Sorry about the long hiatus from my musings, the Holidays and some other catch up work kept me from blogging for a while.
So today we are talking about the ways you can and archive your data. There are 3 or 4 commonly accepted methods depending how complex you want to make it for yourself. The common thread is our need to maintain multiple reliable copies of a single file. You can use a RAID storage device, DVD/CDR’s, external hard drives, or remote data hosting. (please excuse my wordiness, there is alot of interesting info to cover)
RAID’s
RAID stands for “Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks” thus all RAID implementations require more than one hard drive to accomplish its functionality. There are several types of RAID’s the most common of which are: JBOD, 0, 1, 5, 6, and 10. JBOD stands for “just a bunch of disks” and allows you to make multiple hard drives behave as they were a single drive or volume. JBOD offers no data protection, however. This is most useful when you have several small and cheap hard drives that you want to gang together. JBOD’s is less relevant these days as 1TB drives are increasingly available.
RAID0 is called “striping” which is a method of arraying data in somewhat parallel fashion between 2 drives with the benefit of faster reads and writes. The speed gain is a result of performing reads or writes simultaneously on each drive. In practical application you will never experience a 2x performance gain. Like JBOD it also offers no data redundancy.
RAID1 is referred to as “mirroring” in which one drive serves as the main drive while the second is hidden and used only to maintain an exact copy of the first. For example, with two 500GB drives you effectively only have 500GB of storage. Thus the effective capacity is 50% of the total. Losing one drive, however, will not result in any data loss. This scheme is simple and highly fault tolerant as the likelihood of two drives dying at the same time is slim.
RAID5 requires four hard drives with identical capacity to provide a useable capacity at 75% of the total. This implementation is more storage efficient but you sacrifice speed and complexity. Your data has been encoded and spread across 4 drives which can tolerate the loss of one drive while allowing you to continue operating seamlessly. RAID 5 performs a bit slower because each read/write operation requires an encode or decode step. The speed also varies depending on whether the system uses a software (cheaper) or hardware (expensive) RAID controller.
RAID6 is an extension of RAID5. Five drives are arrayed for roughly 60% capacity efficiency. This RAID level is more fault tolerate permitting 2 drives to fail while still storing your data error-free. However, this configuration is somewhat impractical for small office environments as the likelihood of 2 drive failures at the same time is slim so advantages from the extra redundancy are lost.
RAID10 is a combination of RAID0 and RAID1 that typically utilizes eight identical drives. This implementation is commonly found in corporate data centers and mid-level business servers. Data is mirrored and striped to maximize access speed and redundancy. As with RAID1 you effectively operate at 50% of total capacity. Don’t let your “green” friends know you have one of these at home unless is runs on solar panels and hamster power.
Burned Media
We are probably all familiar with DVD +/- R and CDR’s these days - virtually every computer has a multi format burner. No doubt you also know that DVD’s enjoy higher capacities than CDR’s (4+GB v. 750+MB). You have probably noticed that the two sides of these disks are colored differently. In order to store data on this media a laser burns away dye from one side during the encode or write process. The embedded silver or gold colored metal is used to reflect the laser when reading. This media is not the same as manufactured CD’s which have the data physically pressed into the actual plastic material - no dyes involved.
Writeable disks are NOT archival and generally have a useful lifespan in the 10 year range. Duration can vary depending on the storage environment. Readability depends on 3 factors: reflective material, dye chemistry, and obsolescence. Reflective materials are often alloys of aluminum which may corrode or oxide over time rendering the disk unreadable. Be weary when buying gold disks as anything can be colored gold but few materials share its stable properties. Manufactures claim gold disks are inherently archival but this is not completely true and does not account for the dye used. Dyes deteriorate over time and with exposure to UV light and heat. Again, resulting in an unreadable disk. In the photography world, archival has traditionally meant a hundred years or more - the planets would have to align for this to happen. The last item, a disk is only good so long as you have something to read it with. I challenge anyone to readily find a 5.25" floppy disk drive today. How about a 3.5" drive? Remember the 8-track tape? There will come a time when you can no longer find a drive to read that 100-year old DVD. Hmmm, even if you can find a drive, I could be likely the RAW or JPEG or TIFF formats become archaic too. Maybe we will all start using film again.
For completeness, all formats are not created equal. With DVD’s you have a choice between formats DVD-R or DVD+R. Capacities are roughly equal but data encoding algorithms are not. Suffice it to say that DVD+R has several benefits in this arena which make it a better choice for data storage. Chances are good that your drive can read both formats. If given a choice buy DVD+R's. They don't really cost much more and provide a layer of protection against loss.
Bottom line, use DVD's to make short term copies. Don't expect them to last more than a decade. Keep file copies on DVD and other storage devices. Upgrade your archive when technology changes. Do some research and invest in a reputable brand. Taiyo Yuden and TDK are well respected. These are the brands I use.
Hosted Archiving
Have you heard of services that will store your priceless wine collection in a large temperature-controlled and secured warehouse? Well, those exist for your data too. Carbonite, Iron Mountain, Mozy, and SystemSafe are some that I have found. Amazon offers this too and I'm sure Google will eventually rule cloud computing, online storage, search, fast food, and home building. Data archiving has long been the world of corporate computing and warehousing. Critical data is often bundled up late at night and transmitted to remote servers for safe keeping. One company I worked for would send DAT tapes via courier. Sometimes files are instantly available via Internet browser while others may require a more involved process. One thing you can be sure of is that you data will be kept safe. Of the above, Carbonite has been making waves and actively marketing to small businesses. Their prices seem fairly reasonable. On top of that Carbonite has no cap on the amount of data you can store. Sounds great!
How does it work? You open an account, give them your credit card, and you are ready to go. Most have a small client application that runs on your local computer and communicates with the storage company's network. From the client you can schedule regular backups, determine what files and folders to backup, view history, keep track of usage, and restore files. Of course, you will want the fastest Internet connection you can get and make sure to schedule backups to run at night. When the backups occur, the software will usually apply a loss-less compression to your files and encrypt them before transferring.
If cost is no factor, these are probably the best long-term archiving option. But keep in mind that few of us require totally secure facilities like a large bank would. One of the few drawbacks to something like this is actually getting the bulk of your data there in the first place. You will probably require weeks to upload everything because you'll probably only want to do it during periods of inactivity. Something worth mentioning is that the archiving solution is only as good as the company doing the archiving. Companies go out of business all the time so stay on top of it.
What I Do
I prefer maintaining at least 2 copies of my images and usually have 3. My working copy is always on a local internal SATA hard drive. This gives me fast everyday access for tasks like making albums, enlargements, and online portfolios. Once I’ve completed editing a wedding or session, RAW and xmp files are saved to a RAID5 NAS and burned to a DVD+R for long term storage. Both require little time to obtain a needed file and are relatively safe. Perhaps if hosting costs come down even more, I might get rid of the RAID.
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Winter Musings are monthly posts between November and February. They cover a range of topics related to wedding photography with couples and photographers in mind. I hope you will tune in next month. Comments and requests are appreciated!
Showing posts with label winter musings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label winter musings. Show all posts
Monday, January 12, 2009
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Winter Musings: November 2008. Data Storage I: NAS, USB, SATA...
Data storage seems to be a hot topic these days as RAW format files increase in size, cameras pack denser sensors, and adoption of digital capture is approaching saturation in all realms of the photography business. Issues like capacity, workflow, and processing speed are things we now have to deal with. Topics covered here will be internal versus external drives and USB/Firewire or networked storage.
Please keep in mind that a variety of factors can affect computer performance like how old your processor is, how much RAM you have, how many applications you have running simultaneously, file fragmentation, free hard drive space, and how long you have been running the same OS installation.
Internal or External?
If you like waiting around for images to load then continue using external USB or FireWire hard drives as your primary working disk. On the other hand. If you believe time is money, install internal drives and take advantage of your computer's SATA controller. Here's why. The slowest variety of SATA is spec'd to be almost 3x faster than USB2.0 and FireWire400. It is 50% faster than FireWire800. Last I checked, it is much easier finding the faster SATA II drives which is 6x and 2x faster than USB and FireWire, respectively. These figures hold even when taking into account protocol overhead which reduces the overall data rate. Unless you reguarly switch your USB drive between computers it is better to go with an internal drive.
Most computers purchased within the last 4 years have SATA controllers. You might be nervous about cracking open the computer chassis to perform the installation, but it really is easy as pie these days. All it takes is a screwdriver and the instruction manual telling you where to plug cables into the motherboard. Once powered on, format the new drive and you are ready to go. Your drive will automatically take on a lettered drive designation along side your other drive(s). An added benefit is that internal drives cost less.
NAS or USB/FireWire?
A NAS (network attached storage) is a device with one or more hard drives and (often) an embedded computer controller. Some may offer advanced features like FTP, access to files via a browser, multi user administration, streaming media services, RAID support, the list goes on. At its heart, every available consumer NAS is a basic file server meaning it provides transparent access to files that may be stored on another physical machine. The main benefits are the ability to share data between any computer on the network and the rate of transfer.
Why should you consider a NAS? There are three reasons I have a NAS. At some point your computer hard drives will fill with files you do not use frequently like 3+ year old wedding images. It is necessary to off load them somewhere safe yet accessible in case you need it for a project later on. Maybe you also want to maintain temporary backup copies while you work in case your internal hard drive should fail. You can also use the NAS to store things like documents and music files so you can access them from the workstation or laptop with swapping plugs and cables.
These devices increasingly come standard with Gigabit Ethernet ports (10x faster than standard Ethernet) which is handy when transferring large amounts of data like image files. Raw data rates approach SATA speeds which is much faster than USB. Speed is a huge motivating factor as is built in redundancy. With hard drives so cheap, you can buy a multi drive NAS that can be configured as a RAID to protect your data. There are very few USB/FireWire RAID options. More on this in the next post.
Conclusion.
Install internal SATA drives whenever possible, they will provide the best throughput for images that are actively accessed or maintained in a library like Bridge, Lightroom, or Aperture. They are also cheaper than external options. Network your workstation to a Gigabit Ethernet enabled NAS instead of using USB drives and be sure to use Gigabit Ethernet routers and switches. Configure the NAS to support Jumbo Frames to maximize network throughput.
I have decided to split this Winter Musing into two posts for November because it covers such a broad range of data-related topics. In the next post I will cover data archiving.
FYI, I am due an upgrade but run WindowsXP Pro SP2 on a 3.0 GHz Pentium 4 with 3GB of RAM. I have 4 internal hard drives: 250GB for applications, temp files, and OS, 250GB for images, and two 500GB SATA I drives for currently active libraries. I also have a Lenovo T60 laptop sporting a Core2Duo, 3GB of RAM and a 100GB hard drive. NAS-wise there is a 250GB Buffalo Linkstation which I use for shared files and a 1TB Buffalo Terastation configured as a RAID5 for my image archives. I just ordered a 500GB Netgear ReadyNAS Duo which will be my new RAID1 file server. Another RAID5 is in the works too because the Terastation is running short on room.
Glossary.
Firewire (IEEE-1394). Apple's external serial bus standard intended for use with professional A/V equipment. This technology was favored for its high data rates. The two most common implementations transfer data at 400 Mb/s and 800 Mb/s.
Gigabit Ethernet. A networking standard that supports data transfers at 1Gb/s. Also known as 1000Base-T or IEEE 802.3ab.
NAS. Network attached storage which is simply mass data storage accessible via a computer network - commonly Ethernet.
RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks). A configuration where multiple hard drives are linked to provide a larger overall storage space and data protection. There are several versions including RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10
SATA (Serial ATA or Serial Advanced Technology Attachment). A fast internal computer data bus technology that hard drive makers have adopted and built into modern workstations. It replaces PATA, EIDE, and IDE technologies. Currently exists in 2 flavors: 1.5 Gb/s and 3.0 Gb/s.
USB (Universal Serial Bus). A simple and ubiquitous external attachment method for all sorts of computer peripherals like flash memory, printers, webcams, hard drives, etc. The main selling point was the ability to hot-swap a peripheral without restarting the workstation. Competes with the Firewire standard. These days most USB devices are USB 2.0 and transfer at rates of up to 480 Mb/s
--------
Winter Musings are monthly posts between November and February. They cover a range of topics related to wedding photography with couples and photographers in mind. I hope you will tune in next month. Comments and requests are appreciated!
Please keep in mind that a variety of factors can affect computer performance like how old your processor is, how much RAM you have, how many applications you have running simultaneously, file fragmentation, free hard drive space, and how long you have been running the same OS installation.
Internal or External?
If you like waiting around for images to load then continue using external USB or FireWire hard drives as your primary working disk. On the other hand. If you believe time is money, install internal drives and take advantage of your computer's SATA controller. Here's why. The slowest variety of SATA is spec'd to be almost 3x faster than USB2.0 and FireWire400. It is 50% faster than FireWire800. Last I checked, it is much easier finding the faster SATA II drives which is 6x and 2x faster than USB and FireWire, respectively. These figures hold even when taking into account protocol overhead which reduces the overall data rate. Unless you reguarly switch your USB drive between computers it is better to go with an internal drive.
Most computers purchased within the last 4 years have SATA controllers. You might be nervous about cracking open the computer chassis to perform the installation, but it really is easy as pie these days. All it takes is a screwdriver and the instruction manual telling you where to plug cables into the motherboard. Once powered on, format the new drive and you are ready to go. Your drive will automatically take on a lettered drive designation along side your other drive(s). An added benefit is that internal drives cost less.
NAS or USB/FireWire?
A NAS (network attached storage) is a device with one or more hard drives and (often) an embedded computer controller. Some may offer advanced features like FTP, access to files via a browser, multi user administration, streaming media services, RAID support, the list goes on. At its heart, every available consumer NAS is a basic file server meaning it provides transparent access to files that may be stored on another physical machine. The main benefits are the ability to share data between any computer on the network and the rate of transfer.
Why should you consider a NAS? There are three reasons I have a NAS. At some point your computer hard drives will fill with files you do not use frequently like 3+ year old wedding images. It is necessary to off load them somewhere safe yet accessible in case you need it for a project later on. Maybe you also want to maintain temporary backup copies while you work in case your internal hard drive should fail. You can also use the NAS to store things like documents and music files so you can access them from the workstation or laptop with swapping plugs and cables.
These devices increasingly come standard with Gigabit Ethernet ports (10x faster than standard Ethernet) which is handy when transferring large amounts of data like image files. Raw data rates approach SATA speeds which is much faster than USB. Speed is a huge motivating factor as is built in redundancy. With hard drives so cheap, you can buy a multi drive NAS that can be configured as a RAID to protect your data. There are very few USB/FireWire RAID options. More on this in the next post.
Conclusion.
Install internal SATA drives whenever possible, they will provide the best throughput for images that are actively accessed or maintained in a library like Bridge, Lightroom, or Aperture. They are also cheaper than external options. Network your workstation to a Gigabit Ethernet enabled NAS instead of using USB drives and be sure to use Gigabit Ethernet routers and switches. Configure the NAS to support Jumbo Frames to maximize network throughput.
I have decided to split this Winter Musing into two posts for November because it covers such a broad range of data-related topics. In the next post I will cover data archiving.
FYI, I am due an upgrade but run WindowsXP Pro SP2 on a 3.0 GHz Pentium 4 with 3GB of RAM. I have 4 internal hard drives: 250GB for applications, temp files, and OS, 250GB for images, and two 500GB SATA I drives for currently active libraries. I also have a Lenovo T60 laptop sporting a Core2Duo, 3GB of RAM and a 100GB hard drive. NAS-wise there is a 250GB Buffalo Linkstation which I use for shared files and a 1TB Buffalo Terastation configured as a RAID5 for my image archives. I just ordered a 500GB Netgear ReadyNAS Duo which will be my new RAID1 file server. Another RAID5 is in the works too because the Terastation is running short on room.
Glossary.
Firewire (IEEE-1394). Apple's external serial bus standard intended for use with professional A/V equipment. This technology was favored for its high data rates. The two most common implementations transfer data at 400 Mb/s and 800 Mb/s.
Gigabit Ethernet. A networking standard that supports data transfers at 1Gb/s. Also known as 1000Base-T or IEEE 802.3ab.
NAS. Network attached storage which is simply mass data storage accessible via a computer network - commonly Ethernet.
RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks). A configuration where multiple hard drives are linked to provide a larger overall storage space and data protection. There are several versions including RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10
SATA (Serial ATA or Serial Advanced Technology Attachment). A fast internal computer data bus technology that hard drive makers have adopted and built into modern workstations. It replaces PATA, EIDE, and IDE technologies. Currently exists in 2 flavors: 1.5 Gb/s and 3.0 Gb/s.
USB (Universal Serial Bus). A simple and ubiquitous external attachment method for all sorts of computer peripherals like flash memory, printers, webcams, hard drives, etc. The main selling point was the ability to hot-swap a peripheral without restarting the workstation. Competes with the Firewire standard. These days most USB devices are USB 2.0 and transfer at rates of up to 480 Mb/s
--------
Winter Musings are monthly posts between November and February. They cover a range of topics related to wedding photography with couples and photographers in mind. I hope you will tune in next month. Comments and requests are appreciated!
Friday, February 29, 2008
Winter Musings: February. From Camera to Computer. Part Two
Phew, sorry for the late post but had lots of little family emergencies come up the last couple of weeks.
Last month I talked about my camera techniques. Now, we move on to the software I use and how I employ it in my RAW workflow. Speed, efficiency, and automation are important because they free me up to do more fine tuning and retouching instead of the more mundane color and exposure adjustment tasks. It also means clients get to see their images a little sooner. Again, there is no magic here, and nothing that many pro's do not already do. Nonetheless, hopefully you will be able to take something away from this entry and use it to make your life easier. Perhaps you will leave a comment or suggestion for me to make my life easier :)
After the event, cards are imported into Adobe Lightroom, copied to the hard drive into a single directory, and renamed. Additionally, my Lightroom import process applies a custom preset and metadata information (adds the copyright statement). Images shot by my second shooter will be manually flagged as a "pick" permitting me to filter between us later as I edit. Once all the images are in, I sort on capture time and rename. The RAW files are backed up on my NAS before I begin any additional work.
The generic portions of my custom import preset consists of auto color correction and - more importantly - no auto tone correction. Auto color correction is pretty good, but not perfect. You will need to go back for some fine tuning and then batch synchronize applicable image files. Shooting RAW forces you to color correct anyhow but it does not necessarily require exposure correction. I found auto tone correction to be far more annoying and time consuming to adjust. Auto tone defeats the purpose of shooting in Manual because it eliminates consistency. It was especially bad for backlit images or ones where a light is peeking from behind the subject. The algorithm appeared to be a type of weighted average which tries to keep the brightest spot from blowing out making everything else much darker (by about 2 stops). I hated going through to check and correct this and now I don't have to.
Now the real work can begin. For my own images the first pass involves picking favorites using a combination of color labels, editing rejects with the reject flag, and marking album-worthy images with stars. You can zip along using keyboard shortcuts and the number pad which is far quicker than using the mouse. My top picks are corrected and the exported for blog posts. Next I scan the second shooters images and cherry pick my favorites. Marginals are retained and the rest rejected.
The second pass eliminates duplicates using the Compare feature in the Library module. Reference color settings from the first pass are now synchronized in batches. Questionable images are viewed at 100% to confirm focus. Images are cropped and straightened. Minor exposure adjustments are made.
Recall my last post which said shooting in Manual saves me time in post. If you shoot in Av or Tv, exposure usually changes from frame to frame requiring you to potentially correct each image in Lightroom to maintain a consistent appearance, even if you chose to Auto Tone. I only need to make adjustments occasionally and when I do, I can batch it for a set of images which share the same exposure setting. Huge efficiency boost!
During a final review custom enhancements and B&W conversions (using home grown presets) are performed. Photoshop is used for retouching choice images (using home grown actions). Images are exported for print JPEG's, the client's DVD, and reference thumbnails. RAW, XMP files and image thumnails are copied to the RAID5 NAS for fault tolerant archiving. Backup DVD's are burned with RAW+XMP files. The spare copy of RAW files on the other NAS are deleted.
I mentioned last month that shooting RAW saves HD space. Previously I would need to use Photoshop for color correction and then save the PSD files to keep the settings around when I was ready to make prints. This was preferred over flattening and saving a JPEG because I did not want to recompress the image. I kept the PSD files around for long periods of time for things like album production and making enlargements. 1000's of wedding image = 1000's of PSD files. This required a lot of storage space. Of course, I maintained the files because I was anal and did not want to recreate the adjustments again later. In the end, I would archive the original JPEG, a large number of PSD files (favorites/prints/album), and adjusted JPEG's. Today, I keep a RAW file and the sidecar XMP file which is about 13MB. This is significantly less than a 60+ MB PSD file and 8+ MB worth of JPEG's.
You can shoot JPEG and use Lightroom for post processing and save even more HD space. The tradeoff is a smaller dynamic range (8-bit v. 12-bit) resulting in restrictive exposure correction latitude and losing image information to compression. I just like keeping RAW files around and besides, storage is cheap.
Side note. Buy the fastest card reader you can find. Several years ago I bought a cheap one that worked but my Sandisk Extreme USB2.0 reader is so much faster at 20MB/sec.! Lexar has a competing product too and both have Firewire versions that claim to double the data rate. These will save you alot of time (and eliminate multiple coffee breaks). If you are interested, these are faster because of the advanced programmed I/O (PIO) protocols used. Take one of these apart and you will probably find a chip inside that performs the task which is why these readers are not $5 at Best Buy.
Wow, so that is end of my Winter Musings for this year. If there are topics you are interested in for next winter send them on in.
--------
Winter Musings are monthly posts between November and February. They cover a range of topics related to wedding photography with couples and photographers in mind. Comments and requests are appreciated!
Last month I talked about my camera techniques. Now, we move on to the software I use and how I employ it in my RAW workflow. Speed, efficiency, and automation are important because they free me up to do more fine tuning and retouching instead of the more mundane color and exposure adjustment tasks. It also means clients get to see their images a little sooner. Again, there is no magic here, and nothing that many pro's do not already do. Nonetheless, hopefully you will be able to take something away from this entry and use it to make your life easier. Perhaps you will leave a comment or suggestion for me to make my life easier :)
After the event, cards are imported into Adobe Lightroom, copied to the hard drive into a single directory, and renamed. Additionally, my Lightroom import process applies a custom preset and metadata information (adds the copyright statement). Images shot by my second shooter will be manually flagged as a "pick" permitting me to filter between us later as I edit. Once all the images are in, I sort on capture time and rename. The RAW files are backed up on my NAS before I begin any additional work.
The generic portions of my custom import preset consists of auto color correction and - more importantly - no auto tone correction. Auto color correction is pretty good, but not perfect. You will need to go back for some fine tuning and then batch synchronize applicable image files. Shooting RAW forces you to color correct anyhow but it does not necessarily require exposure correction. I found auto tone correction to be far more annoying and time consuming to adjust. Auto tone defeats the purpose of shooting in Manual because it eliminates consistency. It was especially bad for backlit images or ones where a light is peeking from behind the subject. The algorithm appeared to be a type of weighted average which tries to keep the brightest spot from blowing out making everything else much darker (by about 2 stops). I hated going through to check and correct this and now I don't have to.
Now the real work can begin. For my own images the first pass involves picking favorites using a combination of color labels, editing rejects with the reject flag, and marking album-worthy images with stars. You can zip along using keyboard shortcuts and the number pad which is far quicker than using the mouse. My top picks are corrected and the exported for blog posts. Next I scan the second shooters images and cherry pick my favorites. Marginals are retained and the rest rejected.
The second pass eliminates duplicates using the Compare feature in the Library module. Reference color settings from the first pass are now synchronized in batches. Questionable images are viewed at 100% to confirm focus. Images are cropped and straightened. Minor exposure adjustments are made.
Recall my last post which said shooting in Manual saves me time in post. If you shoot in Av or Tv, exposure usually changes from frame to frame requiring you to potentially correct each image in Lightroom to maintain a consistent appearance, even if you chose to Auto Tone. I only need to make adjustments occasionally and when I do, I can batch it for a set of images which share the same exposure setting. Huge efficiency boost!
During a final review custom enhancements and B&W conversions (using home grown presets) are performed. Photoshop is used for retouching choice images (using home grown actions). Images are exported for print JPEG's, the client's DVD, and reference thumbnails. RAW, XMP files and image thumnails are copied to the RAID5 NAS for fault tolerant archiving. Backup DVD's are burned with RAW+XMP files. The spare copy of RAW files on the other NAS are deleted.
I mentioned last month that shooting RAW saves HD space. Previously I would need to use Photoshop for color correction and then save the PSD files to keep the settings around when I was ready to make prints. This was preferred over flattening and saving a JPEG because I did not want to recompress the image. I kept the PSD files around for long periods of time for things like album production and making enlargements. 1000's of wedding image = 1000's of PSD files. This required a lot of storage space. Of course, I maintained the files because I was anal and did not want to recreate the adjustments again later. In the end, I would archive the original JPEG, a large number of PSD files (favorites/prints/album), and adjusted JPEG's. Today, I keep a RAW file and the sidecar XMP file which is about 13MB. This is significantly less than a 60+ MB PSD file and 8+ MB worth of JPEG's.
You can shoot JPEG and use Lightroom for post processing and save even more HD space. The tradeoff is a smaller dynamic range (8-bit v. 12-bit) resulting in restrictive exposure correction latitude and losing image information to compression. I just like keeping RAW files around and besides, storage is cheap.
Side note. Buy the fastest card reader you can find. Several years ago I bought a cheap one that worked but my Sandisk Extreme USB2.0 reader is so much faster at 20MB/sec.! Lexar has a competing product too and both have Firewire versions that claim to double the data rate. These will save you alot of time (and eliminate multiple coffee breaks). If you are interested, these are faster because of the advanced programmed I/O (PIO) protocols used. Take one of these apart and you will probably find a chip inside that performs the task which is why these readers are not $5 at Best Buy.
Wow, so that is end of my Winter Musings for this year. If there are topics you are interested in for next winter send them on in.
--------
Winter Musings are monthly posts between November and February. They cover a range of topics related to wedding photography with couples and photographers in mind. Comments and requests are appreciated!
Monday, January 28, 2008
Winter Musings: January. From Camera to Computer. Part One
I thought some readers would be interested in learning about the technical details behind how I work. Some things were taught to me and others learned; nothing you read here is a secret per se but it is a result of experience. Originally planned as a single entry I decided to split it up due to length. So this month I will be describing my camera set up and rationale while next month I will discuss my preview and editing tools, and how it all comes together in my workflow.
I value consistency and process, Henry Ford would be proud. I am not as much a seat-of-the-pants photographer as others and believe my best results are achieved when I take more responsibility for how an image is exposed and processed. My own skills and experience are trusted over the exposure programs offered by the DSLR. This methodology helps streamline my RAW file workflow. Do you see of my engineering background peeking through? Yes, I like control!
My two Canon 5D DSLR's are configured identically and are fitted with aftermarket Haoda horizontal split prism focusing screens (SO missed these from my 1 series Canon's). I photograph using:
The center focusing point is used by many focus-and-recompose photographers like me. Letting the camera decide can be frustrating. Also, experience has shown that autofocus is great but the split prism is best for critical shooting when depth of field is at a premium. Just be careful when you are very close to the subject and shooting wide open. A slight recomposition may change the focal plane and something you thought was in focus will actually not be. Occasionally I will switch points when I want a particular framing. Despite how good the camera is at auto-selecting focusing points, I still like the control when manually selecting the point.
Spot metering gives the photographer control over highlights and shadows - here's that word again - consistency. I move the spot over areas of the frame and decide what I want to show; set the exposure (manually) and fire away. You will get rich and saturated images out of the camera without post processing. Weddings are easy because you generally contend with faces and dresses. I can always spot meter on the dress to prevent blown highlights. Something to think about: if you are going to use spot metering for backlit subjects, you might as well just use it all the time.
The one time I will not spot meter is when using flash. If you read about ETTL flash you will see why. Among other things, flash power algorithms are tied to exposure readings around the focus point. When I focus and recompose, the focus point may not be on my subject when I am ready to shoot which will lead to errant exposure readings and flash output. Result? Annoying over and under exposures. I employ evaluative metering when using flash which averages over the entire scene. It is a much safer setting in this instance.
Ooooo, the legendary back button focus - a religion for some photographers, including me. This is when you set a "Custom Function" allowing you to use a button on the back of the camera to trigger auto focus. The shutter release is then decoupled from AF and serves one less function. There are a bevy of reasons to use this especially for manual-exposure-spot-metering-focus-and-recompose junkies!
First, you now get instant shutter release, on-demand. Before you would have to wait for the AF system to deliver a focus confirmation. The benefit is a reduced risk of missing your shot.
Second, this allows you to prefocus, meter, and recompose before firing. This is commonly employed for predictably moving subjects. You focus on a spot then snap the photograph as they pass it. Higher probability of a sharp image. Before, the AF was triggered every time you press the shutter release thus changing what was in focus.
Third, you can use the full time manual (FT-M) feature of most pro lenses without flipping the AF/MF switch. This is very convenient when shooting macro details. Before, the AF would always override what you manually set when you pressed the shutter release down. It works for moving subjects too when you choose not to use the AI-Servo mode.
Fourth, you decouple metering and focusing. You can focus on a subject and then move your spot meter over another area of the image to examine your exposure by pressing the shutter release down half way. Move the camera back to the subject and fire without ever changing what was in focus.
I disable back button focusing when I'm in a dark room. The flash's IR assist will make sure what I am pointing at is in focus and release the shutter at that instant. Not all images will be in focus but it is better than prefocusing and the split prism is useless when you can't really see your subject. This is used mostly at the end of the night when the dancing starts and the fairy godmother turns my camera into an expensive point and shoot.
I always shoot RAW. One dark church was all that was necessary to convert me. Aside from the 12-bit mathematical benefits over an 8-bit JPEG, it is a great time saver on many levels. Color correction is much simpler in Lightroom, under and over exposures are more recoverable, it appeals to my engineering nature, and it saves interim hard drive space for my workflow. That's right, you read it correctly. Stay tuned next month for the reason why.
There is a reason why your expensive $1100+ lens came with a hood. It wasn't an upsell. Hoods restrict incident light to whatever you are pointing at. This prevents flare at the extreme, but also improves the color saturation by controlling unwanted reflections and light pollution. One other benefit is that it protects your expensive glass from fingers and pointy things as you move around.
OMG, this is way too long already. Tune in next month for Part Two.
--------
Winter Musings are monthly posts between November and February. They cover a range of topics related to wedding photography with couples and photographers in mind. I hope you will tune in next month. Comments and requests are appreciated!
I value consistency and process, Henry Ford would be proud. I am not as much a seat-of-the-pants photographer as others and believe my best results are achieved when I take more responsibility for how an image is exposed and processed. My own skills and experience are trusted over the exposure programs offered by the DSLR. This methodology helps streamline my RAW file workflow. Do you see of my engineering background peeking through? Yes, I like control!
My two Canon 5D DSLR's are configured identically and are fitted with aftermarket Haoda horizontal split prism focusing screens (SO missed these from my 1 series Canon's). I photograph using:
- manual exposure - always
- center focusing point - almost always
- spot metering - almost always
- evaluative metering when using ETTLII on the 580EX flash
- "back button focusing" - almost always
- normal focusing when dark and using 580EX flash's IR assist
- RAW format - always
- with lens hoods - always
The center focusing point is used by many focus-and-recompose photographers like me. Letting the camera decide can be frustrating. Also, experience has shown that autofocus is great but the split prism is best for critical shooting when depth of field is at a premium. Just be careful when you are very close to the subject and shooting wide open. A slight recomposition may change the focal plane and something you thought was in focus will actually not be. Occasionally I will switch points when I want a particular framing. Despite how good the camera is at auto-selecting focusing points, I still like the control when manually selecting the point.
Spot metering gives the photographer control over highlights and shadows - here's that word again - consistency. I move the spot over areas of the frame and decide what I want to show; set the exposure (manually) and fire away. You will get rich and saturated images out of the camera without post processing. Weddings are easy because you generally contend with faces and dresses. I can always spot meter on the dress to prevent blown highlights. Something to think about: if you are going to use spot metering for backlit subjects, you might as well just use it all the time.
The one time I will not spot meter is when using flash. If you read about ETTL flash you will see why. Among other things, flash power algorithms are tied to exposure readings around the focus point. When I focus and recompose, the focus point may not be on my subject when I am ready to shoot which will lead to errant exposure readings and flash output. Result? Annoying over and under exposures. I employ evaluative metering when using flash which averages over the entire scene. It is a much safer setting in this instance.
Ooooo, the legendary back button focus - a religion for some photographers, including me. This is when you set a "Custom Function" allowing you to use a button on the back of the camera to trigger auto focus. The shutter release is then decoupled from AF and serves one less function. There are a bevy of reasons to use this especially for manual-exposure-spot-metering-focus-and-recompose junkies!
First, you now get instant shutter release, on-demand. Before you would have to wait for the AF system to deliver a focus confirmation. The benefit is a reduced risk of missing your shot.
Second, this allows you to prefocus, meter, and recompose before firing. This is commonly employed for predictably moving subjects. You focus on a spot then snap the photograph as they pass it. Higher probability of a sharp image. Before, the AF was triggered every time you press the shutter release thus changing what was in focus.
Third, you can use the full time manual (FT-M) feature of most pro lenses without flipping the AF/MF switch. This is very convenient when shooting macro details. Before, the AF would always override what you manually set when you pressed the shutter release down. It works for moving subjects too when you choose not to use the AI-Servo mode.
Fourth, you decouple metering and focusing. You can focus on a subject and then move your spot meter over another area of the image to examine your exposure by pressing the shutter release down half way. Move the camera back to the subject and fire without ever changing what was in focus.
I disable back button focusing when I'm in a dark room. The flash's IR assist will make sure what I am pointing at is in focus and release the shutter at that instant. Not all images will be in focus but it is better than prefocusing and the split prism is useless when you can't really see your subject. This is used mostly at the end of the night when the dancing starts and the fairy godmother turns my camera into an expensive point and shoot.
I always shoot RAW. One dark church was all that was necessary to convert me. Aside from the 12-bit mathematical benefits over an 8-bit JPEG, it is a great time saver on many levels. Color correction is much simpler in Lightroom, under and over exposures are more recoverable, it appeals to my engineering nature, and it saves interim hard drive space for my workflow. That's right, you read it correctly. Stay tuned next month for the reason why.
There is a reason why your expensive $1100+ lens came with a hood. It wasn't an upsell. Hoods restrict incident light to whatever you are pointing at. This prevents flare at the extreme, but also improves the color saturation by controlling unwanted reflections and light pollution. One other benefit is that it protects your expensive glass from fingers and pointy things as you move around.
OMG, this is way too long already. Tune in next month for Part Two.
--------
Winter Musings are monthly posts between November and February. They cover a range of topics related to wedding photography with couples and photographers in mind. I hope you will tune in next month. Comments and requests are appreciated!
Friday, December 28, 2007
Winter Musings: December. Wedding Day Photography
The title says “Photography” but this is all about the schedule. As photographers we face the challenge of delivering on our promise of providing artistic photographs from your wedding while working within a schedule. What I have been told by many other professionals and noticed over the years is that, despite advice and warnings, schedules run late and among the first things sacrificed is photography. Everyone wants the style of imagery they hired the photographer to take, but are willing to give up photo time when the ship starts to sink. Time is a resource constraint so tradeoffs are made. Oftentimes, looking back, the client is not too happy with the tradeoff.
How can we control the schedule and obtain terrific photographic results? Here is a very short list of suggestions that get you started down the right path.
Make photography a priority and give the photographer a lot of time. Set aside time, before the ceremony if necessary, for photographing the bride alone, the groom alone, and the bride and groom together. Couples frequently do not give enough time for these tasks. Great portraits are rarely shot while in photojournalist mode.
Pad your schedule before the reception. The vast majority of album-worthy images are taken before the reception so if you think a missing piece can be covered during the reception, please reconsider. Allocate plenty of time and then add a little more. It is better to have extra pockets of available time should things become dire. Schedules tend to run late when no one is in control.
Make someone else accountable on the big day. Your wedding day means you (bride or groom) should not do any work or have to make major decisions. Designate someone to make sure things run according to your plan. Make sure this person has a thick skin, is responsible, will not hold a grudge against you, and is stern when necessary. They will need all of these traits when dealing with you and others on the wedding day.
A new BMW costs upwards of $30K; that does not mean you can build one yourself if given the money. The answer is "highly unlikely"; your wedding is no different. Hire a day-of planner or, better yet, a full event planner. Leave it to the experts who are far more experienced. They are paid to be accountable and will do a great job for you.
--------
Winter Musings are monthly posts between November and February. They cover a range of topics related to wedding photography with couples and photographers in mind. I hope you will tune in next month. Comments and requests are appreciated!
How can we control the schedule and obtain terrific photographic results? Here is a very short list of suggestions that get you started down the right path.
Make photography a priority and give the photographer a lot of time. Set aside time, before the ceremony if necessary, for photographing the bride alone, the groom alone, and the bride and groom together. Couples frequently do not give enough time for these tasks. Great portraits are rarely shot while in photojournalist mode.
Pad your schedule before the reception. The vast majority of album-worthy images are taken before the reception so if you think a missing piece can be covered during the reception, please reconsider. Allocate plenty of time and then add a little more. It is better to have extra pockets of available time should things become dire. Schedules tend to run late when no one is in control.
Make someone else accountable on the big day. Your wedding day means you (bride or groom) should not do any work or have to make major decisions. Designate someone to make sure things run according to your plan. Make sure this person has a thick skin, is responsible, will not hold a grudge against you, and is stern when necessary. They will need all of these traits when dealing with you and others on the wedding day.
A new BMW costs upwards of $30K; that does not mean you can build one yourself if given the money. The answer is "highly unlikely"; your wedding is no different. Hire a day-of planner or, better yet, a full event planner. Leave it to the experts who are far more experienced. They are paid to be accountable and will do a great job for you.
--------
Winter Musings are monthly posts between November and February. They cover a range of topics related to wedding photography with couples and photographers in mind. I hope you will tune in next month. Comments and requests are appreciated!
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Winter Musings: November. Make the Most of Your Engagement Session
I enjoy these opportunities to work with my clients. Couples should never pass on a prewedding shoot unless you absolutely must. Becoming comfortable with one another in front of the lens is a valuable takeaway as you progress towards the big wedding day. Also, it is oftentimes more artistic than the wedding itself because there are fewer time constraints making for a carefree and unprescribed shoot. How can you take advantage of this with whomever you hire to photograph your wedding? It really is simple:
Treat it like the extraordinary day that it is while still being true to the kind of people you are. Avoid dressing like your going to play hoops or off to work (unless your career involves modeling couture clothing). Try employing a theme or treating it like a first date in every way.
Kalaya and Dan accomplished this exceedingly well with their 1960's movie-inspired shoot and it shows. When they told me about their intentions my mind started to race! The anticipation was incredible. I even rewatched Breakfast at Tiffany's and Dr. No to study the look they were going for. Now, not everyone is going to hire a professional for a hair and makeup session or dust off a tuxedo but a little effort goes a long way. Afterall, you are getting married soon and this is likely the one day of two in your lifetime dedicated to photographing you! The investment will not be disappointing.
I would never suggest you avoid beaches, parks, and sunsets but the Bay Area is so much more diverse. You are after feelings of fun and romance; perhaps the images will have a dash of sex appeal and a hint of history too. Think about the look you want, what you enjoy doing, or where you enjoy going and then build around that. Have you considered a destination engagement session?
Go somewhere with exclusive settings and scenery. Flights are so inexpensive these days and, WOW, within a two hour flight of the Bay Area are some very interesting locales. For example, I once offered to shoot a couple in Las Vegas at no extra cost because I was going to be there anyways. It was such an incredible experience that I decided to offer it annually to one couple (first-come...) as I travel there consistently once a year.
Why wait until summer? The middle of the year is hot and dry as well as a photographer's busiest which makes for scheduling challenges. Try capturing the incredible colors of Fall and Spring or the moodiness of Winter. Autumn is rife with golds and reds while Spring features pink and white fruit blossoms and yellow mustard blooms. I hope more people see the potential of these seasons.
Be aggressively creative and challenge your photographer!
--------
Winter Musings are monthly posts between November and February. They cover a range of topics related to wedding photography with couples and photographers in mind. I hope you will tune in next month. Comments and requests are appreciated!
- Make it special.
- Choose unique locations.
- Use the seasons.
Treat it like the extraordinary day that it is while still being true to the kind of people you are. Avoid dressing like your going to play hoops or off to work (unless your career involves modeling couture clothing). Try employing a theme or treating it like a first date in every way.
Kalaya and Dan accomplished this exceedingly well with their 1960's movie-inspired shoot and it shows. When they told me about their intentions my mind started to race! The anticipation was incredible. I even rewatched Breakfast at Tiffany's and Dr. No to study the look they were going for. Now, not everyone is going to hire a professional for a hair and makeup session or dust off a tuxedo but a little effort goes a long way. Afterall, you are getting married soon and this is likely the one day of two in your lifetime dedicated to photographing you! The investment will not be disappointing.
I would never suggest you avoid beaches, parks, and sunsets but the Bay Area is so much more diverse. You are after feelings of fun and romance; perhaps the images will have a dash of sex appeal and a hint of history too. Think about the look you want, what you enjoy doing, or where you enjoy going and then build around that. Have you considered a destination engagement session?
Go somewhere with exclusive settings and scenery. Flights are so inexpensive these days and, WOW, within a two hour flight of the Bay Area are some very interesting locales. For example, I once offered to shoot a couple in Las Vegas at no extra cost because I was going to be there anyways. It was such an incredible experience that I decided to offer it annually to one couple (first-come...) as I travel there consistently once a year.Why wait until summer? The middle of the year is hot and dry as well as a photographer's busiest which makes for scheduling challenges. Try capturing the incredible colors of Fall and Spring or the moodiness of Winter. Autumn is rife with golds and reds while Spring features pink and white fruit blossoms and yellow mustard blooms. I hope more people see the potential of these seasons.
Be aggressively creative and challenge your photographer!
--------
Winter Musings are monthly posts between November and February. They cover a range of topics related to wedding photography with couples and photographers in mind. I hope you will tune in next month. Comments and requests are appreciated!
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