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…

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.

Cleanse your Sensor...

I have always been very careful when it comes to my (DSLR) camera. Especially when I remove my lenses from the camera body, I am careful to avoid any dusk or foreign particles from entering into the camera or the lens. Unfortunately you can't control everything and you will eventually get dust and other foreign matter into the camera.

The past few month I noticed minor dusk particles on my images. In post processing it was easy to fix minor blemishes. However, I was concerned my time in post processing was increasing in proportion to the amount of spots and other debris that was showing up in my images. I know that I would clean my lenses well before every use. I would also blow out the inside of the camera to reduce the amount of lose foreign particles.

My frustration was increasing until I realized that my "Sensor" could be the issues. Actually upon further investigation it isn't the CMOS or CCD sensor that get fouled up, it is more likely then not the "low pass filter" that rests just a fraction of a millimeter above the sensor chip itself.

Recently I was at a day baseball game at the Oakland A's stadium.

We got their early and had a little time to kill before the first pitch. I decided to clean my gear (lenses, camera). My lenses were immaculate. Not a speck of dust or spots on any of the outer glass elements. I took my time blowing out and debris from inside the camera. I was good to go.

Here is the reference image I took of my sensor, disgusting, yuck and phewy.

From the 2.5 in. LCD screen you can never see anything that small. Until you load the images on your computer that are blow up. My pictures that I shot against a light background showed everything, even stuff I didn't know was there. I was so bummed out when I saw this, because I just knew it was now on my sensor.

I knew this would require a servicing. Because in my camera manual it states That Only Authorized Nikon-service technician should perform this procedure.

After further investigation I found out this is not as difficult as I was led to believe. I spoke to DSLR camera tech at Keeble & Shuchat and I could pay them $50.00 to service the camera and one lens. Or I could spend $20.00 and do it myself. I figured for the first service I would rather pay $50.00 and have it done right, and next time I will do it myself for preventive maintenance.

Below is a little article about how to check for dust on your sensor. Here is the link for the entire website on proper care and feed of your DSLR.

How To Create A Test Image
To Check For Dust

To make a test image, you can use about any lens you want but an non-wide angle lens works better then a wide angle just because of the normal falloff found in most wide angle lenses. You want as much of an even exposure as possible from corner to center. The second consideration is minimum aperture opening; we suggest a lens that will stop down to f/22 or greater. We have found that a great subject to shoot for the test, is your monitor. Seeing that you already have to use a computer to view your test, there is no need to go elsewhere to make the test. You already have a willing and qualified subject right in front of you, why not use it. Prepare your monitor for shooting the test:

• Create a new image in Photoshop
• Fill it with white (most any solid color will do, but we prefer a lighter one)
• Zoom in until it fills your screen

Set the camera to the following:

• Mode - Aperture Priority
• Setting - Aperture to minimum f/22-f/45
• Lens - Manual Focus set to closest focus setting (if shooting the blue sky, then infinity)
• Features - Turn "OFF" all special function like "sharpening"
• Take Picture - shoot camera facing your monitor. Depending how bright your monitor is, your exposure may be a couple seconds. During this exposure, move your camera back and fourth being careful to not to point the lens outside of your white box. Moving the camera during the exposure insures that you are not taking a picture of dirt on your monitor. This should be done within a matter of an inch or two from your monitor.
• Photoshop - Take the image into Photoshop and do a ++ for "auto level" You can lighten or darken if needed.
• Inspect Image - You can now see where you do or do not have dust. Remember that what you are looking at is an image that is flipped 180° (top to bottom) from when you're looking straight in on your sensor. What shows on the bottom of the image will be towards the top of the camera and visa versa...