micolh Loc: NYC

Red6

I guess it depends on your definition of a "pro". The term "professional" is one that gets thrown around a lot here and I am not sure there is a clear definition of it. It appears that most here think a "pro" should know every possible detail about photography, photo editing, computers, photo editing software (all of them), and how all cameras, lenses, tripods, etc are designed and used while being able to compose and take that always perfect image.

I do not think that way. I judge them on their images and how they impact those that view them. I think photographers, "pros" and hobbyists fall into 3 main groups.

First, there are the techies that can absorb every technical detail about photography and gear and regurgitate it to anyone who will listen. But they struggle to make acceptable images despite their knowledge and expensive well researched gear.

Second, there are the generalists that have technical knowledge and talent that can make technically good images most of the time. This is the category that most of us exist in. We take dozens or hundreds of images in pursuit of that really good one. Unfortunately, many of those images are no better in composition than those of someone shooting with their iPhone on full auto.

Third, is the artist. This person is a master of composition and often takes images that will take your breath and make your heart beat faster. Often they know only the bare minimum of the technical operation of their gear but intuitively know how to get the best results from their camera. They know in their mind's eye what they want and simply adjust their camera to reproduce that image. Ask them a technical question about their photography and they may just answer vaguely or not at all.

The guy who is the subject of this thread most likely is one of those guys. While he knows little of thumb drives, 2 TB hard drives, etc. His photography may be great. And if the USB drives work for him then let him go, it is actually a simple method that works for him.

I met one of these guys once at a photography seminar. Many of us were there with our new expensive cameras and he walks in with an older, worn, well-used Nikon. I am sure most of us in our minds immediately wrote him off as a serious photographer. He did not participate in any of the discussions on photo editing, and gear. He once mentioned that he shot only jpgs and did use any editing software.

But when we started comparing results, there was no competition. We all stared at his images and knew we were in the presence of a master. Composition, exposure, and focus were all on point. None of our images could even come near the impact and artistic value of his. When asked to explain how he made the shots, he simply said that he followed only the most basic of rules on exposure and then made minor adjustments until it looked the way he thought it should. In translation, he shot with instinct and intuition as a true artist would.

Who knows, maybe this guy does that also.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

I’m still using a thumb drive that has been through the laundry - twice. Didn’t lose a thing. They are pretty tough little buggers.

Stan

Joexx

Just because your new laptop cannot boot up, does not mean the data on it is lost. Pull the SSDs and read it using another computer. You should find your lost data. Of course, you may have some decryption hurdles you need to solve to read that SSS

BebuLamar

Those solid state devices fair very well in the washing machine. I have thumb drives and memory cards CF, SD etc.. went thru the washing machine with no problem at all.

47greyfox Loc: on the edge of the Colorado front range

External HDD, SSD, and Cloud services here.

Red6

I agree, they are much tougher than most think. In my work, we often carried them in our pockets to help download data to various machines on our production line. Some of these were years old and had been carried for years and used dozens if not hundreds of times. Cannot remember many of them failing. Most of the time they just fell apart after being dropped.

OzWizard

I do small product advertising and architectural for selective clients. Many times a client has contacted me, and requested a previous image or an adjustment. My image files are quite large, and a reliable storage system was a must. I use a Raid 5 system. in a server connected to my computer, there are five, five terabyte hard drives. All with the same information. If one should fail, I replace it. And all the same information is automatically added to the new drive. I have found this to be very reliable.

goldenyears Loc: Lake Osewgo

In my case human error resulting in lost files is far more likely than equipment malfunction. So I am maybe overly cautious. I perform my "work" on the C: drive, copying files from an SSD when I need to do something with them and putting them back when I'm finished. I use another SSD for backup. I have the SSDs connected to my computer through a powered USB switch. This allows me to leave them turned off and safe until I need to copy, backup or restore a file. Still, there have been times when I got sloppy and shortcut my usual process and lost something. Yes there is always the recycle bin, but so much time can elapse before I discover I've lost something, the the recycle bin has been emptied.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

This is NOT a correct explanation of a RAID 5 system.

goldenyears Loc: Lake Osewgo

True.. I believe it is more correct to say that the data is spread across multiple drives in such a way as to be able to recreate it fully with the loss of one of the drives.

TheShoe Loc: Lacey, WA

aellman Loc: Boston MA

To all on this subject: regardless of what type of home-based storage you have, you are at risk without (as mentioned) cloud backup. Carbonite is an excellent choice.

11bravo

Before any update, Macrium Reflect performs a full image backup.

As another poster mentioned, pulling the internal SSD is a real possibility for data recovery. Also check if there's a bios recovery option.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

That is correct. An array of five(5), five (5) GB drives would yield about 15GB of storage under RAID 5.