The typical photographer in the “old” film days probably didn’t take as many photographs as he or she would today thanks to our powerful digital cameras. This made storing printed photographs easier because people would likely place the prints in a box or an album and put it in the closet. A few photographers might have had the foresight to store the corresponding negatives separately and more securely but not much thought was given to storing the prints safely.

“Anyone who has used any type of film camera is likely guilty of storing their photos this way (I’m including myself as well)”

Note that I said easier but that doesn’t mean better. In many ways we’re still using a one box to store all our photos but in this case, that box is our computer. It’s not too hard to imagine how a box of photos could be lost or damaged in those days, but so can a computer today. When that happens, a lifetime of memories is lost because a safe backup system wasn’t used.

We might forgive ourselves in the days of film because we quite frankly probably just didn’t know any better and never thought of backups or extra copies. We’re still facing that same challenge today: why, how and where to store our digital photography files.

Today, however, we have alternatives. One popular method of storing images is to use a portable hard drive (also called external hard drive). These are generally good choices and you can also use multiple external hard drives as your back source. This offers a cheaper way of having your files on multiple backup sources.

“Western Digital has many portable hard drives with capacities of 500GB to 1TB for $100 or less (image courtesy WesternDigital.com). Seagate (www.seagate.com) is another possibility.”

But only using one or more portable hard drives to keep a backup of your images isn’t necessarily effective either. Consider Hurricane Sandy or something like a housefire or burglary. It doesn’t matter how many hard drives you’re using to backup your files, keeping all of them in one location is almost as bad as not having any backup.

Therefore, the best way is to keep a backup that you have at an off-site location. This could be as easy as a portable hard drive that you take to the office or keep at a relative’s house or even a safety deposit box at a bank.

It’s not always practical, of course, to keep a portable hard drive at another location so you might want to consider online storage, also known as cloud storage. This type of storage is quickly becoming a necessity for both businesses and individuals. You can select from several reliable sites that are available. These sites have different plans depending on the amount of storage but you can generally expect to pay a few dollars a month for 20 to 30 GB of storage space. A few may even have a small amount of storage available at no charge so you can get an idea of what the online storage is all about.

I’m not recommending one over another but the following should give you a good idea of what is available:

Box.com

Carbonite

DropBox

JustCloud

Live Drive

Mozy

My PC Backup

OpenDrive

Sugar Sync

YouSendIt

Don’t, however, rely entirely on the cloud backups. Instead use the 3 Copy Rule:

1. Main source location (I’m referring to your computer here, NOT the memory card still in the camera!)
2. Use a portable hard drive for daily backups or quick backups
3. Use the cloud backups for your offsite backup

“The Three Copy Rule is simple to follow yet it seems like we don’t regularly follow it.”

In other words, backup redundancy is the best plan to avoid disaster.

…or improving my photographic memory
 
 
I’ve traveled by plane so often that the routine of traveling overseas has become old hat.

But for this trip, I am diligently recording the steps that I follow with the goal of creating a checklist that other travelers may find handy if they too want to have a photographic memory of their travels.
 
 

Choose your weapon Sadly I have more photo equipment than I could ever use at one time. This trip I am taking a lightweight camera with an all-in-one (wide angle to telephoto) zoom lens. My experience has taught me to take fewer pieces of equipment to save space and weight. Besides the camera, don’t forget the battery charger and extra memory cards. I almost always take a notebook computer to review and backup my photos.
Luggage rack To save time and avoid the lost luggage syndrome, I rarely check my bags with the airlines. Instead I use a small roll-on-board suitcase and a backpack. My backpack is designed for photo equipment and has a well-padded compartment for my notebook computer. The tendency is to fill the backpack to capacity but you may have second thoughts as you’re rushing to make a tight connection from Gate A-1 to Gate F-99 with 40 pounds hanging from your shoulders while you drag your roll-on-board in tow. Suggestion: lighten your load; your back will be forever grateful.
Reservations please I enjoy taking photos from the airplane window. If you book your airline reservations far enough in advance you may be able to reserve a window seat. As I’m mostly traveling in the northern hemisphere I try to reserve a seat on the left side of the aircraft when traveling east or north and on the right side of the aircraft when traveling west or south. By doing this you’re avoiding the direct sun in the aircraft window.
At the Airport Put your camera away at security – the TSA staff are all camera-shy. After you’ve passed through security, snap a photo at your gate to record your flight and destination. Is there a window overlooking the tarmac? Take a shot of the aircraft that you’ll be flying. Are you traveling with others? You’ll want to capture their faces too. Are you traveling to or through an airport that is new to you? Take a picture of that barnstorm plane hanging from the ceiling or the museum pieces on display in the corridors. Many airports are filled with elegant artwork and designs. Take time to smell the roses as you’re passing through.
In the Air Recording the progress of your flight may be difficult. If you happen to have a window seat you may be in luck. However, if the sun is shining brightly on your side of the aircraft, there will be a lot of flare. Or if the skies below are cloudy, you’ll have a very restricted view of the terrain. If you’re traveling overseas, you may be flying during the night. Should you have a clear view, set your camera’s shutter speed to 1/250 second or faster to minimize blur. Remember that during takeoff and landing you’re closest to the detail on the ground. These are both good times to capture your flight.
Arrival and the Sites Here’s where the real photographer in you blossoms. Get out there and snap, snap, snap. Most likely, you already have a list of the landmarks and attractions that you want to photograph. The tendency is to step back and include everything in your photos. Try stepping forward a little to include less (but closer) detail. Instead of posing people, it’s interesting to catch people in action. To prove that you were there, is there someone who can take your picture too? What about the local customs and curiosities of your destination that are different from home? The foods, architecture, landscape and transportation may all be unique to this area. Why not record these?
Backing up your photos I mentioned earlier that I almost always travel with a notebook computer. I’ve also made it a habit to copy my photos from the memory card (SD or CF) to my notebook computer daily. Additionally, I make a backup copy of these digital files to a thumb-drive. Afterwards, I keep the thumb-drive in a place separate from my notebook computer. This gives me two copies of my travel images.
Returning Home Don’t relax just yet. The reverse flight home may give you a better opportunity for in-flight photos than the flight there. On my return flight home, I had a connection at Newark (New York area). Having grown up in New York, I knew that the Statue of Liberty was sitting in New York Harbor to the south of Manhattan so I was prepared to snap a photo during arrival. Again, having a window seat was the key.

Following are some of my “photographic memories” from my travels to Germany and Switzerland that hopefully illustrate this article – arranged chronologically.

Happy travels.

 
 
Written by Arnie Lee
 
 

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Everyone has a point of view

But hold on!

For this discussion, I’m not talking about your opinion. Rather, I’m referring to your visual point of view.

Your view of the real world is determined by the physical specs of your eyes. When standing, the average person’s eyes sit between 5 and 6 feet off of the ground. Looking straight ahead, the eyes can take in about 45-degrees of a scene. Historically, the “normal” lens on a camera was designed to duplicate this angle – thus a 50mm lens on a 35mm camera has this same view.

In today’s photo-frenzied world, we’re taking hundreds of million of photos daily. And aren’t most of these photos taken from the average person’s viewpoint? Probably.

My contention is that changing your point of view slightly results in more interesting (and less boring, me-too) pictures.

How do you do this?

Zoom
If your camera has a zoom lens – change the zoom factor. Zoom in to get a closer (and more shallow) view of your subject. Zoom out to include a smaller view of your subject. If you’re having a hard time picking out a face that’s far too tiny to see, zooming in can help it magically reappear in your photo. The plate of appetizers below has better appeal up close than at a distance. Unfortunately, some of our commonly used picture-taking devices lack a zoom feature. For example, the popular iPhone 4S has a fixed lens of about 35mm (equivalent on a 35mm camera) so you’ll have to resort to one of the other methods.

Dance a Little
Another way to zoom in is to move closer to your subject. Conversely, zoom out by moving farther away from your subject. This sounds almost silly until you realize that not very many picture-takers use this method. It’s almost as if their feet are cemented to the earth. Dancing with your camera can actually produce interesting views when compared to the immovable object school of photograph. You’ll notice that I danced a little to get closer to the green soles on the young boy’s feet.

Do the Slide
If you see a light post coming out of Betty’s head, move yourself to the right. If you want to see the gentleman’s cellphone instead of the back of his shirt, slide to the left. It’s perfectly reasonable to change the direction from which you snap your photograph. You’ll most likely end up choosing a direction which others don’t often see such as moving closer to the fence to capture the blackbird.

Get a Pair of Stilts
Another way to achieve photos with impact is to shoot down on your subjects. Standing on a stable chair can add two feet to your eye level. Or a set of nearby stairs can also give you a needed boost such as the overhead shot of the table and chairs. Whatever method you use to get up there will make your pictures stand out from the norm.

Things are Looking Up
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s … You get the idea. Thankfully, our heads are hinged and move upward and downward. Taking a photo of a kid climbing on the monkey bars and seeing his face up close from beneath is very different from the usual playground photo taken from 20 feet away.

Do Deep Knee Bends
If most of your pictures look like they’ve been taken from 5 to 6 feet off of the ground, you may need to do more calisthenics. Lowering your body slightly by bending or kneeling can produce a dramatic effect in your photos. Instead of capturing the top of the young girl’s hair, I was in the right position to photograph her face.

Down and Dirty
If you have the strength and fortitude, you can shoot by laying flat on your stomach and crawling around. I often use this technique to photograph flowers and the like. This changes my normal perspective to that of a bug and usually results in some interesting shots. However, it usually takes me a bit longer to get myself upright afterwards.

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Enough talk. The following are a few photographs that I’ve taken using one one of more of these suggestions.

 
 
My last suggestion, is one that you’ve already seen in some of the above photos and that is to:
 
 
Mix It Up
Use the above suggestions in combination with one another. For example, zooming out and bending at the knees gives you a wider angle and lower view of your subject. Hopefully, the physical requirements to do this won’t impair your health.

In photography, it’s fine to take a different point of view and go against the masses. Sometimes, it’s like that in life too.

Written by: Arnie Lee
 
 

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