Fried Mac

No - I'm not writing about a delectable side dish of fried macaroni and cheese, although that sounds amazing on this snowy Sunday morning. This is not a comfort food post or suggestions on how to achieve cozy ways to thrive in the middle of Winter. This is a warning post coming from a humbled photographer who knows better.

Photography is an expensive hobby and business to get into. Besides the camera body, lenses, speed lights, tripod...ect ect... - there is a computer to consider. The specs on mine are similar to a gaming computer because of the editing software I run and the speed I need to edit the layers in each image. This means that if purchased new, my computer would cost more than I want to spend. As with much of my gear, I buy refurbished quality products. I am determined to fund my business using the income it provides. Simplicity has always been my goal, not only for my clients but for the way I run my business as well. I believe simplicity fosters creativity and opportunities to learn. Keeping things uncomplicated is the motivation behind why I offer only one family session "package". This includes session time and full resolution digital files. To figure out different family packages is a headache - every client is unique in their photography goals and if I can give them a good base, they can add to their product purchase however they would like, if needed.

But anyway, back to my computer...

I always drink water while at my computer (you know where this is going, don't you). Usually I have a lid on my cup. However, one fateful night as I was just starting to edit a client's session, I did not have a lid on my cup...

It all happened so fast... :(

I knocked over my cup and water spilled onto the keyboard of my laptop. My initial reaction was wrong. I picked the computer up and shook it a bit. Then I panicked and ran for the kitchen to get a dish towel. It didn't take very long at all for the computer to go dark, the motor shut down, never to be awakened again.

Everything stored on that computer - gone. And I didn't have anything stored on an external hard drive or even a flash drive.

All my images were gone. I have yet to fully process what was lost.

Thankfully I have my clients edited images backed up on my gallery website and many of the sessions RAW files are still on my memory cards. But I lost many personal images. The stupid thing is this - I know better! I advise my clients - "store your photos in multiple ways, in different formats, on different devices."

The most prized product my clients value are the full resolution digital files of their edited images. They download them from their personal image gallery that I create. Attached to their gallery is a shop that, if they would like, they can purchase prints and other products. I encourage clients to not only download the image files, but to print photographs as well, whether its through my lab or a lab of their choosing. Its a tangible way to enjoy our prized memories that also serves to store them in another format.

So, here we go - my strong advise based on personal tragedy: "store your photos in multiple ways, in different formats, on different devices." This means to download the image files onto your phones/tablets/computer's hard drive, put them on an external hard drive and flash drive, store them in the cloud, and please, please print those babies out and stick them on your walls, create photo albums, invitations, refrigerator magnets, and "World's Best Daddy" mugs. In my not so distant future I will be creating a couple Chatbooks of family images and creating a wall gallery. I'll post pictures of them (this will hold me accountable because I am horrible at printing out my own images). Do like I say, not as I did (or didn't), lol.

To help you towards this goal, and to celebrate my new Mac purchase, I am creating a "Save Your Images" session campaign. This session is value packed to include session time, full resolution digital files of edited images, a custom acrylic usb flash drive with edit images stored on it, a year's storage of your session on my gallery website, and an 8x10 print. All my sessions include a mobile app of the gallery images which never expires. Saving your images in multiple ways, different formats, on different devices. Please reach out to me, I'd love serve you in this way. The small print on this offer is that once the first day of Spring hits, this offer will no longer be valid. That doesn't mean you have to schedule your session before Spring, you are welcome to schedule for any time, but the expiration to purchase this offer is 3/20/21.

Together, we can save your images! (that was totally meant to sound corny so use your most hokey head voice).