Director's Data Stolen

In the ongoing saga of coming to terms with the need to secure our digital photographs and other important data, let us consider the case of famous Director Francis Ford Coppola “who just lost 15 years of computer data, including writings and family photographs, when robbers raided his Argentine studio” according to this AP article.

“Coppola appealed to the bandits to return the small computer backup device, which was taken along with computers in the raid Wednesday night.”

"They stole our computers; they got all our data, many years of work," said Coppola. "If I could get the backup back, it would save me years — all the photographs of my family, all my writing."

The lesson to be learned here?
Not only do you need a backup, but you need a current copy in a separate location (mom’s house, safe deposit box, etc) at all times to protect against theft, fire, tornado, flood, earthquake...you name it, or you’ll be making the same laments Coppola is. If he had had an backup in a separate location, you'd never be reading this.

NEC 2690WUXI

I’ve gotten a couple of e-mails recently about a follow-up report on the NEC 2690WUXI. We’re still working towards a final report, but I’ll tell you based on our experience so far that it is a very good monitor, but the greater accuracy is not a magic cure all for your printing woes. Our initial impression is that having ~94% color accuracy to AdobeRGB is not a 25% improvement over a display that renders ~69 AdobeRGB. More to come...

Bear Problem or People Problem?

I love bears. They are beautiful creatures and it is amazing to view them in their natural habitat, which is why I keep writing and posting pictures relating to bear culture and management...because I find that most people I meet are sorely misinformed when it comes to the black bears that are native to California.

I’ve seen a lot of articles this year on problem bears because of the dry conditions in the west, like this one.

I’d like to see more articles like this recent piece in the Mammoth Times.

Living in Yosemite National Park for three years, and the Sierra Nevada for twelve years, I’ve come to learn that more often than not, when bears get in trouble, it’s a people problem, not a bear problem. This Mammoth Times article sheds a lot of light on that truth.

Sad Aspen Leaf

I guess even an aspen leaf can have a sad day.

Snow on Tioga Pass

Our winter storm watch has begun! Winter storms make great photographic conditions in Yosemite. There is snow on Tioga pass today, and the storm has just started.

Roads into Yosemite Valley are open. Call 209-372-0200 for current conditions, and see what it's like via the Yosemite Association web cams.

1 in every 1500 files corrupted

Capturing and storing our images with digital technology poses risks that aren’t well understood by most end-users. If you think your images are safe, you might think differently after reading a recent post on Robin Harris’s “Blog Persistence of Memory”.

The short story is this: The scientists who smash atoms together to discover new particles, tested their new computer system. They found that you can expect to have 1 in every 1500 files corrupted when you store them to disk (or hit “save”).

It’s important to note that this corruption may not completely destroy a JPEG file--but then again, it might! And Murphy’s Law dictates the one corrupted file will be the first photo of your newborn, or that once in a lifetime quadruple rainbow over Yosemite. Also, this damage is cumulative, and over time, more and more files will become corrupt.

It’s up to photographers to tell storage vendors we don’t want larger, faster or cheaper solutions at the expense of lost data. We’d rather have storage that greatly minimizes loss, even if it costs more. We are willing to pay more for that to keep our thousands of photos safe, right?

Excuse me while I go make sure my data is backed up.....