Dear diary...

Is it me, or are people getting just a little bit tired of technology, the further it travels along the road to apparent progress?

This may sound like a very blasé question to pose, but it seems that a great deal of individuals I speak with all-too-often find themselves the victim of newfangled ways of carrying out tasks, where their traditional methods never caused such problems. As you might guess, it was my own experiences that brought me to write this post, and one in particular which has to do with organisation and data loss.

In previous years, I have always used a typical, long-established form of diary - a paper-based affair - as I am quite traditional at heart and like the combination of reliability and the strangely-comforting tactility of its pages. But 2009 saw a switch to a more hi-tech solution. Or so I thought.

The rationale was simple enough: As I am often out and about, it made sense to have my diary sync'd up to my BlackBerry device so that, in combination with my online diary, I would be able to view/update my schedule in real-time. Simply put: short of losing a connection, everything would be to hand and I would be able to easily stay on top of my commitments day-in, day-out.

But what is it they say about the best-laid plans? I forget now. What I do remember, however, is that by week 2 of November, my online diary only had entries for the last week of October; by the end of the month, October's records had disappeared completely. And on 16th November, it was already beginning to remove that month's earliest entries. Strangely, January-September and December onwards remained intact throughout.

Now, I'm sure the boffins out there would be able to offer many suggestions about how to recover the missing data and so forth but, frankly, I am no longer interested. At the end of the day, I need my workflow systems to be reliable and dependable (in this respect, a diary is no different to, say, my cameras) and so it is time to seek alternatives for the new year.

With this in mind, then, 2010 will see a return to what I know works best for me - a traditional pocket diary. As I type, there are already scribblings in a nice new, highly portable, soft-cover Moleskine - which allows for much pimpage (probably not an actual word) and considerable peace of mind. By way of backup, I will also resurrect my whiteboard planner in the office, so that activities are always noted in multiple locations.

Granted, a return to 'old technology' would not be everybody's answer to the above dilemma, but it certainly suits me. In talking over this issue with a number of people, a variety of alternative options have been suggested - each not without its own merits.

Even though I have now found my solution, I'd still be keen to hear what you have considered useful in terms for boosting your workflow and/or productivity - so please, as ever, drop me your thoughts in the comments section or via the usual channels.

Another late night, sleep deprivation and a long drive

The end of February was a hectic time - with all manner of, shall we say, 'challenges' to overcome before heading upcountry for various commitments, including Focus On Imaging. Not least of these 'challenges' was my ongoing love/hate relationship (currently mostly hate, it has to be said) with PC computers; they were giving grief right up until an hour or so before I jumped in the car.

All appeared to be well upon departure but, would you believe it, I find out the laptop is still unwilling to co-operate, despite a full clean-out, and hence this post comes to you thanks to Manda's MacBook. So that'll be another tick in the 'switch-to-Mac' box, then.

On the Saturday night of the weekend I was due to head northwards, I was commissioned to document events as they unfolded at a private 30th Birthday party. A nice job (as you know, I particularly love event photography) and thankfully very local, as timings ran from 6:30pm to 10:30pm. It was the usual sort of thing - guests smiling and chatting and generally having a good time. Add to this the 'overview' room pictures and 'detail' shots which gel the series of pictures together (bowls of sweets, chocolate fountain, goodie-bags etc), and I came away with a nice set of images which told the story of the evening.

Once back at base, there was just enough time for a quick bite to eat before heading straight to the office to begin the process of editing and uploading all images to the GBP website via our Client Area. Whilst the latter was being completed under its own automated steam, I took care of the client's labelled DVD and all corresponding paperwork, ready for posting at a more reasonable hour.

All said and done, with other matters also taken care of, my head finally hit the pillow just as the birds began their morning sing-song. Now, late nights are not unusual for me, but one has to question the sensibility of driving four and a half hours on just three hours sleep! Ah well... all part of the service, as they say!

As part of the 'package', we also prepared in advance a set of 'event slips', each slip containing the online album access details. Every goodie-bag contained one of these, and once logged in, visitors would then be able to view and order photographic prints in various sizes and finishes (eg gloss or matte) directly through the website.

Incidentally, one day a couple of weeks ago saw a shoot in conjunction once again with Matt; typical marketing material sort of stuff, created using all the benefits of our wireless technology. A video of that day will be following in due course, but I've not even had the chance to look at the raw video footage we shot yet.

My big Mac dilemma

It's been a strange week, and something just don't feel right. This could have something to do with the bout of food poinoning I received a few days ago, or the tail-end of a bug picked up somewhere along the way. Possibly, who knows.

What I can be sure of is that, for the first time, I have been having real (yes, genuine 'oooh...!') thoughts about the 'M' word. Quite, quite unusual. I'm not sure I can even bring myself to admit this, but here goes...

Deep breath...

I think I want a Mac.

There, I've said it. Are ya happy now?! For all those of you who have been saying "Just you wait... you'll soon come around...", well, don't go demanding your winnings from the sweepstake just yet; it's just at the 'on the cards' stage at the moment. But believe me when I tell you that this revelation has come as just as much of a shock to me as it has to you!

So what's going on? Why the change of heart? Well, you know, there comes a time when you just get fed up of shouting at your desktop for the umpteenth time because - in spite of doing 101 'optimisation' processes such as defrags, scan disks, antivirus and spyware checks - the only way the damn thing could process your work any slower would be if it was physically switched off at the mains!

Do you sense some bitterness on my part?! Hmm... Lord knows, I don't have so much hair on my head these days, thanks to a cruel trick of genetics - and quite honestly, I can't afford to pull any more out!

Here's what I do know (or, at least, here are 6 things that I'm led to believe by every Mac owner and his dog):

1. Macs never (or very rarely) go wrong; they're stable and they just work
2. Because Macs don't go wrong, they work out cheaper in the long run
   
3. Macs are the photographer's friend
4. Macs would make my life so much more pain free, thanks to their batch process facilities
   
5. Macs are very simple to use, even more so than PCs
6. Macs are so intuitive that I would not have to run a PC alongside in the beginning

Coincidentally, I've been talking more and more in depth about my dilema with a friend this week, too. (you know who you are!). She makes a good case for the pro-Mac camp and quite honestly I can't seem to find any sort of argument to put up in defense. My only 'safety net' with PCs is that because I've been using them for years, I'm pretty good at muddling through the typical hiccups that happen from time to time. But, frankly, that doesn't seem to count for much when you've tried everything and still the problem in question doesn't get resolved.

So here's where I'd like your input by following the Comments link below, please. If you're a recent convert from PC to Mac, let me know why you jumped and what your workflow/state-of-mind experience has been like since. If you switched some years ago, tell me why. And if you are one of the many Mac users who feels a bit giddy just at the sight or mention of a PC, please clean yourself up and then explain why I should stop arsing about, stop kidding myself and just get on with it.

Thanks.

101 Photoshop Tips In 5 Minutes

As many of you will know, Photoshop is pretty well the standard piece of image processing software for us these days. Yes, there are other applications which we sometimes employ as bolt-on tools - but PS still remains the pro's favourite.

The trouble is, to the untrained eye (actually, to the experienced user at times, too!), it can be a hugely complex and bewildering programme. Just where do you start? Which tools should you use, and which should you ignore? There is a myriad books and instructional DVDs around, but they often fall short of the mark.

Now, I'm no expert - far from it. Thankfully, though, there are guys out there who are more than willing to share their years of experience and knowledge with anyone looking for some answers.

One such person is the acclaimed PS guru Deke McClelland - who has recently released another light-hearted video entitled "101 Photoshop Tips In 5 Minutes". And as you can imagine, it's packed full of useful information.

So, all you Photoshop users - what are you waiting for? Get yourself a pen and paper and prepare to learn and relearn those magic shortcuts that will speed up your workflow:

Still want more? We also like these two other reference points - Photoshop User TV and You Suck At Photoshop. Enjoy!