Back up hardware made for photographers

By Danielle Lancaster

One of the new pieces to have been placed in my kit recently is the FREECOM Tough Drive Sport. 

We are often asked what gear we are trying out that lands in our kit – this is one that has been sure tried and tested over the past few weeks and one we are keeping!

It’s stated to be ‘made for photographers that need their gear to handle the tough and for those of us that like to travel and take images this is a hard one to go by.

So what do we like:
1. Thanks to the internal anti-shock mechanism, your files are always safe super-secure.  Protected from inside out, your files are password protected and the drive is tough enough to survive all kinds of daily bumps and drops – including a drop from up to two metres.  The ruggedness of this drive is legendary and has been recognised and awarded many times by leading international computer magazines.

2. No need for a power cord. With the Tough Drive’s unique integrated USB 3.0 cable, you’ll never be able to forget your cable again – it lets you connect to any computer, notebook wherever you are – including to USB 2.0. It’s neat and tidy all in the one unit – the USB tucks away nicely in within a grove in the unit itself.

3. Faster data transfer speed – always a bonus when you are on the move or time is precious.

4. Lightweight and easy to store. Weighing in at only 260g and measuring 155 x 91 x 21 mm it’s hard to beat.

5.  Help Desk. Yes the package includes the hard drive, USB Cable and Install Guide but a 2 year manufacturer’s warranty and unlimited free help desk support – though as yet we haven’t needed anything this is a breeze for even those of us un-techno to use.

We’ve already trialled the dropping of it –yes unintentionally I can assure you – and so far everything has been as safe as. And one or two of the journeys it has been have been less than smooth plus we’ll be taking it on the Bluedog Photography Outback tour later this week and we are sure it will get a work out there.

We’ve heard stories of it being run over by a car and still working though not sure we want to try that just yet. We are happy to predict, and not being betting people (well some of us are not) this will be one piece of gear we will be also placing another order in for.

Our new baby!

Currently available from Bluedog:
500GB Tough Drives at $130.00 ex Bluedog studio (limited number in stock)
750GB Tough Drives at $150.00 ex Bluedog studio (limited number in stock)

to place an order email: info@blue-dog.com.au

Photographers versus Graphic Designers

Someone made an interesting comment at our first Photoshop Creative Series, 'that as being a Graphic Designer', tutor Diana Ziv 'would not be using Photoshop in the same way that photographers did.’ Is this a question of relevance? Diana answers what we find an intriguing question in relationship to photographers versus graphic designers.

Ms Ziv says not only do graphic designers use Photoshop for many of the same reasons as photographers, but they have been doing so for a lot longer. “Truth be told, I was using Photoshop when photographers were still using film and I was editing their images on a daily basis, removing blemishes, changing colours, spotting, taking objects in and out of images, montages, you name it,” said Diana. “Every day I was taking their images and building on them.”

Ms Ziv said photographers have been playing a catch up game with designers, trying to make up lost ground. “If anything, photographers have been very keen to learn the skills that graphic designers had to have, before photographers went digital.” She said it is also becoming more difficult to distinguish between the technical skills required of photographers and graphic designers. “The lines between designer/photographer/web designer/video editor are blurring into multimedia skills.”

Diana explained that her profession still demands more from Photoshop than photographers do. “[The] second part of the editing I would do to an image would include more or different creative techniques that photographers would probably not typically consider”.

In fact, do graphic designers deserve more credit than they are given? Are our professions combining? Indeed it is an exciting path forward we face in the multi-media world.