BACKUP STRATEGY

Should I back up my work? Of course!!!!! No matter if you are just shooting for fun and capturing your family in there everyday life or shooting daily sessions as a professional backing up your data is an essential part of a good digital area computer plan.
The Story:
Just last week my backup plan consisted of saving shoots to my hard drive in my computer as well as making a backup copy to an external portable hard drive. This plan was fine, not exactly what I should be doing when I am shooting 3 or more sessions a week, however it was providing 2 separate areas for my data to be stored. I came to a point last week where my internal hard drive was full and I was unable to put any more images on it so I was storing everything directly to my external drive. I had ordered a new external drive which was in the mail. In the time before my drive came in I had shot 5 sessions and they were only on my external hard drive. I dropped the hard drive on carpet and it was rendered useless, the drive would no longer spin, and when I could get it to spin and actually access data the files were corrupt. Nightmare is what that is. I had to call these people and tell them that I lost their session! I mean I am supposed to be a professional and I lost sessions, this is a serious problem.
How did I fix it:
I rescheduled all my shoots that were lost, at no charge of course, and for a shoot that had hired models that were originally paid for by the client, I brought them back and paid them myself. I made every attempt to ensure that I am still going to have a good working relationship with my customers, because despite my mistake, they need to know that i am learning from my mistakes and that I am taking additional measures to correct my errors.
What I use now:
My backup strategy now starts by immediately copying my data from my digital media cards onto my laptop hard drive which I then make a duplicate copy of the raw data onto a portable external drive. So when I leave my shoot I have 3 raw copies of the data, on three separate sources. When I arrive home I proceed to make to make copies of the raw data on to two other desktop external hard drives. Once this copying is complete I will clear my media cards. I do all my editing to the files on my local hard drive, due to faster access to the data. As I progress through the raw files I then and export as JPG I continue to backup the JPGS to my internal drive as well as my portable external. Once all editing for the session is complete I make copies to my 2 desktop externals and I upload to my proofing site, leaving raw data in 2 separate locations and proofed pictures to 3 different areas. I then delete the sessions from the internal drive and portable external.
Conclusion:
This all seems excessive and redundant, however redundancy is what it is all about. The more copies the better.

Alien Bee B800 Studio Flash

Have you been abducted by Alienbees? If you haven't maybe you should if you are considering picking up studio photography as part of your growing photography business or want to add an extra punch to your on location photos. Alienbees are a brand of studio flash that are made by Paul C. Buff, Inc. They only sell there products direct from there factory from there website. These lights are solid built studio strobes that have plenty of power and have an array of great accessories to modify light distribution. The lights are professional but they come at  modest price tag. You have your choice in the alienbees of 400, 800, 1600 and these numbers reference the amount of power that they can push out. I personally only own B800's, I have 4 identical strobes. The modeling light and the strobe light are both user replaceable if need be, I have had to replace 3 modeling lights and 1 strobe light over the past year, completely due to me dropping the units, if you are more careful than I, these bulbs could lat year for several years without replacement. Studio lighting can be a expensive and difficult subject to learn and start out with, but I feel that it is also an important part of what a photographer does to help separate themselves from everyone else. You don't have to have a studio though, bringing these lights on location and using them to evenly light your subject and balancing them with natural light is a great way to get your subject to stand up from the background and make them the true center of attention in your photo. These lights serve purposes for wedding photographers as light can be a problem in many reception venues, consider instead of firing a powerful light right off in people's faces, you could reduce the power of your on camera flash or just remove it if possible and fire a couple of large lights off a ceiling or a  wall in order to generate some pleasing fill light in the room. Check out the video below for a complete explanation of this light. Any questions or comments just leave them below.

Nikon 70-200 2.8 Lens Review

Where to start with this flagship lens. The Nikon 70-200 2.8 Version 2 is a pro quality lens that is carried in most professionals bag's. The lens is heavy and extremely well built. It's focal range of 70-200 is controlled with a very grippy rubber ring that turns easily and maintains its position when the camera is being moved around. Its focus works much like the zoom ring and the focus can be manually adjusted even when it is set to auto which is a really handy feature. You will find the 70-200 on a dx body very usable and enjoy being able to far away from your subjects, especially with children so them can play and be there selves and still fill the frame with the subjects. The fast 2.8 constant aperture throughout the focal plane makes this lens very fast and bright. The lens is tack sharp from corner to corner even wide open. It will stop down to as small as f/22. The lens has a permanent tripod mount built into the lens and can be changed from portrait to landscape with a screw based system on the lens. The VRII offers on/off normal/active selections that can help add 4 stops of light to your subjects when needed. This lens is not for everyone right away due to it's price tag, but something to work your way up to. Always consider purchasing quality lenses before camera bodies as this will always lead to better pictures. You can look at and order the nikon 70-200 2.8 from bhphoto. Check out the video for some details of this lens. Thanks for reading and watching.

Whats in the Bag

Probably one of the most popular photography videos placed on youtube is this video. When I started in photography I know I was looking for these videos from well known photographers because it is a easy place to learn about what equipment is ideal to buy and what not to. So I am hauling the equipment around in a think tank photo airport international v2.0, can be looked at and purchased by clinking here.On the outside I have a Manfrotto aluminum tripod that is sturdy and fairly light weight. Ball head is smooth and locks in place tightly. With its independent adjustments that can be made on each leg it is capable of being leveled on essentially any surface. A main body Ikon D300s, the work horse, is used on all shoots. As a second body the Nikon D80, it was my first DSLR, served me well for two years and is still works well. The Nikon lenses are my biggest investment and I did not want to go cheap, I wanted something I could use for as long as I could, not matter the type of camera I was using, this is how I ended up with the Nikon 14-24, 24-70, 70-200 2.8's, as well as a 50mm 1.8. Check at bhphoto to purchase any of these Nikon items. Nikon SB 800 for lighting, works wonders. I add a Gary Fong cloud diffusion dome to soften the light indoors and outside. Paul C Buff cybersync's are the wireless triggers I use, they are effective, consistent and sell for much less than popular pocket wizards. Check these out here. I use a blackrapid RS7 strap to carry my D300s on, this provides an excellent way to carry the camera when I need to and remove it when I am in the studio. Check them out here.I carry many minor accessories such as cleaning kits and batteries and extra cables with me in case something decides not to work. Always carry backups. This should wrap up the what's in my bag run down. Keep in mind that the equipment that I own is not designed for a new photographer, the lenses especially are professional and very expensive. Learn everything you can with what you have and once you are good with the equipment you have then you will be amazing when you are able to upgrade. Next run down should be of studio equipment. Leave me your questions and comments to help me guide videos that will benefit you, this is what this blog and video gallery is for. Thanks for watching and reading.

Youtube

My youtube channel is www.youtube.com/tncphoto. It is definitely under construction. So far I have uploaded 1 video, I am not digging the audio at all and I have some work to do in order to get my audio and video up to par, I will be working on it. Thanks for being patient with me as I am learning the new things of the complex video world.

Alien Bee B800 Studio Flash

Paul C Buff makes multiple forms of studio lighting and pro photo flash accessories. They are a dedicated company with a great history of customer service that is unsurpassed. When I purchased my studio flash set I did as much research as I could to get the best possible product for the money. I ended up purchasing the busy bee package from the company which was the largest package available. These set included multiple light modifiers as well as 4 Alienbee B800 photo heads, all the stands, and bags needed to get you up and running. It was a great start even without having a studio. I now have that studio and have put my strobes through a year worth of work and they have held up really well.

The B800 heads provide  substantial power that can be more than adequate for indoor and outdoor work. The flash tube is user changeable and last for a long time, mine still going after one year of use. The modeling lights are 150-Watts and are what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG), meaning they trend with the changes in the flash power giving you accurate pre-visualization of your flash.

They are built of high quality materials that can take a beating, mine of hit the ground from heights of 10 feet on wood and concrete and the actual flashes have been unharmed, the flashtubes are strong and are not easily broken, however, the modeling lights break fairly easily with any falls. The reflectors are made of low quality tin or aluminum which easily bends and warps although this has not been enough of a problem to make any difference at this point.

Good key points is to weigh down your light stands when outside, especially when you have things such as wind catchers(umbrellas) attached to avoid accidental falling.

Welcome!!

Welcome to my blog site designed for photographers. This blog will be designed to work along with my youtube channel @tncphoto to give more information when it comes to photography gear and how to instructional video. As of today I have recorded 7 videos, these videos cover the basics of studio photography. Review the next post to begin reading about studio flash. I hope this blog becomes a vast arena of information that will cover many different sides of photography. The videos will have many views towards my own equipment so popular subjects will be based of Paul C Buff lighting products, Nikon Cameras and Lenses, and Think Tank Bags. Want something explained in particular, just let me know.