On 2010-03-12 21:37, Christine Aguila wrote:
*At the Computer* -Double back-up hard drives
If it ain't off-site, it ain't a backup. Figure in external hard drives that you can backup to, then rotate among several physical locations. The .PEF files are your negatives. I have three. One is at my house, one is at my mom's house, one is at my dad's house. Whenever I visit them, I swap one out.
-Good quality monitor-matte screen
IPS or PVA monitor, not TFT. Matte may well be less important than getting the right technology under the hood. I honestly don't know.
-Monitor shade
Totally dependent on your viewing environment. Pointless in mine.
-Lightroom
Not for me. Personal preference.
-Photoshop Elements
As much as I need, especially when combined with other stuff like dcraw ...
-Fast processor/RAM
Faster RAM or hard drive will help more than faster CPU. Except when you're doing Photoshop-like filters, CPU isn't your bottleneck, I/O to the disks and memory is.
-Lots of hard drive space
As much as you're willing to afford. It's cheap. My .PEF archive (negatives) currently weighs in at a couple of hundred gigabytes, and i'm one of the less prolific shooters in this crowd. I do several thousand exposures per event, but not many events.
-Cd/dvd burner for digital back-up
External hard drives are probably a more cost-effective solution at this point in the price curve. As with my note above, though, if all your backups are in the same place, they aren't actually backing anything up.
-Exhibit quality printer
Really? How much do you print? How many of those prints need to be exhibition quality? May it not be more cost effective to have a proof-quality printer, if any at all, and rely on, say, Internet printers to get the big paper?
*Print Preparation* -High end paper cutter (*)
Why? A metal yardstick and an Exacto knife will do the same job.
*Portfolio Stuff*
OK, excuse me, but Jesus H tap-dancing Christ. Take some freakin' photos and stop obsessing! The odds are pretty good that there are people out there who know how to do the printing, matting, framing, thing. The odds are about the same that they know more about it than you do. The odds are even better that they'll do it cheaper than you can, once you factor in your time, waste materials, etc.
*Storage Space* (*)
Ok, I get it now. You're an obsessive, compulsive glutton for punishment. Welcome to the club! :-)
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