Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter
August 27, 2011 - Special Saturday Edition
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Hunkered Down
I'm hunkered down in New York City, awaiting the arrival of Hurricane Irene. I figured as long as I'm going to be sort of stuck indoors for a while waiting for the storm to pass, I might as well send out a special "hurricane edition" of the Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter, addressing a query from a reader about hurricane preparations in the context of my digital photo library.
Today's Question: With a hurricane making its way toward you in New York, I'm wondering what sort of precautions you're taking with respect to your digital photo library?
Tim's Answer: Great question! This of course relates to any situation where a natural disaster or other circumstances put your property (and you) at some level of risk.
In this case I'm fortunate that Hurricane Irene seems to be weakening faster than originally forecast, so by the time it gets to Manhattan it may be a strong tropical storm rather than a full-blown hurricane. Unfortunately as I write this it appears that North Carolina isn't faring as well. But under circumstances such as these, obviously you want to take measures to protect the things that are important to you.
Personal safety obviously has to take top priority. If any circumstances were such that I had to make a quick exit without enough time to gather personal possessions, I'd just accept that my photos may be lost. I'd rather survive without photos than put my life at risk to protect my photos. Fortunately in this case I don't have to make that decision, since I am in a location that is relatively safe despite the storm.
As a result, I've been able to focus some attention on my digital photo library. One of the good things about hurricanes as natural disasters go is that you get some warning. I grew up and spent most of my years in California where earthquakes are somewhat common, and you don't get any warning for those. Yesterday I performed an updated full backup of my entire photo library, as well as all my other important data. I perform regular backups, but with the potential for power outages, water damage, and other problems, I wanted to be sure to have a full backup of everything.
As the storm approaches and conditions worsen tonight, I'll also disconnect my primary external hard drives from the computer and the power source. I only have the backup drives connected during a backup, but I'll take this extra precaution due to the additional risks involved with this storm. I will also move the drives into a location that is protected, away from windows, just in case the storm causes glass breakage (and thus water damage). The primary external hard drives are relatively small, so if it turns out that I do have to evacuate I'll likely be able to bring those along with me. If so, they'll get put into a watertight bag in an effort to keep them safe and dry.
I think the most important consideration here in terms of data protection is to have a reliable backup and to do all you can to ensure the physical protection of your data storage devices. This is true under any circumstances, but of course when a major storm or other higher risk factor is a consideration, you want to do all you can to ensure your photos and other important data are safe.
I send my best wishes out to everyone else who is in the path of Hurricane Irene. Be safe!
Digital Darkroom Quarterly
The Spring 2011 issue of Digital Darkroom Quarterly features articles on bit depth as well as the use of creative filters in Photoshop. If you're not already a subscriber and would like to take advantage of the great indepth information in each issue, sign up today! This newsletter is available in a PDF Edition delivered via email, or a Print Edition sent through the mail. Both options can be found through my online store here:
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