Let’s install Windows. Where was that disk again? Countless reboots and hours later, you have Windows. But no updates. Reboot more, like it’s going out of style. Ok SP3, here we are. But no Photoshop. No Photo Mechanic. Crap, even my email hasn’t been set up yet. Oh and if you run Vista, you may just be better off going without a computer until Windows 7 shows up.

The last time my computer went out on me, I reasoned that it was old enough to not be worth saving, so I went and got a Mac. That’s how much I hate reformatting. Also, to be honest, I was simply unprepared. So how could having software like Acronis True Image have saved me? More on that, and the link to the article and info after the jump.

Acronis True Image creates a copy of your drive, known as a disk image, in its current state. It can then write this file to an external drive, or DVD’s. Because it’s a copy of your current set up, you can use it to go back to this setup anytime. Lets say you create an image last tonight. Then today, you install some software, but somehow it messes up your computer. No problem, just use the DVD’s you created, and in little while, your computer will be set up as it was last night. For that alone, it’s a lifesaver. But there’s more.

Let’s say you got a new computer. Why would you need an image of that? Well, you really wouldn’t. But what’s the first thing we do when we get a new computer or laptop? Install software. Well what if you installed your software, and your computer was spiffy clean, and running fast. Why not make an image now. That way, when your computer starts slowing down, and maybe has a few too many glitches, instead of reformatting, and going through some Sisyphusian install procedure, you can load up that image from when you first got your computer. Now it will have all that software preinstalled. You can even take out all that software that’s bundled with your computer that you never want to use, install the programs you do want, and make an image of all that.

The best part is that the process is automated. Creating a boot disc and the DVD’s of your image takes a few clicks. Put in the boot disc and follow the instructions, and you’re back up and running, complete with all your applications.

BTW, I found out about this from Lifehacker. Much as I enjoy people visiting my blog, you could cut to the chase by going there and checking that place out. I found out about a lot of tools that I use for everyday productivity over at Lifehacker. Definitely worth a bookmark (maybe next to your bookmark for my blog?)

Here’s the article at Lifehacker (Click here) with instructions on registering for the free software

And the link to Acronis (Click here)

The link to the Acronis site is VERY busy. it took me no less than three tries and a minute to load it.

Feel free to comment, especially if you’ve used Acronis software in the past.

Even if you don’t like Acronis, you really should consider SOME drive imaging software. Ghost and DriveImage XML are both alternatives you should look into.

Note, this is Windows only, which makes me a sad Mac. Not really though, because I have a PC laptop.

EDIT: Link is up. Click on the links above, or HERE.

Next up, I thought I’d test out a photo gallery. Photoshelter has recently updated their site to offer Flash based photo galleries. I think it’s pretty cool because it’s so easy to set it up. In fact, it’s retroactive, so I can set up a Flash gallery for any galleries I’ve already made. Creating the gallery itself isn’t too hard either, but this has further motivated me. So, I’ll give it a test run after the jump.

Oh, and I’ve been playing with a few D3′s lately. I really like the cameras. I’ve gotten a lot of feedback from users over at the FredMiranda forum on a few posts about the D3 and my opinion on it. Link to that after the thread. It’s been a long couple of weeks. Preseason NBA, NCAA and high school football, even a local kids soccer game, plus other non sports shoots (wedding, and two schools) have kept very busy lately. It’s been great to be so busy, but it’s also been time consuming. And of course, it’s my favorite time of the year, with the NBA season finally starting. More after the jump!

So, while I’ve been a Photoshelter user for years, I really haven’t used all their features. Most of them, like prints, and FTP to clients, really don’t do much for me. But when I saw their customized page, and the fact that it takes a few clicks (literally), I was pretty happy. Then to see the new Flash galleries, and how easy it is to embed, I was hooked. So, aside from uploading to maintain a strict backup of my work, I’ll be able to quickly and easily create galleries. Here’s a quick jpeg of my customized page, and the page you get when you click on the gallery image. No Flash on this one, because I want to use those galleries for the blog, and keep the customzed page simple. Oh and here’s the link to my customized page.

I like it. Oh and here’s their Flash based gallery. I simply go to any of my galleries through my account, and hit embed gallery. I can preview the gallery, and then copy the code to embed. It even works fullscreen. Badass.

BTW, if you look at the gallery, most of those images, at least the frontcourt stuff, is shot with a D3 and 70-200 VR. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been trying them out for a while now, and I’m very impressed. I’m no scientist, and certainly there are better photographers out there who shoot Canon or Nikon. But, I do have my own opinion, and for what I shoot and how I shoot, I have to admit, I really like the D3, and Nikon’s zoom lenses. Actually, I really loved the 70-200 VR, but when comparing their other zooms, the 70-200 VR is the worst of the bunch (the vignetting is heavy, VR really seemed lackluster compared to IS). Canon’s 24-70 isn’t even close to Nikons. And the 14-24 is nothing short of amazing. I found it laughable to even try to compare it to the Canon 16-35.

Anyhow, I got into lengthy posts over on Fred Miranda. Feel free to read it. I’m still not sure if I’m going to post about this in the blog. I’m no expert, and I can’t possibly recite stats or pull data to prove anything I’ve said. I just know that I like the D3 and their zooms. So feel free to read it and come to your own conclusions. I’d be glad to try an answer any questions about the two systems.

Preseason NBA with the D3

Let’s take email. Everyone’s got an email address. But not everyone supports the same file size for attachments and downloads. I can send 20MB files (thank you GMail), but you might only support 5-10MB (like my Cox account supports). Now what?

How bout IM’s? Excellent. I use AIM. You use MSN? How are we even friends? Ok I use Adium. What? Ya, it lets me use AIM, MSN, Yahoo, etc. Great. Wait, does it let me share files across? Yes. But crap, I’m on a router, so now I have a firewall. What, you’re on a router too? But it says the file is sending. Of course, it’s said that for the last 10 minutes. And ya, I’m just trying to send you a small jpg, so this should have been done nine minutes ago.

Ok how bout FTP? Great. I have one. Do you have a server? What’s your ftp address. What, that’s private. Ok. I’ll post the file on my webspace. Wait, now it’s too public.

Using a common protocol is tough for sharing because we may not have any in common. Making a file public is bad because now the file is public. It’s funny because the answers we seek end up being their own problems. So what if I had a place where I could store files, make them public or private on a file or folder level, share them via email, a special link, or otherwise, and generally have the ease of use of a download for our users, while we have the security of using a service with its own protocol on our backend.

Oh ya, what if it were free too, unless you want to move single files that are over 100MB (which at the rate cameras keep upgrading the sensors and megapixels might be next year)? Keep on reading!

And so I present to you, Mediafire. You don’t need an account to share files, but if you try to access your files from another computer, it’s not possible. Accounts, as I mentioned, are free. You are limited to 100MB per file, but unlimited space total.

Uploading files is easy. Just hit the big green “Upload Files to Mediafire” button. Then select all the files you wish to upload. You can only select files within a folder (not the folder itself), but if you have files within multiple folders, you can select any in one folder, hit OK, then hit upload more files to select another folder and any files in there. You can opt to save to your main area, to any of your folders, or even create a new folder to upload into.

Once you start the process, it will upload a few files simultaneously, and once each file is done, will proceed to verify the file (not sure what that process does, but I’m guessing a virus and encryption scan). On average, I have 1 or 2 files fail per 100 with some obscure error ID. The interface offers a Retry button for that file (while every other file is still uploading, so no time is really lost), and I’ve never had a file fail on a retry. Once everything is done, you can review the files, share them, etc.

Files are easy to share, and you can hit the share button to copy a link to the files for sending to others, or even email them the link from Mediafire. Mediafire even supports download plugins like Getright or DownThemAll, so you can resume a broken download. Nice.

Files and/or folders can be made private, public, or shared. Not only that, but you can share your Mediafire area, and can even get a custom URL for it. Here’s mine:

http://www.mediafire.com/pshizzy

When I access this area myself, I can view all my files, including private ones, as per the left. The viewing public can only access my public files, as per the right. So when you click, you’ll only see two Quicktime movies and a “softball” folder. I can also set a password on my files (the exception being images, which is weird), so that only certain people can download them. (btw, I used Firefox for the left, and Safari for the right, so I could simulate not having an account).

While you can’t see the private folder above, I can still opt to share a file in there. Here’s a link to a file inside my private folder.

That softball folder is a folder I used to show off Dropbox’s image gallery feature. If you don’t know about Dropbox yet, they’ve finally come out of beta, and the service is still awesome. Feel free to check out my review of Dropbox here. Mediafire also offers an image gallery feature, different from Dropbox, but equally as convenient in creating a gallery for you to display your images without any work on your side other than uploading the files. Where Dropbox goes for simple, Mediafire goes for thorough. Different size thumbnails, downloading, embedding of images, etc.

So, all these great options. There’s gotta be something wrong, right? Well, you can’t upload files that have a password of their own (so no password protected zip files, as an example). The 100MB limit isn’t a big deal, until you want to upload a large Photoshop file, or a big zip file or something. You can’t create any direct link files, so anyone who clicks on your link has to go through Mediafire and their ads (which pay the bills). You can even see an ad in the image above.

And the big one: While Mediafire offers some privacy features, anything that’s public is still really public. As in you can download the files, share it with others, etc. Not only that, but you can search Mediafire for any public files. Which means someone can search your public files. This isn’t a big deal if you just want to share pictures of the family or something. Without properly tagging your images, there’s no easy way to root out your specific files. Sure, we can look for jpg files in general, or mov or avi, but I’m pretty sure a website called Mediafire has a bunch of those. Just a hunch. Finding your specific files probably means that a person would have to guess the filename, or tags you added. So just don’t add tags (and why would you, unless you wanted to be found). But I do mention this because for some of us, especially the paranoid type (like me, who has duplicates of every file, plus online access with their own backups).

Pro accounts (starting at 6.97 a month) can eliminate some of these issues, but then it’s not free anymore, and what’s the fun in that?

So, there it is. The service isn’t perfect, but it is free, convenient, and safe enough (given that it’s free). I personally use it to store large movies that I have put on my blog, and for any file that’s a little to big to email to people. I wouldn’t use it for clients or anything, but see no problem with using it for files that I already wanted to be public or didn’t care if it went public.

Whether or not this service is something you can use is a personal decision. I hope that my article has at least given you enough information to figure that out.

You panic, of course. It’s an important shoot. It’s a memorable family gathering. It’s an image of you with Charles Barkley. Whatever it is, it’s lost. You think it’s unfair. You always backup (you do, right?), having two or more copies of a file, offsite (so both copies don’t burn down in a fire or short out in a flood), perhaps online (so that you always have access to it), and in different mediums (DVD so you can’t overwrite a file incorrectly). But how can you backup something that’s corrupt before you even get to a computer? Forget that. How can you at least get back a single copy of all your images? Oh God, what’s it going to cost?

We’ve all read about those companies that will recover your files for you. They often have engineers in bunny suits (cleanroom outfits, not the mall kiosk gig). Those bunny suits ain’t cheap, and neither is the service fee for file recovery on any sort of disk.

So how about FREE, and Mac/PC friendly. Link after the jump.Lexar, a brand name in the memory card business, has a link to their software, Image Rescue 3.0. It’s available for both Mac and PC. Note on the page, it states the following:

Congratulations!
Your card purchase entitles you to a free download of the Lexar Image Rescue 3 software. Simply enter your email and passcode below.

There you have it. You should have purchased a Lexar card. Normally, the software is priced at $30, so if you don’t have a Lexar card, it won’t kill you to spend as little as 21 dollars for an SD card (and for 30 with shipping, you could get a 2gb CF card)

The software is easy to use, and will recover cards (even non Lexar cards). It recovers RAW files for all the majors such as Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Fuji, Pentax, Minolta, and Sigma. It recovers JPG as well as TIF and PNG, and even recovers audio and video files. There are even advanced tools to test, format, and securely erase your cards. For free

Now, as with any recovery software (free, not free, or expensive), recovery is NOT guaranteed. Sometimes you get lucky and get it all back, sometimes you get some of it back. Sometimes nothing. There are different levels and types of corruption. But if you’re in the unfortunate circumstance where you have a card go bad, you have nothing more to lose. I hope you never have to use this software, but we should all have it handy just in case. Personally, I’ve had three card errors in five years, but my friend had twice that many in the last six months. I lost nothing important (two cards failed upon formatting in camera before a shoot, one failed after writing one file, but every other file still worked, without recovery), while my friend, each time, lost portrait images. Each time I was able to recover most of the images, enough that he didn’t have to do a reshoot.

Ok I’ve said enough. Here’s the link:

Lexar Image Rescue 3 – Free Download Offer

I’ll cover backup, synchronization, and different storage types (and services) in the future.

Aside from the silly name, this is going to be a fairly serious post about travel. I am no travel expert, as I only travel a handful of times, so I will link to the real expert on this kind of stuff. I have a video as well, featuring my packing of a Think Tank Airport Security bag, as well as repacking some of that gear into my Lowepro Computrekker AW.

This post will feature a set of Youtube videos (the 10 minute limit means I had to cut the piece into two sections), as well as a Mediafire link to a higher quality download.

On top of that, I’ll go into some detail as to my “philosophy” on packing and travel. I don’t expect that everything I do will be copied, but I hope that the video and this post will at least give you an idea or two to try out on your next trip.

Oh, and one last thing: A turducken is a turkey stuffed with a duck, which itself is stuffed with a chicken. It just seemed fitting for a post title about how my bag is packed. If you want to make one, Paula Dean has a recipe on Food Network. Oh, and if you happen to make one, mind sending me some?

Read on!

First up, let’s talk experts. Steven Frischling is an expert on travel. He has a blog, Flying With Fish, that should be a good read for any photographer who travels frequently. He’s done such a good job that he’s actually going to write a book on the subject.

From knowing what power plug to use to pimping out your PSP for travel
and clearly identifying your baggage, Steven is the expert. So go check his site out.

Me? Well I have a few rules about how I travel, and I stick to those rules as much as possible. First rule: Pack so that you don’t have to check a bag. This one is tough, because some people will travel with location lighting. If that’s the case, just do the best you can, and I would seriously consider checking in your clothes. It’s soft, so mistreatment shouldn’t be a big deal. And if you lose your gear, and you need it to do a job, what then?

If you see the first image, or check out the videos, you’ll see that I’m not at all scared to really pack a bag. I find small nooks and crannies and fit little things in those spots. A lot of people will carefully assign a slot to a single piece of equipment, but I don’t. If there’s space, I fit whatever logically fits in there the best. Granted, it’s not pretty, and it isn’t for everyone. But consider this:

Would you rather pack everything in individual slots, and carefully wrapped, only to run out of space, forcing you to check in a bag? If you check in any equipment at all (despite my plea above), you have now placed it in the hands of a stranger, who probably doesn’t know or care about the contents of your bag. Me? I’ll keep it all in my bag, and under my supervision.

Next rule: Don’t bring clothes luggage. A Think Tank or Lowepro bag can do double duty as a clothes bag way better than a Samsonite can carry gear. For most flights, we’re limited to one large bag for the overhead, a personal bag (usually a backpack or laptop bag), and a jacket or something. By using two camera bags, you can add some versatility to your lineup.

Currently, I use the Think Tank Airport Security as my large bag. The new version looks great, and at 360 or so dollars, it should be. Consider buying the first version used. I got one for well under 300 dollars. Regardless of which version you get, it’s a great bag. It’s a roller, which is vital, because when you stuff it, it gets heavy fast. Rolling it beats carrying it. It comes with plenty of dividers, and you can configure it to your hearts content. I usually configure the bag by seeing what fits best where (the bag itself has rounded corners and dips and tapers in some spots, so I try to fit things that match that awkward spacing best). I also will tighten dividers to a specific item as tight as possible. Sometimes, loose fit dividers means you lose the space for an extra slot or two. Finally, as you can see in the video, I do my best to fit any random accessories in the nooks and crannies of the bag and slots. I fit so many things in those little crevices, that would otherwise have to get packed in a different bag, or would just not travel with me.

For my second bag, I use the Lowepro Computrekker AW. I really like this bag, because it fits so many purposes. For one, it fits a laptop in its sleeve. This means no dedicated laptop bag. Next, it has it’s own dividers, so you can just move them over to a side, and have a big area for clothing. Fold or roll your clothes up tight to fit as much as possible. The main compartment can easily fit enough clothes for a few days. If you’re out for a week or more, you will need to do a wash or two. Because most of my gear goes in the AS roller, the Lowepro is nice and light, so it’s not a big heavy backpack that weighs me down on the way to the airport. Finally, once I’m settled in on the road, I can use the Lowepro as my camera backpack, selectively taking gear from the AS roller depending on the day and what the task at hand is. Try that with a dedicated laptop or clothes bag.

BTW, these are only my preferences. I have heard great things about a variety of other bags. The Urban Disguise is a big hit, as are Think Tanks backpack line. But for me, I like a backpack with a laptop sleeve, and a big compartment to hold clothes, then later hold gear.

Next Rule: Take only what you need, not things you can easily buy on the road. With all the rules about liquids, and sharp objects and what not, I don’t see the point in wasting space taking toiletries and other knickknacks, unless of course you’re traveling to a country that doesn’t have these on hand. But in most countries, things like razor blades, shampoo, mouthwash, etc, are all common and inexpensive. Buy it on the road, then dispose of it when you’re done. This even applies to clothes.

I normally take enough clothes to last me a couple of days, but sometimes you may need more. Clothes takes up a lot of space, and unless you need specific clothes (suits for meetings, dress shirts for clubs), take only what’s necessary to get through a couple of days. T-shirts are cheap and come in a variety of colors at places like Foot Locker. Same goes for socks. Or just do laundry (if possible). If you do buy some clothes, you can always donate it to goodwill when you’re done with it. Tax writeoff, and you’re clothing the needy. Win/win.

So, maybe I’m crazy. But you know what? It took me about 15 minutes to get from the curb at the airport all to way to the gate for the airplane. Both ways. Last time I checked in a bag, I believe it took an hour each way. What can I say, I’m impatient.

For those who withstood reading all this, thank you. But for the rest of us, here’s a quick list.

• For detailed info, look to the experts (like Steven Frischling). They do this far more than you or I do.
• Avoid checking in a bag. It can cost money, take time, and lead to loss of personal items/equipment
• Don’t use clothes luggage. Instead use a second camera bag. It can hold clothes, and gear later.
• Take only what you couldn’t easily buy on the road. Avoid space wasters like toiletries unless they are scarce.
• If you need to, buying basic clothing on the road saves you space, and isn’t costly. Donate the clothes when you’re done and get a tax writeoff.

And finally, here are my videos on the Airport Security and Lowepro Computrekker AW bags. I unpacked the AS roller, then packed the Computrekker. I had to pack them for my trip to California, to cover X Games 14. Depending on the event, I might take different gear, but the general rules above, and most of the equipment remains the same from event to event.

The Mediafire link is below, and is the larger, higher quality file, which is also in one piece.

Packing and Unpacking the Airport Security and Computrekker AW Bags. It’s 95 MB

And the Youtube videos are below. Two segments because of the 10 minute limit Youtube imposes.

I await your questions and comments, both good and bad.

Luminous Landscape is an interesting site. While it may not be the common fare for a lot of photographers, because of the niche the site caters to, it’s still a great read. I especially like James Russell and his views. In the latest LL, he discusses a commercial shoot for Phase One, the digital back company. Think sensors the size of LCD screens. Think 40 plus uh, make that 60 megapixels. Think 30 plus thousand dollars. Ok ignore that last part, because it’s depressing.

I love how honest James is. He goes into the somewhat gory details of the commercial shoot, including the pros and cons of doing the shoot (I love how he mentions the low profitability). Later he talks about the adventure of getting to the shoot, and how unglamorous it is, which is refreshing. Often we may think of some photographers, especially at the higher end, as making a large sum of money and living it up, jet setting across the world in private jets and Maybach whips.

Not James apparently. He rolls to Paris (ok that IS cool) in a truck with his friend who doesn’t know that a straight line is the shortest distance between two points, and drinks coffee that apparently is heated by a small nuclear reactor.

Oh, and he does actually talk about his steps in getting it all done, from start to finish. It also helps that James is a kick ass photographer. So, great read.

He has another article, about the D3 and his use of it for sports. Again, great read.

Two last tidbits: First, I’m sorry I haven’t posted recently. X Games was great, but upon my return, I’ve had to play catch up with the rest of my life. Secondly, the video of me cracking open an Airport Security bag like a camera piñata is on it’s way to me. I plan to post it as a mediafire download and a youtube video. If its treated like the Minitrekker video, I may end up dying in photographic infamy (again).

First up: BMX Freestyle. It was a new venue, the Event Deck, across the street from BMX, but it was also about 4:30pm in direct sun. No dreams about cloudy days offering solace, or at least some beautiful golden hour. I tried a few basic shots, and they came out looking like they were shot in direct sun. But I tried a few different things, and eventually got a few shots I liked.

A basic backlit shot. It’s not new, but the idea is that it doesn’t have that super blaring direct sun look. I adjusted the WB in the camera to 10,000 Kelvin, shot about a billion stops under, and it almost looks sunset-ish. Also, I had to do this shot from the media spot under duress after security told us that no media was allowed in the bleachers, where the fans sit. A fisheye, or a long lens to get a nice clean background woulda been great.

Read on for the link to the gallery, including shots of Skateboard Big Air.

Update on the Airport Security video: It’s been shot and basic edits applied. With X Games underway, and strategizing where to go and what to shoot, it’s been hectic. But it will come out in a few days.

X Games is a great event, but it seems each year that they’re limiting the media access, and trying to herd us all together like sheep. I guess I have romanticized my first X Games, where the security staff paid no attention to us, and we basically made our own spots. Especially with extreme sports, getting different angles and looks can really pay off, because of the dynamics of the event. By limiting us to media spots, it loses some of that dynamicism. The problem in a nutshell is that if media is all herded to one spot, then they can all only get the same shot. From the bleachers, I got this shot, which let me show the height and difficulty of the trick against a fairly clean background. Instead, from the media spot, I woulda had buildings all behind him.

The Staples Center and Skateboard Big Air was the same. Rather than set up camp in the media spots, we tried to find empty areas that would offer nice backgrounds and interesting images. We’d find a spot, but eventually security would ask us to leave. We did our best, but it was disheartening to have to sneak around to get good spots. I should mention that we at no time blocked any paying fans from viewing the events. Not only that, but there weren’t many fans to begin with.

For Skateboard Big Air, I again tried to do something a little different (for me). I will admit right now, that I haven’t really tried panning very much. But I also knew that if I didn’t at least give it a shot, I wouldn’t be too thrilled with the images. So I gave it a go. Sometimes it worked out.

I like this shot of Danny Way, the background is dark, but the panning knocks it out even more, and it shows the speed of the event. I shot this at 1/25th of a second, f/4 and ISO 200. I tried to get settings that would expose well but still be slow enough to get some motion blur. I think I probably could have shot at a higher speed but liked 1/25th to 1/40th the best. Later I tried higher shutters, but to me it looked like someone who had a high aperture lens and was trying to make do at 1/125th.

Another shot I tried was getting the height meter to display a height while a rider was in the air. Kind of a context shot, but it’s more interesting than an isolated rider shot, if the context is right.

I would have liked that 16 to say something like 22, and that AT&T sign just hurts my feelings. But I think I got the point across.

I have to admit one thing. Despite all the hassles from security, and the changes from year to year, I like the challenge of X Games. It’s a series of sports I never shoot, venues I never frequent, and people I don’t know. So I try to rely on my experience, and hopefully some creative ideas, and give it a shot. Whether it works or not is subjective to the people who view the image, but as long as I feel I’ve tried, I am happy.