Backups Backups Backups…

How do you backup your photos or your laptop for that matter? As a subscriber to multiple blogs, here are some practices that might work for you:

• Scott Kelby’s Backup Strategy: great explanation of how Scott backs up all his photos and files.
• Terry White’s thoughts on archiving and backing up files
• David DuChemin’s Backup strategy (Pixelated Image): by the way, this is where I got the idea of using a Hyperdrive!

As for me, here’s what I do:

Photos: I use the Hyperdrive as my main backup. I transfer all my photos there after a shoot and then I connect the hyperdrive to my MacBook Pro later and download photos to Lightroom. I start off by importing all the photos to my laptop’s drive and then when I’m done, I copy the whole library again to a different drive. I usually have 1 LR catalog for each month or for each major shoot so that I can easily back them up.

The photos in the Hyperdrive are then transferred to a different hard disk so that I can preserve my negatives.

Files: Unfortunately, I have not taken advantage of the Time Machine or Super Duper apps in Mac. I have to get another spare drive for this or probably the Time Capsule so that I can do this automatically. Or, maybe I’ll just save up for the DROBO…

Backing up all my data has been a top priority for me and I still have to compute and prepare all my spare/external hard drives for this! I’ll try to do this soon before disaster strikes… (knock on wood)…

Christmas List for Gadget Addicts!

Christmas is almost around the corner and if you’re wondering what to get for your special someone who is a gadget geek or a photographer, here are some guides compiled by Scott Kelby and Terry White.

Scott Kelby’s Gonzo Holiday Gift Guide – He came out with his first one last year in a PDF format and this year, it’s in the Layers Magazine site.

Terry White’s 2007 Holiday Gadget Gift Guide – This is a downloadable PDF that breaks it down for you depending on the person you’re giving the gift to – from a digital photographer, music lover, frequent traveller, computer junkie and to the gadget lover!

As for my own ‘wants’, it would be the following:

• LaCie 500GB External HDD – I think I just can’t get enough of hard drives now. I have several external hard drives to store my files and photos and I still feel I need more! The link above is for the USB version because the Firewire version seems to be out of stock at both Amazon.com and Lacie.com.
• Canon 135mm f/2 L lens – probably Canon’s fastest prime lens! Would be a good addition to my 85mm f/1.8
• Drobo – If this was cheaper ($500 for the case only), I might just have gotten one already…so, I’ll just wait until I absolutely need this. If you haven’t seen what this is yet, you should check out their site!
• HoodLoupe Professional LCD Screen Loupe – very useful when shooting outdoors and the sun is too bright to really see the colors in the LCD of the camera. I still have to think about this more because the 40D’s 3″ LCD is just great! I haven’t had the chance to test it outdoors though.
• iPhone – I may just have to wait when they come out with the 16GB version though…
• Tripod – I think I finally need on, I just have to look what the good ones are (that’s within my budget)
• Lowepro Specialist 85AW – just because I want a new bag to go with my new 40D! hahaha!