Good News:

I just came from China anew for a business/luxury trip, even though there were no transactions done. I have a few shots which turned out ok. But as I computed, of all the shots I took, only 60% was usable; others were duplicates, or just plain not usable, either blurred, OOF etc. (more about this later)

That was the good news...

For the Bad News:

As a Christmas gift to myself, I bought a 160GB laptop HDD to be fitted in my external enclosure for my backups. All the storage I have is smaller than this drive so it came really handy. But lo and behold, just after a few months, this drive failed. I have transferred lots of pictures, mp3, videos, on this drive for safe keeping but instead it failed on me big time. I was really frustrated since some of the transfers were already deleted from their original locations. I was really really worried since major photo ops were transferred to that external HDD, including my last China trip as well as the Miss Earth shoot and the Photo Summit shots. aarrghh..

I was hoping that the data will be recovered, but as part of the warranty, they were only able to replace the unit and wasn't able to retrieve any data. It was a long shot though since recovering data from a failed HDD costs a lot.

It got me thinking, if HDD backup isn't 100% fail safe, what options am I left with? Disks (CD's and DVD's) can be really tricky sometimes, any suggestions on a near fail safe backup solution?

It's time for some digging of files, hoping everything is still intact. (I know some birthday photos are disappeared forever)

Regarding China, As I was looking at my shots, I was really dissatisfied with what I was able to turn out. Did I become complacent with my shots? What happened? The shots lack cohesion, meaning, and just became bland. It got me thinking, what do I look for in photography now? Why am I not inspired with my shots? Am I starting to lose focus in this craft? I hope not because I really do adore Photography. What can I do to keep me inspired?

Oh BTW, I gained lots of friends because of that China Trip, also I realized something...

I need to learn how to speak Mandarin..



cheers! (with reservations)

Ryan Tanganco

UPDATE!!

After an exhaustive search of the two PC's we have here, it turns out that my previous China trip (2007) was the only major photo op that wasn't spared. Thank God else were still intact. But then, my nephew's birthday's pics were already lost.

On the upside, the pics remaing of my previous China trip were full-res edited jpg's which is a consolation. The thing is I won't be able to review them again for another round of editing.

Well we can't have it all don't we.

Also included in the missing files were House albums (HK, FA and others) and podcasts.

I'm now in the process of backing it up in DVD's for safe keeping.

Thanks for the people who responded to my miniscule query. I really learned a lot.

Cheers!

Ryan T.


P.S. get NAS!! hahaha Time Capsule?
P.P.S. Time Capsule is one hella expensive SOB
P.P.P.S. Why bother? I don't even own a mac.
P.P.P.P.S. Maybe I need a mac.
P.P.P.P.P.S. Any sponsors?

"a journey of a thousand miles starts with a generous air miles card"

I've been everywhere. Not exactly everywhere, everywhere, but I've been to a lot of places recently.

Let's see, what have I been doing? I can tell what I did so far through my query of photographs to be post-processed. I still have around 4+GB of photo's to process. sigh.

First, I attended Photo Summit 2007 last August. Wonderful seminars were conducted by no less than Master Craftsmen/craftswoman Don and Nancy Emmerich. I learned a lot from them. Basically, this is my first actual studio shoot so I learned a lot regarding lighting and where to place them. Also learned about posing (which I kinda forgot especially when I have no models at my disposal ). Pete and Liliana Wright also did a seminar regarding wedding photography. Wedding photography might not be a priority for some but its one hella profitable business to be in. That is when you have the skills, and the talent. We had great great models. Sandra Seifert, which was recently featured in FHM, and Aimee (forgot her last name) was doing rounds also, we should've had a brazzie but then she backed out . Here I have 2+GB of photos to process, which I haven't really started yet.. yikes

Second, I attended, hmm, an invite only event no less. We were shooting Miss Earth candidates NO LESS! hehe For an invite only event, I was very honored to be chosen (thanks to Miguel Vecin of Digiprint, also to Nick and Pilar of DPP/Bella Luce for the opportunity) The models were great. Everyone had fun. And. I haven't PP'ed my shots yet. Miss Earth candidates... wish I got their contact details... as a consolation, I met a lot of people. Heya there you know who you are.

so I can send their photographs

Third, fresh from homeland, came from China. It was an experience I am very fortunate to have. I have never been more home to a foreign land other than China. It was an inexplainable feeling but somehow I have connected to this place where a great deal of westerners know as the makers of sub quality goods made from sweatshops with children as labor. It was touching I almost cried (honest). It's not to be forgotten nor be missed especially with second or third generation of the original Chinese Immigrants. It sounds cheesy, but going back to your homeland somehow patches a void you never knew you had.

Now these pics are being processed. So hopefully there will be people who will wait and see what I had taken.



whew.. long journal.

until then cheers!


Ryan Tanganco

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5k+1page views.. after three years.. hehe thanks...

sigh.. I got from the time I last submitted my journal, until now.. nothing has really changed.. I got my sub but nothing happened until I resubscribed..

so i'll be having more time to check out new things.. increase my photography skills because I got a new cam (nikon) hehe..

I'll be posting a series of photos which I'll be calling textures.. its more of a study of composition and square framing..

comments and suggestions will always be appreciated..

till then and my "...'s"

cheers!