Are your RAW Files Safe?

Can you tell me exactly where all your RAW files are, right now,  and can you access every one of them without having to think about it or ask a search engine how? If the answer is no, then we need to add some skills to your toolbox to make sure they are safe and useable.

Storing your files is just one of the burdens digital has put on photographers, and one that will cause us problems if we don’t actively manage it.

In the film era, we could just put our processed negatives or slides in a box and they were easy to find and sort because it was a tactile, analog process. It was so easy! It didn’t require computer knowledge and it worked pretty well for most people. 

Digital changed that. Now our files are stored somewhere on our SSD or hard drives. Do you know where? Is the computer between you and your photos?

If your workflow was set up with you deciding where your RAWs are imported, then you are already on the right path. You challenges are making sure they keep importing to the right folder or directory, and that the drive they are on is being backed up with the 3-2-1 strategy

And if you aren’t backing up to the cloud, you should add it immediately as your offsite/alternate media. I recommend Backblaze for cloud backup based on years of following them, and as a user of their service. For a flat rate, you can do unlimited backup, even of external drives. (Disclaimer, I am an affiliate and may receive payment if you use the link.)

But if you haven’t made a conscious decision about where your photos are stored, and are relying on an app to do it for you, then it’s time to take more control. 

Your photo app might be part of the problem. If you are using an app like Apple Photos, it might be handling all the importing and storage for you. In that case, I bet you don’t know where your files are because you are just letting the app handle it. Sooner or later that will workflow will break, so it’s part of your workflow you should consider improving immediately before it breaks. 

First of all, Apple Photos imports your files onto your boot drive, which will eventually fill up and force you to take action to free up storage space. But  also makes your files hard to get to, which crops up on my workshops when I ask students to send in RAW files. Apple Photos hides the files inside your “Photo Library” and limits your access to them through the app which causes issues when you want to extract a RAW file to use in a different processing software. 

The approach Apple Photos uses is a good choice for the home user capturing family memories, but if you are embracing the RAW workflow, it’s going to limit you. And it will make a lot more work for you when you want to get at the RAW files. You need to learn how to access those files (heres a article to get you started on that https://www.macintoshhowto.com/software/how-to-access-your-iphoto-library-without-iphoto.html) But once you know where your RAWs are and how to access them, I think you’ll find it much easier if you upgrade to a package like Lightroom to import and manage your files. It will let you decide where photos are imported to, will give you easier access to your RAWs, and more powerful editing tools.

Knowing where your RAWs are, and that they are backed up is a foundational level skill for a digital photographer. If you don’t have it, you risk losing the photos you worked so hard to make. Don’t leave it to chance. Upgrade your knowledge and skill so you can preserve and access your photos for years to come.

March B&W Workshop with Looking Glass Photo

My next Black and White Processing class will be hosted by the fine folks at Looking Glass Photo starting March 21. The owners, Jon and Jen, have built an incredible photo community in Berkeley, and are one of the great local camera stores that we need to keep supporting for the value they bring us. Really looking forward to working with them and their customers again. Sign up today if you want to join us! This will be my last B&W workshop for several months as I have a few other classes in the works to announce soon. https://www.lookingglassphoto.com/intro-to-classic-black-white-photographs-complete.html

Color Processing Workshop Starts February 8

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/color-processing-fundamentals-tickets-258117716037

Want to learn the secrets that will make color processing easier? Join me for this four week zoom class and I’ll share the techniques and though process I developed for West Coast Imaging to make museum quality prints.

It’s easier than you think, and this is not a “experts only” class. It’s the foundation and fundamentals every photographer needs to know for processing, and it’s like no other class I know. Sign up today and get ready to take your photographs to new heights!

The Only Person Photographing In Yosemite

Imagine being the only person out photographing in Yosemite. That is the rare birthday gift I received twenty-five years ago today.

The flood of 1997 closed Yosemite for several months due to the damage. Only a few people were allowed to remain in the valley, and as the photographer documenting the damage for the National Park Service, I was very fortunate to be one of them.

My birthday that year happened to fall on a Sunday, and with no work going on to document, I had the day off. After working a burnout pace for most of January to capture the damage, and living under austere conditions (using a porta-potty in your drive way at 2am and 12 degree temps because the sewer line is broken gets old quick!), I decided to go celebrate my birthday by driving around the valley and making some personal work.

I remember clearly standing on the edge of Stoneman Meadow, looking up at the great granite faces of Half Dome, Royal Arches, and Glacier Point, all covered in layers of ice and snow, the crisp cold air in my nostrils as my booted feet stood on the cold snow below, and having it all to myself for a day.

A fresh snow had fallen, and the cold temperatures were making some beautiful conditions. As I drove around, I saw almost no one, which was typical for a Sunday during the flood closure. With about 250 people in the park, all park employees, everyone was enjoying a much-needed day of rest. And as a result, I had an experience I’ll likely never have again; being the only photographer out in Yosemite.

Of course, there were other photographers living in the valley at that time, but that day I didn’t see them, and hardly anyone else, so I had the illusion of having Yosemite all to myself. I’m not claiming a title but relating an experience. I knew at the time it was an amazing gift, but looking back, I didn’t really realize how rare that chance was.

The photos from that day are unremarkable. I decided to work in with color neg film in the Hasselblad Richard Newman had loaned me. I should have worked in B&W instead, but I was young and didn’t have the experience I do now. But I don’t care that I made no meaningful work. I had the chance to experience something even better than a great photograph, and it’s an experience I’ll likely never have again.