Going For It - 20 Tb of Hard Drives

So, I decided to go for it and bought a Western Digital EX4100 four-bay Network Attached Storage (NAS) box from Amazon. I got five 4 Tb drives, four for the NAS, one to have an exact-match inside my computer.

Image Source: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=1460

 

I will have to be very careful in transferring files from my current disks to the new ones. Last time I did this, I attempted to move the files inside Lightroom, to preserve the connections with the Lightroom catalog. Somewhere in the middle of data transfer, a problem occurred, and I lost some data, and the catalog became corrupt. I finished by moving the files in Windows, then reconnecting the Lightroom catalog later on. That's what I'll do again this time.

 

I think that putting the source and destination drives into the new NAS box, giving them direct connection, will increase my chances of a successful data transfer, as well.

 

I'm looking forward to having a better storage system, that will be logically configured, instead of the one I have now, which grew up over the years. This system will also have plenty of room to grow from here, but in a rational way. The new NAS should arrive tomorrow, so that I can start my gradual upgrade of systems to support all the data I'm producing through my photography.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

VSCO Film - Emulate Film or Just Use It?

Discussing the "Elephant in the Room," Smithsonian Natural History Museum

by Reed A. George

Super Ricohflex TLR, Kodak TMax 400 Film

 

I am interested in this concept of emulating the look of film in the digital world. Purists will dismiss it immediately. Others will wonder why you'd want to emulate an old (inferior?) technology. I won't take either stance.

 

I have the full set of NIK software tools (now owned by Google), which allows me to emulate different film looks. I have only really used it to get a Kodak Tri-X look, which I must admit is pretty darned good. But, I find that I rarely use it, even for that.

 

Now there's VSCO Film, another package that seems to go further in emulating specific film emulsions of the past and present.

 

(Click Here) to read a very nice review of the software with lots of examples on the Aperture Priority blog.

 

So, what exactly are my thoughts on this? First, it needs more investigation. I suppose it's possible that sometime during my lifetime film will no longer be available, or will be prohibitively expensive. I hope that doesn't happen, but if it does, this type of software may be more interesting to me.

 

One thing that the blog post above mentions is that while the look is in some cases very representative of the target films, it isn't really film. You don't get that same anticipation of waiting to see what you get back from the processor. For me, that is a factor. I love opening up my envelope and seeing the negatives, then magically turning them into real pictures on my scanner.

 

But, there's another thing. It's the cameras. My film cameras are simply more enjoyable to use than their digital counterparts. That gap is starting to close, though. My Leica M9 could suffice if film were to go away altogether. The new Nikon Df seems like it has similar potential for me. I have yet to see a Micro 4/3 camera that even approaches the feel of a great film camera. My latest, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 isn't even close in this category.

 

But, I'm not dismissing the concept of shooting digital and emulating film. I'm quite happy to continue to shoot film, but can certainly understand how not everyone feels this way. First off, it's becoming expensive. Next, film and processing are getting harder to find. I'm very pleased with using The Darkroom (thedarkroom.com) for my processing, so it's not an issue for now. But, I'm not prescribing shooting film for anyone else.

 

For now, I'm happy to use film, rather than emulating it.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

Moving Files in Lightroom? Don't Fall Into This Trap!

 

One of My "Lost" Files

 

Well, I decided to use the holidays to migrate my photos from two nearly-full drives to a new 4Tb external beast. Having had issues in the past, I am careful to keep backups, but that doesn't make every recovery simple, as you'll soon see.

 

So, when you use Adobe Lightroom for photo editing and indexing, one great attribute is that edits don't actually change the source files. That will end up helping me a lot in the end. But, it means that when you move files, you also have to keep them associated correctly within the Lightroom catalog. If you mess this up, you'll lose everything attached to that file - edits of any type, keywords, etc.

 

There are basically two ways to move files in an attempt to maintain the associations - literally moving them (not copying them) from within Lightroom, or copying and moving them outside of Lightroom (for example in Windows Explorer). Here are the pluses and minuses:

 

• Moving within Lightroom ensures that the associations are all preserved (plus). However, since it's a move and not a copy, there is increased risk of losing files (minus).
• Moving outside Lightroom means that you'll have to help Lightroom once again find the source files and associate them (minus). Outside Lightroom, you can copy the files, preserving an additional copy, in the original directory structure (big plus).

Well, I chose to go from within Lightroom. I figured, hey, I've got a backup on a separate disk, and I don't want to spend a bunch of time reassociating files.

 

Here's what happened. I set up the transfer, 160,000 files, and it ran for about 20 hours. When I got up this morning to check on it, the computer had an error message. The process had been interrupted. Now, I have 38,000 files missing (not present on either disk)! I figured that there was probably a way to recover those files from my backup. Unfortunately, the missing files seem to be randomly distributed, from essentially any and all directories! And, to top it off, my backup has a slightly different organization than my source disk. And I do mean slightly. You see, my backup routine adds a single extra layer of folder to the directory, with the date of transfer in the name. This means that if I do decide to recover from the backup, I'll have to go into each and every directory and tell the system where the files are! And, I'm not 100% sure that I can get the associations right.

 

So, for now, my plan is to take my original source disk (the one that's now empty, since Lightroom moves the files off to the new disk) and see if I can recover the original files. If so, I'll simply start over, and move the files outside of Lightroom in smaller time chunks to make sure I don't lose so many files at once.

 

BOTTOM LINE: I'll never trust the Lightroom MOVE function again! Don't do it! Also, make sure your back-up system copies your file structure exactly!

 

In any case, I'm in for a lot more work than I had planned, and the Christmas holiday time is drawing to a close.

 

Bah, humbug!

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

Google and Nik Software - Here's An Answer To The Naysayers!

 

Church on Kauai, by Reed A. George

Processed with Nik HDR Pro Software

 

Last October, I wrote an entry about the news that Nik Software had been purchased by Google.

 

(Click Here) to see that post.

 

Nik makes a suite of software products for digital photo processing - everything from black and white conversion to high dynamic range (HDR), and more. I only owned their HDR Pro product - until now. I have always been pleased with how HDR Pro works.

 

At the time the news of the Google purchase came out, there was a significant amount of speculation that this was bad news for serious photographers, that Google would focus only on Nik's low-end products for web use, etc. I wasn't so sure.

 

I'm happy to report a couple of things that show Google's really in this for the good of photographers as well as casual snapshooters.

 

First off - they've slashed the prices on the whole Nik Suite. I remember seeing it for ~$400 before the Google purchase. Now, it lists for $149!

 

(Click Here) for an article on the price cut on USA Today's website.

 

I think this is great news. You get the significant horsepower and development capabilities of Google at a MUCH lower price than when the company was independent. Hard to complain.

 

Next, I heard a rumor that if you owned any Nik software from the past, even a single package (like me), you could get a free download of the entire suite. Sounds too good to be true. So, I tried it. I went to the Nik homepage, found the contact page, and asked the question. I was completely honest, told them I only owned HDR Pro, and had heard a rumor. They replied very rapidly, asked for my HDR Pro product key, and affirmed that I can receive the entire suite! I haven't received it yet, but expect to very soon. Wow. That is customer service.

 

(Click Here) for Nik's contact page.

 

So, while they sometimes definitely are, big companies aren't always the evil empire. Thanks, Google!

 

One more thing - Nik's lower end product, Snapseed, is also very cool. Search my blog if you want to see a few examples.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

My new Kindle eBook on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7, how to set it up and use it, is available here: