Where did my images go?

Yesterday, a client asked me if I could copy some photos from the SD card on her phone. Her phone was no longer able to read the card, and it had some photos of her recently deceased mother that she desperately wanted to save.

Today, I had to tell her there was nothing I could do.

I tried. I spent hours trying different things. But, in the end, I had to give up. I’m going to send her to an IT company to try next, but it brings up an issue near and dear to my heart. Where was the backup? Most people, unless they’ve lost data at some point, have no idea that they need to backup their images and data.

NCI_Kaypro_SSDDAs a photographer, I’m in the business of preserving memories. Memories of family, of friends, of special events on our lives. And the best way to do that with a photograph is to print it. Imagine handing your grandchildren an 8 inch floppy disk, your only copy of your wedding pictures. What will they do? CDs and DVDs are rapidly being phased out of newer computers. What will you do with that CD in 10 years?

When people have to evacuate because of a natural disaster, what’s the first thing they take, after they make sure the family is safe? Photo albums.

Print what you want to keep.

"But what happens when another Katrina comes and destroys all my photos?"

That’s where your backup comes in. If my client had enabled the automatic upload feature provided by Google+ or Dropbox or iCloud or several other apps, she would have copies of all the images she’d taken online. It’s automatic. You don’t have to remember, you don’t have to start it. It just happens.

If she’d copied the data to her computer, she’d have another copy there. And if she backed up her computer, she’d have yet another copy.

"But backing up my computer is hard."

I use Crashplan. $5 a month and unlimited storage. I like it the best of all the cloud backup options, but it’s certainly not your only choice.  Install the program, and it will automatically back up your files and photos in the background. You don’t have to remember to back up your computer; it does it for you. Granted, that initial backup takes a long time if you have a lot of photos and a slow connection, but there’s no time like the present to start.

What will you do when all your digital images disappear?

Website go boom.

I’ve rebuilt most of the info pages, and I’m working on the old blog posts. You may still see some broken links of images until I get this fixed.

Sorry.

 

 

A Proposal in the Snow

Smith, Quintan-9041Quintin, the pastor at the Light of the Lord church here in Slidell, came to us a while back with a request: to photograph his proposal to his girlfriend Laura. She had always dreamed of being proposed to in the snow, and he was determined to make that happen.

We live in south Louisiana. We don’t get much snow down here. But he made it work.

He spent days creating a clearing and a path in the woods near his father’s chicken farm. His chainsaw broke two trees in, and he had to chop the rest by hand. He bought an artificial snow machine and ran power out to the newly created clearing. He spent the evening before the proposal laying tarps, creating the snow, and making all the preparations, working late into the night lit only by flashlight.

In the morning, he invited Laura to breakfast with his father, and preparation for the spending the day together. She knew it would be a special day, she just didn’t realize it would start quite so early.

After we arrived and got into position, he told Laura to come quickly; there was a deer giving birth out in the woods. She ran quickly with him, struggling to delete photos on her iPhone so that she would have space for more.

And then they arrived at the clearing.

The snow was magical to watch; we’re not used to this sort of thing.

Smith, Quintan-9072

Quintin kneeled in the snow to propose. He had a prepared script, but he was so nervous he couldn’t get through all of it.

Smith, Quintan-9076

Smith, Quintan-9089

But of course, she said “yes”.

Smith, Quintan-9137

Smith, Quintan-9148 Smith, Quintan-9151 Smith, Quintan-9165

Of course, since it’s snow, you’ve gotta make snow angels.
Smith, Quintan (J)-8736

And have a snowball fight.
Smith, Quintan-9198Smith, Quintan-9218
And then making up is funSmith, Quintan-9238
It was a magical morning.
Smith, Quintan-9239

Congratulations!

FreddyAndGlenda-sm

Congratulations for Mayor Freddy Drennan and his bride Glenda, who eloped last week for a small, private ceremony.

Happy Birthday, Miss Frances!

FrancisFarrae-107yrs

Today marks the 107th birthday for Miss Frances!

We celebrate Mardi Gras every year with her at Greenbriar Community Care Center, where she leads the parade.

Happy Birthday, Miss Frances. May you have many more.

Lauren’s Senior Slideshow Video

 

Leblanc,-Lauren-Chalmette-5948RWe had a great time with Lauren’s senior session. We spent part of it at Chalmette Battleground; it was my first time there.
Won’t be my last, it’s a great place to visit!