Have You BU'd Today?

And this is my other reason for Backing Up (BU) my photos.
Jeffrey at Captains Golf Course preparing for the 2007 Division 2 State Tournament.

Have you BU'd Today?
Cheers, Marcia

Nauset High School Grad

Sam receiving her diploma from NRHS Principal, Mr. Conrad, June 2007.

This is just ONE of my reasons for backing up my digital files. I back up my files to an external hard drive which works with a PC or a MAC. On the PC, I often use the Maxtor One Touch Backup System with Retrospect Software. However, remember that an external hard drive is still a computer hard drive, it can crash and it can get viruses like your computer. For double insurance, I also back up my photos online, http://www.capecodsoul.com/workshops.htm for safe keeping in the event of a natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina and the California Fires.

CRASHED

All the King's horses and all the King's men, couldn't put these bottles back together again.

The question is not, IF your computer will crash, The question is WHEN?

The Answer:
BACKUP

BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP!
Today

Marcia

Chatham Beach Portrait

The white dresses in this portrait help give the image a timeless look. Capturing the sisters as they walk towards the Chatham Bridge tells a story about their relationship. This image was the families favorite from the portrait session and was later made into a wall portrait. This image won the Front Page Photo Contest for the Professional Photographers of Cape Cod (www.ppocc.org) in 2004.

The photo below, was made into a Holiday Greeting Card to share with family and friends.

Before moving on to the 'How To' part of photography, taking the time to write down and really understand your 'WHY' will help define your purpose and goal of making a photograph. Having vision of what your photograph will look like before you actually push the shutter and why you are making this photograph will help guide you to your desired outcome.

Below is an excerpt from Bill Toth, a successful entrepreneur from Houston:

"BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND"
"You've just been asked to put together a jigsaw puzzle. Having done many such puzzles, you're excited to get started. You pour out all 1,000 pieces, spreading them out across a large table. You then pick up the lid of the box and look at what you're putting together. But there's no picture! It's blank! How will you ever be able to finish the puzzle without knowing what it looks like, you wonder? If you only had a one-second glimpse of what it's supposed to be. That's all you need one picture of the finished product. What a difference it would make! Without the vision of the finished product, putting together the puzzle will take a really long time....

• A great way to focus your "WHY" is to ask yourself, how achieving any particular goal will benefit others."

Warm Wishes on Cape Cod

Warm Wishes!
One rainy cool summer afternoon, we decided to head to the Sandwich Boardwalk. On a sunny warm summer day at high tide this spot would be standing room only to jump from the boardwalk. Yes, it was a little cool and we all got wet...even those of us who didn't jump, and we all remember the FUN that we had that day.
This image was later reprinted as our famous Duggan Holiday Card 2000, with the sentiment 'Warm Wishes!' This photo won the 'Youth Theme award' at Professional Photographers of Massachusetts (PPAM), 2001 Convention, and was my first Loan Print from PPA (Prof Photographers of America).

When the famous mural artist Robert Wyland, www.wyland.com, was recently asked, How do you create murals?
He replied, (paraphrase)

"The question is not, How? The question is, Why?"

As long as you have access to the internet you can research and solve almost any 'how to' question. The answers are only a few clicks away. So how come we don't know how to do everything? Because it's your WHY that motivates you.

If you want to have more control to produce a desired outcome when making pictures you must first ask yourself 'Why'?

• What is my purpose?
• What is my goal?
• What is the message?
  
• Who is it for?
• Why I am creating this photograph?

Once the 'WHY' is established the 'HOW TO' will fall into place.

Cheers,
Marcia