Blue Planet Photography

Back in the “Old Days” of computers, the mantra “Save Frequently and Often” was a hedge against the common system hangs and crashes of the day. While operating systems and software are much more stable these days, the mantra is still worth hanging onto and practicing for two main reasons:

1. Technology is not infallible
2. Human beings are not infallible

Computer operating systems and programs will crash and hang. Hard drives will crash and fail. Humans will format hard drives and memory cards thinking they’ve downloaded or saved the information stored on those devices. Humans will drop things they shouldn’t be dropping and misplace things they should be paying better attention to. It’s natural. It happens. However, if you can avoid that knot in your stomach when you’ve lost 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, or even 2GB of image files due to a hardware crash or other mishap, that’s a lot of stress and woe energy you can redirect to restoring that data instead of looking for the nearest window to leap out of.

Your job, if you value your digital photographs, is to make a practice of Saving Frequently and Often. There’s much more to this than I can squeeze into this little space, but let me point out some options (there are many) that can relieve the pain if such a disaster strikes you.

A second mantra is the 3-2-1 Rule:

3. You should keep 3 copies (at least) of any important files - a primary and 2 backups
2. Your backup files should be on 2 different media types (i.e. hard drive and optical media - DVD/Blu-Ray) to protect against different types of hazard
1. 1 backup copy (at least) should be stored offsite

The 3-2-1 Rule is really a guideline (like most “rules” in photography) and should be understood to be a minimum recommendation. You can never have too many backups (versus having no backup).

There are many more backup options now than just a few years ago and they range in price from around $5 to several thousand, depending on your needs. Let’s run through a general list:

1. DVD and Blu-Ray. The least expensive but probably the most time-consuming backup tool. DVD capacity is 4.7GB and Blu-Ray is 25GB (50GB for dual layer). The cost per GB is nearly the same for each with DVD at an average of $0.299/GB ($0.60 - $0.90 each) and Blu-Ray at $0.213/GB (about $5.00 each). The $300 cost of a Blu-Ray drive might offset any small cost-savings for now, until prices come down.

2. External Hard Drive Dock. These devices are relatively new, dispensing with the difficult-to-access enclosure for a simple “drop slot” for the bare drive. The BlacX SATA dock by Thermaltake connects using Firewire or USB and can read 2.5″ and 3.5″ drives and costs between $35 - $55 depending on the vendor. You do have to be careful handling the hard drive since it is bare, but the dock is a convenient way to quickly backup or transfer information.

3. External Hard Drive units. Large drive enclosures like the Seagate FreeAgent Pro or Western Digital MyBook are more for ‘permanent’ use as backup space or storage. Connecting via USB or Firewire, they range in price from $90 for 500GB to $200 for 2TB.

4. External Hard Drive enclosures. Sometimes called JBODs (Just a Bunch Of Disks), these enclosures are simply extensions of the disk capacity of your main computer, with from 2 to 6 or 8 or more hard drive bays. Some enclosures have removable hard drive carriers for “easy” replacement while others require the hard drives to be attached in the bay (like in your computer). Connecting via Firewire or USB, they can also be set up in a RAID, individual volumes, or as a large volume. Other enclosures are used for single drives and can be purchased with a drive or empty.

5. RAID and BeyondRAID. RAID is an acronym for Redundant Array of Independent (or Inexpensive) Disks and allows for the division and replication of data among multiple drives. Some cons for RAID is it’s difficult for the unitiated to set up and maintain (I think) and the volume is set by the smallest capacity. So, if you have a 250GB drive and a 500GB drive, the capacity is driven by the 250GB and you “waste” the 250GB from the 500GB drive. Also, if you upgrade capacity, you have to backup and reload all your data. Systems such as the Buffalo Terastation (2TB $730 - $900 empty, 4TB $1150 - $1400 empty) use RAID. A system called BeyondRAID, used by Data Robotics in their Drobo line, allows the use of multiple capacity drives and easy upgrading of capacity without the need to reload data. Drobo products range from the 4-bay Drobo (up to 8TB capacity, starts at $310 empty) to the 8-bay DroboPro and DroboElite (up to 16TB capacity, starts at $1250 empty).

6. Solid State Drives. This technology is very promising but still expensive. These drives have no moving parts and are very durable, like your Compact Flash memory cards. They use less power than conventional hard drives, run cooler, are smaller, and are faster. The downside is the price. A 64GB solid state drive is $200 and a 256GB solid state drive is $700. As with all new technology, the price will come down as the devices enter the mainstream.

7. Personal (or Portable) Storage Devices. These palm-sized devices are primarily for backing up memory cards. Epson, Hyperdrive, JoBo, Wolverine, are some of the brands that manufacture PSDs. They come in various configurations and capacities. Epson PSDs tend to be the most expensive, but feature rich. However, upgrading capacity requires the purchase of a new device and battery life is low. Hyperdrive makes a PSD with smaller color screen, but faster upload and longer battery life for about 1/3 the cost of the Epson. These devices are great in the field for backing up memory cards. They connect to your desktop or laptop via USB just like an external hard drive.

In addition to the backup devices, a regular program and procedure to backup your data is needed. Whether you backup every day, once a week, or once a month, doing so on a regular basis will save you a ton of grief if you ever have a crash.

Some people know what direction they’re heading in their life and business. I think most people have an idea of where they’d like to be. But achieving that goal is what separates dreamers from doers, as many “advisors” will tell you. The goal and the deadline for achieving that goal is, however, mostly set by you. You set the pace. It’s not up to someone else to determine how successful you are or say when you’ve finally reached the point at which you can claim to be successful. You are the judge of your own success.

“An artist cannot fail; it is a success to be one”
– Charles Horton Cooley

“They are ill discoverers that think there is no land, when they can see nothing but sea”
– Francis Bacon

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up”
– Thomas Edison

The career of an artist goes through many stages and often we are changing gears, much like you would downshift and upshift in a car. We downshift when we run into difficulties and need the lower ranges to power through a difficult time, when we’re dealing with a steep learning curve or complex issue, when we need to slow down a bit or maintain a steady pace coming off a rapid rise, or perhaps for a burst of power to swiftly overtake a competitor. We upshift when times are good, reaching a comfortable cruising speed when we’re working efficiently and effectively. But, like driving a car, the road ahead is variable, sometimes steep, sometimes rocky or muddy, sometimes curvy, sometimes straight and flat, and skill is required to know when and how to properly shift gears to stay on the road and keep moving forward.

It all started with Ansel Adams. Or did it? The concept of visualization, or pre-visualization, is discussed by Edward Weston in 1921 when he states, “Get your lighting and exposure correct at the start and both developing and printing can be practically automatic.” Adams describes his first visualization of the final print, in 1927, when he placed a red filter over his lens to darken the sky when he photographed Half Dome; the resulting print being the famous “Monolith, The Face of Half Dome”. His definition of visualization was published in Modern Photography, 1934-35: The Studio Annual of Camera Art:

The camera makes an image-record of the object before it. It records the subject in terms of the optical properties of the lens, and the chemical and physical properties of the negative and print. The control of that record lies in the selection by the photographer and in his understanding of the photographic processes at his command. The photographer visualizes his conception of the subject as presented in the final print. He achieves the expression of his visualization through his technique—aesthetic, intellectual, and mechanical.

In his Autobiography, Adams further explains

Visualization is not simply choosing the best filter. To be fully achieved it does require a good understanding of both the craft and aesthetics of photography…The visualization of a photograph involves the intuitive search for meaning, shape, form, texture, and the projection of the image-format on the subject. The image forms in the mind–is visualized–and another part of the mind calculates the physical processes involved in determining the exposure and development of the image of the negative and anticipates the qualities of the final print. The creative artist is constantly roving the worlds without, and creating new worlds within.

Edward Weston is generally credited, though, with the term pre-visualization in an essay written in 1932 and, given my current research, might be considered the “Father of the Publicized Concept of Visualization”, if such a title should be bestowed on anyone, because his 1921 statement is the earliest reference I can find. In 1933, Adams explained his concept of visualization to Alfred Stieglitz, who replied with his own definition of creative photography:

I have a desire to photograph. I go out with my camera. I come across something that excites me emotionally, spiritually, aesthetically. I see the photograph in my mind’s eye and I compose and expose the negative. I give you the print as the equivalent of what I saw and felt.

This quote by Stieglitz is very similar to Weston’s 1930 quote

I can, and have taught a child of seven to expose, develop, and print creditably in a few weeks, thanks to the great manufacturers who have so simplified and made fool-proof the various steps in picture making: which accounts for the flood of bad photography by those who think it is an easy way to “express” themselves. But it is not easy! - not easy to see on the ground glass the finished print, to mentally carry that image on through the various processes of finishing to a final result, and with reasonable surety that the result will be exactly what one originally saw and felt.

I’m not saying Stieglitz, or anyone, copied or re-worded concepts already defined by others. The early 30s was an active time of discovery and innovation in photography and many of the leading photographers of that era were “on the same page” as it were. But, in my opinion the meaning of these terms (visualization, pre-visualization, equivalent), that the photographer selects an exposure based on a prior intent and appearance of the final print rather than creating the work after the exposure, are the same and are interchangeable in that context. Much later, pre-visualization did take on a similar, but different, meaning.

What about earlier photographers such as Eugene Atget, whose photographs from the late 1800s are described by others as having been pre-visualized? Or Edward Curtis and his iconic photographs of Native American Indians? Or even Louis Daguerre? Did these photographers not have any idea or forethought of how their final images were to look as prints? I find that hard to believe. Adams never claimed any ownership to the concept of visualization and pointed out there wasn’t anything secret or magical about the process. In my opinion, I think photographers like Atget and Curtis understood the need to visualize the finished product, but it was such an integral part of the photographic process at the time (and who else at that time besides other photographers would understand?) they didn’t need to try and teach that understanding to other photographers or the general public. Perhaps Adams and Weston were just the only ones to discuss the concept in the permanent record of the printed page when photography became more readily available to the public and the need arose to instruct others how it was done (to preserve the art of straight photography?). History favors those who make permanent records of their activities.

Pre-visualization, I believe, is used to refer more to commercial photography than to art photography, and started probably around the 1950s or later. With pre-visualization, photographers imagine a scenario or it’s told or shown to them via storyboard or sketch by a client and the photographer then endeavors to replicate the parameters in nature or, typically, in a controlled studio environment.

Pre-visualization can be a negative barrier to the art/landscape/travel photographer. Pre-visualization to this group of photographers might be a set of expectations regarding weather conditions, access to subjects, etc. When pre-formed expectations are not met by existing conditions (rain instead of sunshine, or the medieval cathedral is under renovation and surrounded by scaffolding, for example) it can be a frustration leading to the shutting down of awareness and receptivity, thus blocking the photographer’s ability to photograph or even be aware of other opportunities. A photographer acquaintance once remarked how a trip to Australia was a “waste” because the conditions were not as he expected them (pre-visualized) so there “was nothing to shoot.”

Post-visualization is a concept pioneered by photomontage photographer Jerry Uelsmann in 1967 as a response to the rigid requirements laid out by the “straight” photographers such as Adams. Post-visualization encourages photographers to re-visualize the final image at any point in the photographic process; it’s the creative process that’s important, not adherence to a particular notion of beauty, realism, or process used to reach a final image. Uelsmann found the visualization concept promoted by Ansel Adams to be restrictive and impractical but agreed the quality of work Adams, Weston, Stieglitz, and others produced set the standard for future photographers to aspire to. However, I believe even the post-visualists need to look ahead, however near or far in the creative process, to eventually envision a final image and engage the knowledge, skill, and technology to reach that final result.

Arriving on the heels of the digital age is a new application of post-visualization among the masses. It is the “fix it in post” or “fix it in Photoshop” mentality of creating photographs. A plethora of one-button tools exist allowing the digital photographer to create infinite variations literally without thinking. The ‘machine-gun approach’ lamented by Ansel Adams is now the normal operating procedure for many digital photographers. This concept of post-visualization makes an erroneous assumption that because it is digital anything can be fixed, added, removed and improved, when it is still easier to get the majority of work done in-camera. The mantra of the “old masters” still applies; get the lighting and exposure correct in the camera and the rest almost takes care of itself.

Technology will no doubt eventually prove that final statement wrong, but regardless of the process employed or aesthetic ascribed to, it will always be the photographer’s eye, emotion, planning, and vision that creates the photograph attracting the viewer’s eye. Digital technology today offers a huge range of options, more than were available to film photographers. For best results, the principle of visualization and post-visualization described by Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Alfred Stieglitz, Jerry Uelsmann (and many, many, others) still applies: know your equipment and the options technology offers, understand and be able to engage the processes involved to reach the final result, and create the print that most appeals to you (or whatever end product it might be).

For a couple years now, but recently in just the past several months, the pressure for still photographers to enter into video production has been increasing in step with the addition of high definition video capability to digital SLR bodies like the Canon 5D. A big question for still photographers is, “Should I get into video production now?” While a competent still photographer has the basic technical and artistic skills to transition to video, it’s not just a matter of turning on the video feature and shooting away. Transitioning (or adding) video production to your repertoire is a costly endeavor (remember, you can’t shoot video with strobes) requiring expensive new lighting equipment, movement dollies, tracks, stabilization, gimbles, platforms, etc. and a large crew. Video (quality video) is not something you can do by yourself or with a single assistant. For reference, read recent issues of PDN Magazine for overviews of video production and comments about the pitfalls, costs, and pressure from clients to shoot video in conjunction with a stills shoot (for the same rate even). It’s going to be a bit of a messy transition period until the industry gets this bastard child sorted out. Vincent LeForet & Chase Jarvis are the well-knowns (or most prominent in the video-sphere) jumping full force into the video genre, but they’ve got the cash, notoriety, and resources to do it relatively painlessly (I’m sure they might have some words to say about that, but compared to the rest of us I think that assessment is accurate). The still photography industry is entering another trying time while it’s still trying to deal with the flood of digital technology, ease of entry into the market by anyone, pricing issues, over-supply and under-demand, etc.

Anyway, take a look at this video showing how Canon 5D’s are used to create second unit driving plates for the TV series 24. Very interesting behind the scenes kind of stuff:

Shooting Driving Plates for 24 from Stargate Studios on Vimeo.

Rob Haggart, over at aphotoeditor.com, has posted a nice list of commonly-used terms in the photography industry. The post is targeted to ad agency buyers, but if you’re a photographer starting out or if you aren’t quite sure what the difference is between unlimited use and a buyout or corporate versus promotional, check it out. The terminology and its meaning is the same whether you’re a buyer or a photographer (not “seller). And, it’s a lot easier for Rob to type it all out over on his site than it is for me to do it here (ha ha).

Some other resources that are very helpful when it comes to the terminology and its proper use in the photography business:

Websites:
www.useplus.com/ Picture Licensing Universal System
www.updig.org Universal Photographic Digital Imaging Guidelines

Books:
ASMP Professional Business Practices in Photography, 7th ed.
John Harrington’s Best Business Practices for Photographers, 2nd ed.