Photos are important – people run back into burning homes for them
Someday youre going to want the photo you took today…
… it may not be today Tomorrow you might want to send one to your Mother In 2025 you may want it for her Sweet Sixteen party In 2030 it could be part of the slide show for her wedding In 2086 youll need it to put together the 80 th Birthday presentation
… will you be able to find it? Maybe it never made it off the memory card Maybe your computers hard drive will crash Maybe youll replace your computer and not copy what really matters Even if its still in existence, will you remember that it was file IMG_0483.jpg in folder C:/mypictures/2008July?
Weve all got shoeboxes & albums
If I never see another 300-print album itll be too soon… Anonymous consumer, observing a display of 300-print albums for sale
Film was easy Throw all the prints in a shoe box Leave the negatives in the envelope and scatter them all over
Film became the image
You can always see a negative
Digital doesnt make an image
Digital cameras just make numbers – instructions for making a print. Without a machine (computer)…
Im a big believer in making photo prints… …someday – when I have time
Someday never comes! Credence Clearwater Revival, 1972
What to do TODAY
Memory Cards safe storage
Where are my baby pictures? Your computers hard drive is no place for permanent storage!
MTBFMTBF One acronym you need to know:
Mean Time Before Failure
Virtual Drives That is, two drive letters that are on the same hard disk …when that one hard disk fails, both drives fail!
Your computers hard drive is Image Cental
But dont stop at Grand Central
Online doesnt mean forever
Whats safest for the long term? Memory cards – NO! Hard drive only– NO! Online only– NO! Hard drive plus CD or DVD - BETTER Hard drive, CD & removable hard drive Hard drive, online, CD, removable drive PRINTS – theyve stood test of time
CDs and DVDs are fairly stable – until the next format change
How long will my CDs last?
Less than forever Buy good CDs and store them safely Be careful how you label them Store a second copy off premises When they develop something better, copy everything over Dont worry too much… How long will my CDs last?
Make a second copy and store it off premises!
Give a copy to your kids
External USB or Firewire Hard Drive
How will I find my pictures that Ive so carefully backed up? Picassa (free from Google) PhotoBackup Software that helps:
Old systems die easy – and fast
Image File Migration
Myth – my digital pictures will last for centuries Or until they fade away
The BIG memory card is not your friend Youre going to keep on shooting til you fill it up Anything more than 640 mb wont fit on a CD, so youll copy it to your computer – if you copy it at all! Anything more than 4.7 GB wont fit on a DVD, so youll copy it to your computer – if you copy it at all!
Myth #3 – bigger is better when it comes to memory cards Yes, but …
Your memory card holds as much as a shoebox full of photos!
All CDs and DVDs look just alike