Good to go…

I found my iLife 08, it was right were I left it. Actually it was with the supplemental install dicks. Remember those two grey disks labeled Disk 1 and Disk 2, well that’s where it was. It was confusing at first because when you install and run Disk 1 it shows you Mac OSX Tiger. Tiger is the old OS, which is why I was confused. You have to run Disk 1 first then Disk 2. Disk 2 is where the iLife 08 lives.

As of 10:00 PM Wednesday night, I completed the install of the last program MAC: Microsoft Office 2004. All I have left is to pick and choose some files to migrate back and some plug-ins for web based programs.

I am really glad I did this clean install and erase. When I purchased his MacBook Pro last year in Dec. I thought it was cool and easy to migrate all my user information that was on Magellan’s MacBook to my new computer. What I didn’t know, was this would migrate everything. Programs, plug-ins, files, folders, music, and anything else I didn’t want.

My notebook has a 120 GB HD, when I was done I had 60GB left and the 40GB of photos I have taken since last December took up of the rest of the hard drive. The is why it became very sluggish.

After the clean install of Mac OSX Leopard and only installing the MS Office 2004, Adobe Lightroom, Toast, iLife 08 and one copy of Photoshop, I still have a ton of room. According to the internal HD info I have used 20.3 GB that leaves almost 97 Gig of free clean space. My computer runs faster and the fan doesn’t run as often.

Time Machine works great on my 1 Terabyte external HD. Once Time Machine is set up, I plug the HD in either with the USB or Firewire connection and Time Machine does the rest for me. It backs up my system every hour.

When you initially set up Time Machine it will take longer then usual to back-up your system. However, every time after that It only backs-up the changed data. All other data is left the same unless it had changed.

If you delete something that you didn't mean to, all you have to do is go back in time on Time Machine and tell it to load from that point. Wow, what a relief that will be, when I delete an entire photo album that I don't have a copy of. I have done that!

My only issue that remains is trying to hook up the 1 TB hard drive up to the Airport Extreme to back up wireless. I can see the drive and download/upload to it, but the Time Machine program will not work through the Airport Express.

Half-on, Half-off... My install is Half Done.

Start - 4:00 PM September 23, 2008
Finish – To Be Determined

After spending a few hours backing-up and doing an “install and erase”, will say “it was a success we have ignition.

As I left my house this morning at 4:30AM the 1 terabyte external HD was still going through its MAC OS Extended Journaled rewrite. When I checked on the process as I walked out the door, it still had three hours left… Whoa!

My only hiccup has been I cannot find my iLife 08’. I checked the Leopard install, I also checked the separate MAC OS install bundle disks.

Once I get the iLife 08 figured out I will finish the migration and software install.

Update to follow…

OFF-LINE...

Off-Line tags:, originally uploaded by Kirk Howard.

Today is the day I make the migration to two new storage platforms. Before I make the move, I will be making a clean slate.

1. Back-up existing files and folders (twice)
2. Make new list of necessary software to reinstall
3. Create virtual image of software.
4. Double check system
5. Triple check software and system.
6. Reformat internal HD
7. Reload OS
8. Download critical upgrades
9. Verify OS functionality
10. Make virtual image of HD
11. Initiate Time Machine on New External HD
12. Make additional virtual image.
13. Reload software
14. Migrate file and folders back to internal HD
15. Test system and Bob’s your Uncle.

Goggles… check! Hard Drives… check!, Software… Check! Patience… Double check, CHECK!

Wish me luck I'm going in…

Safety First…

Well it’s time… It’s time to talk about storage and backing up files. If you are like me and in the last year, you've shot over 10,000 pictures, and have them stored on your laptop or desktop computer, you could be setting yourself up for catastrophic failure.
If your internal HD fails and you don’t have a backup of your files you may not recover them. Could you image losing all those important birth, wedding or vacations photos?

A little over a year I purchased a portable external HD from the now defunct CompUSA. It is a FireLite 160GB HD made by SmartDisk. It was on sale for around $119.99.

It has been working great for a little over a year. I carry it with me wherever my laptop goes. Recently, I have noticed some very funny noises coming from the FireLite. It has a high pitched pulsing sound, like a fazer set to stun. I am also having a connection issue with the USB connection on the FireLite itself.

Through some inquiry, it was determined that my FireLite hard drive was going to fail. At the same time I noticed that my internal HD was filling up with less then 2 GB left for storage. So being the tech savvy guru that I am, I was stunned and panic set in.

Fortunately, a few months ago I had read a few stories about other photographer’s misfortune of hard drive failures and complete data loss. Many of these photographers have instituted a back up regime that would rival data storage of some Fortune 500 companies.

I took what I thought would work best for me and incorporated it into my daily chores.

1. After shooting I download the memory card into Adobe Lightroom and onto my internal HD.

2. I remove the card reader, but I do not reformat the CF memory card until I do the next two steps.

3. Copy the new folder onto the external hard drive.

4. Burn two hard copies for permanent storage. One copy I keep at the house the other I keep offsite. (Safe Deposit Box) (In-laws house)

5. After I do the above, I will reformat the memory card and sort and edit the images.

6. Quarterly, I will combine all photos taken in the last quarter onto one Doubled Layer DVD.

Recently I replaced the FireLite with a new Western Digital (WD) MyPassport Elite 320GB $119.00 @ Costco. I also purchased a WD MyBook 1TB external hard drive $189.00 @ Costco. I will be incorporating an auto-backup (Time Machine) into my daily chores.

Prices have dropped tremendously since my FireLite purchase. Shop around and get what best fits your need. Weather it is Apple’s Time Capsule, Data Robotics’s Drobo or even a MAD DOG external hard drive enclosure.

Some other storage options are online storage two notable companies are Carbonite and iDrive. They both run about the same price annually $49.99. The features from both companies are also similar.

I know this seems like a lot of work, but it has already saved my arse once, for me that was worth all the time and money I have spent making backups.

Photographer of Light…

One of Magellan’s favorite artists is Thomas Kinkade, the Painter of Light. She loves him so much just his spoken name wants to make her puke. Actually even though Magellan thinks the guy is paint by numbers artist, she admires his business skills and the ability to make a fortune out of a pile of crap.

Last weekend for our anniversary we drove south on Hwy 1 on our way to Cambria. During our trip we stopped (Forced at Lens Point) at famous landmarks i.e. Bixby Bridge, Point Sur Light Station and Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.

Last year I set out to work on a photography project. This project was to help me keep my focus on an idea while improving my photography skills. My project I selected for myself was to photograph all the California Lighthouses and Light Stations.

During the Point Sur stop we took a Three Hour Tour of the Light Station. The Point Sur State Park offers two tours, one at 10:00AM and another at 2:00PM. Once you begin the tour you can’t leave, nor can you not go and stay in your car. This tour is either all or none. I recommend the tour it is well done and the restoration is almost complete.

The Point Sur stop gave me the opportunity to get closer to completing my project. While on the tour I made the remark I was the Photographer of Light. It was a spoof of Thomas Kinkade and his paintings of Lighthouses.

Here are some images I have taken since I started. One of my favorites is not of the Lantern (light) itself, but of the glass prisms from the Prism Deck at Point Sur Light Station. To see more images got to my Flickr Set California Lighthouses.

Have a good weekend…

Pigeon Point Light Station
Point Arena Lighthouse

Intellectual property...

cartoon furnished by Clay Bennett @ http://www.claybennett.com/
Creative rights infringed? Well according to an article and blog post at Your Photo Tips by Damien Franco the mega giant corporation of 3M has blatantly violated Intellectual property (IP) of Scott, a photographer and Flickr enthusiast.

Social media is such in important part of today’s photographer (hello Flickr) that even big media companies like 3M want to get involved. Only they really screwed a photographer on this one. You have to read this article on how a big budget campaign wouldn’t even pay a photographer a fraction of their marketing campaign money for creative license. It’s absolutely disgusting.

Thanks to Damien Franco for pointing this story out. If you get a chance take a look a Damien Franco’s Flickr page.


Click… here, to read the rest of the story.

Trash the Dress...

I barrowed this from the Strobist blog. This great a photo shoot on the beach. Some very clever ideas and great inspiration for location portrait shots.

I really like the kite camera setup for the Canon G9. I would like to know how they did that?

Have a great weekend, mine started today. I off to hunt the allusive Great White Snail, also know as Abalone. I will post some shots from our trip.



Chasing Sunset - Part II from Pieter Van Impe on Vimeo.

Thanks to Didier Jouret, who sent me a link to this video from a Pieter Van Impe "Trash the Dress" -type shoot.

This one is not so much about lighting, but it does include all of the typical stuff: Beach, sunset, trippy beats, happy couple, some champagne, a little nipple pinching, a kite-mounted Canon G9 for overheads, ... wait, WHAT?

Dude, I so want that G9 kite mount. He uses the G9 on a monster light stand, too.

Related links:
:: Pieter Van Impe ::
:: Tom Museeuw ::
:: Bridseye Kite Aerial Photography ::
:: Didier Jouret :: (Videographer)

NFL Network...

For those of you who didn't catch tonight's game, the NFL has a new toy on NFL.com. The NFL has a new feature streaming live game coverage. The NFL will now allowed us Internet types to watch games over the net for free. The new feature is really cool. It allows you to watch five different camera angles, by clicking on the one you want to watch and that will be superimposed as the main screen.

The audio is a little delayed, and the image quality will get better in time. I think this is a very cool way to watch an NFL Football game. Below is a screen capture of tonight's game. Let me know what you think.

Clowns...

Clowns
Originally uploaded by Kirk Howard

These shots are the results of a test from my dropped lens. In Monterey last weekend I was unloading the “Element” for a little shoot of my wife and me for our Christmas card. When I picked up my Photo Backpack I didn’t realize I left it unzipped. The result was that my Nikon NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED AF-S VR Micro came crashing to the ground.

Luckily it hit on the hood that was reversed in its storage position. A few scrapes and burses, but I think it survived.

On Tuesday night I ran it through some up close tight test. The middle and right image is soft due to my fault. I focused on the wrong spot. I will do more testing for a more definitive answer.

Whew! What a break…