Photography Archives - Page 290 of 331

March 7, 2013

Hard Drives – Tech Thursday

I have been pursuing a good strategy for storage backup for close to 20 years. In college, I started to feel the need to have multiple copies of my work across different floppy discs. Luck has been on my side when it comes to disc storage. I have not had many major crashes where I have lost irreplaceable files.

Data Backup

However, I have had hard drives fail, but have been lucky to have data at another place whether it be a disc, or another drive. Since then, I have tried everything – Iomega Zip drives, Jaz drives, burned CDs, burned DVDs, and external hard drives. Some have been connected by serial port, USB 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0, Firewire, and eSATA connections. I have tried almost everything out there, but I think I have finally settled on a method that I will use for a foreseeable future.

Backing up everything to burnable CDs or DVDs has proven to be difficult to store physically. The amount of data that you can generate with the newest DSLRs makes storing discs problematic – stacked discs can be warped from long-term storage, and differences in quality of discs makes longevity of their data integrity somewhat questionable. Some discs that burned 3 years ago are no longer readable! So I have turned to duplicate hard drives for my main backups. Two identical Seagate GoFlex desktop drives connected by USB 3.0.

Hard Drives for Backups

This quick connection allows for a fast transfer for gigabytes worth of RAW files. One of the mirrored drives is stored at home, the other at another location in case something catastrophic happens in the studio. The Seagate system also has a nice feature in that the interface between the drive and the cable can be separated from the drive. This makes switching between drives very easy!

So, when one drive if full, you do not have to remove the connector/cable assembly, just pop the drive off the top, and replace it. This makes moving drives between computers at separate locations quite easy. With the prices of hard drives going down, and storage going up, this seems to make the most sense for my needs. With the connector also separate, there is the possibility that if a new connection to the computer is created, Seagate will make an adapter that can work with this series of drives. Connectors already exist for eSATA and Thunderbolt connections.

USB 3.0 connection on Seagate GoFlex Desk Adapter

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

March 6, 2013

Personal, Photography | 0 comment

Snow day!

photo of falling snow in northern Virginia, www.timelinedc.com

Snow coated our neighborhood this morning. It was a forecasted dramatic change in the weather today in the DC area. Apparently, they have official names for winter storms now like hurricanes. This storm was named “Saturn”, but the local news stations have dubbed our weather event, “Snowquester”. Isn’t that clever?!

A heavy, wet snowy mix with rain fell this morning, and continues to fall this afternoon. I am continuing the editing of photos from the SingStrong event last weekend but took some time to get some photos of the falling snow. It was more picturesque in the morning before warmer weather turned it slushy, and winds took the snow off the branches. It looks like I’ll be shoveling in the late afternoon, early evening since it will continue to snow for a while longer.

Are you getting out to make some photos? Although this is a bad one, it is still a fleeting event. As a result, your images will change by the minute. It is important to realize how quickly things change with the precipitation and small temperature variation. I hope you are safe and warm!

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

March 5, 2013

Event, Music, Photography | 0 comment

The Funx – SingStrong 2013

There were some new bands that I have not heard or seen prior to SingStrong this year. The Funx was one of those groups, and I have no doubt you will be hearing about them for a long time. My first impression of them came while they were teaching a class on re-imagining songs for a cappella groups. The song they had as an example was “Supermassive Black Hole” by Muse; amazing choice, and the small section that they sang instantly had the attention of everyone in the room! Yeah, I stayed to “get more photos” but really, I just wanted to enjoy their performance a little while longer.

The Funx - SingStrong, www.timelinedc.com — Funx during a workshop at SingStrong DC ©TimeLine Media

The members of the band jumped feet first into the event coaching other a cappella groups, judging competitions, teaching workshops, and getting the crowd rowdy at their Saturday night performance! Their members are very diverse in background, but they use their talent and experience in vocal performance to make a compelling band to follow. Their members have a diversity of experience both in the a cappella world and even on American Idol! They took turns singing lead during their concert – the feel could go from sultry, jazzy, to energetic and in-your-face! They were definitely an audience favorite in a packed group of performances. You can buy their EP directly from iTunes, and follow The Funx on Facebook and Twitter.