don't be surprised. Unless you've studied fashion photography or have stumbled on information about him by accident - most likely you will need to look up his name. Yet, there is a very good chance that you have seen his work - either in the world famous "Bubble" series he did for Harper's Bazaar (which he joined at age of 21), an advertisement or editorial shoot in Vogue, Vibe, LA Times, NY Times, or a series for some fashion brand. Or maybe you have seen him over at www.canon.com, where Melvin is listed as one of the Canon's "Explorers of Light". He is recognized and sponsored by Canon as one of the great photographers of our time.

If you own a business or if you have important files on your personal computer - you should really think what would happen to you if the hard drive crashed and . At the very least, you will loose a lot of time trying to recreate some of the files. In the worst case - your entire business can be devastated.

Beyond this scary disclaimer above - I'm not going to tell you why backups are important. But I will tell you about a few tools that you can use to make sure your data is safe. If you are a photographer or in any other business that depends on data on your computer, there are a few very cheap ways to make sure your important files will stay safe.

There are three basic strategies for backups:

Alright, here is the scoop: onOne software company makes great plug-ins and filters for Photoshop with prices ranging between $80 and $500 dollars. But as anyone else - photographers don't mind getting something for free if they can. To give a taste of what their software can do and how well it works, onOne has released a "Lite" version of their popular "PhotoTools 2" package. This package contains 15 filters and effects from a much larger "Pro" version.

You can only use this software with 32bit version of Photoshop, but it can be installed on a 64bit version of Windows as well as 64bit OS X. if you install it on 64Bit windows, new filters will only be avaliable in the 32bit version of Photoshop. note that the plug-ins will only be avaliable In order to get the software - just provide an e-mail address and click "Download Now" on the right.

Enjoy this software. And remember - if you join us for the photography class in San Diego - you will learn about using this and other software as well as receive tips and tricks for photoshop.

I've put all the important information about the photography class that I lead on a separate page. You can find the page by clicking on "Photography class" link at the top of the site, right above site name in the picture - "HyperSensory.com".

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments by commenting to this post.