[LRFlex] Re: Digital Back-up Policy

David Young posted:
That being said, there are the issues of format changes and, more specifically, the problems for the millions of "happy snappers", who record the growing up of their kids with the intentions of looking at the photos when those same kids are much older. These folks don't have a good backup policy, and I am afraid that if something more permanent doesn't come along, they will lose the lot.

Perhaps I worry too much!<<<<<<<

Oh my goodness David do not create a worry line over this, as most of the digital people happy snapping like pop corn today will not, do not, nor not likely ever will have a thought about future family seeing pictures.

As in the old family photo albums of long gone days of yore!

It doesn't register because everything these days is quite simply... "now and the immediate moment!" There is no tomorrow! Sure for a few, but the majority are concerned for the immediacy of the digital image moments and that's it.

And if this were not the case, digital wouldn't have become the new miracle on the Christmas tree, birthday, graduation gift and any other reason one can think for purchasing a digital camera.... It's all about the very moment you breath!

So stop thinking about it and enjoy Logan Lake! ;-)
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Then Aram Langhans added:

For me I just have to look at 30+ years of slide boxes and 3-ring binders of B&W negative and contact sheets. Think of how many times the technology has change over the last 20 years in data storage. I would have had to change from floppy to Zip to CD to DVD. Just starting out it might seem like a do-able thing, but every year you add to your photo collection hundreds or thousands of photos. So, every time you have to change technology, or just make a backup, the number of photos has increased. I could envision starting with digital and after 20 years you have to spend all your time backing up and no time taking new photos.<<<

Hi Aram,
Your post triggered me doing a rough count on colour slide file binders only covering the past 20 years.

81 binders, 35 pages in each of 20 slides per page...... total, 56,700 :-) Then there's approximately another 40,000 in slide boxes to be added to pages and binders for shipment to the National Archives of Canada for the National Photo Collection and it's enclosed Ted Grant Collection. Which already contain more than 250,000 B&W negatives and slides covering the first 30 years of my career.

So if you were to put that onto CD's and or DVD's it becomes a formidable filing situation if one had to do it every few years of updating. I just look at it this way, "It's all film and by the time I might need to think about it. It'll be who cares? ;-)

My initial collection is frozen at 40 below zero in controlled vaults along with Karsh's and many other photographers, Canadian and others.

And before I've built a reasonable digital image collection it wont really matter what the heck happens as someone else will have to worry about it. ;-) However, maybe I should have second thoughts about this, as I intend on at least making it to my 100th birthday as there maybe other wild and crazy things I might want for a birthday gift! ;-)

Apart from this Friday 27th of May and my boyhood dream of a flight in a P-51 Mustang! :-) Yep that's right at the young age of 76! :-) A boyhood dream comes true!!! :-) At the Olympic Flight Museum in Olympia Washington, USA! Take off time... 3pm. weather permitting. If not the next day.

Now that's got to be a birthday gift from heaven! :-) Me, an M7, 15mm lens and slide film along with the Canon 20D and 10mm-22mm zoom lens. Like all wides as there isn't any room for even a 35mm! ;-)

But in the long run as I see digital for those of us who are becoming avid users, it means editing as hard assed as we can, saving only the very best and dump the rest! If I've learned one thing without question shooting digital and I say this without reservation.... "WE ALL" shoot too many frivolous frames.

Not that the keepers are frivolous images, but we burn far more space that are meaningless captures. Certainly compared to using film. However, we do expose a far greater number of images of no consequence requiring a very tough editing keeping only the cream!

It's all part of the digital world because it's so dang easy, we create our own "image numbers monster" because it's so simple. And it doesn't cost a penny farthing to do it.:-) But it's so much fun and exciting it's easy to blaze away without thought of how many we're shooting! :-) Like, try a 2 Gig card and start shooting! Yikes when you go to download to computer you can't imagine how many there are. :-)

ted


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