John Shaw Nature & Digital Photography Workshops Click here for locations and dates
				Mexico's Colonial Heartland March 17–24, 2007
				Horses and Icons of the Wild West August 26–September 1, 2007
				Masai Mara Wildlife Reserve, Kenya September 7–21, 2007
				Australia Wildlife November 1–20, 2007

I’m writing this on an airplane, returning from two back-to-back Photo Safaris tours. Most of the participants were shooting digital, as was I. Yes, I’ve switched over entirely to digital, using the Nikon D2X since it became available. In fact, the last time I used any film at all was last summer.

One topic that came up repeatedly on both trips was how to download and store digital files while on the road. Several trip participants were burning CDs or DVDs; one carried a multitude of flash cards and shot jpeg files; several were downloading to "digital wallet" devices.

Up through last autumn I stored my images on CDs, burning them after each day of shooting. The problems I faced were the number of CDs I had to carry (a stack of 100 on most trips), the limited number of files that will fit on one CD (and that number is getting smaller and smaller as the file size from newer cameras keeps increasing), and the vast amount of time that it takes to burn and verify CDs. At the end of the day what I don’t want to do is sit there feeding CD after CD into my laptop. I’ve got a reasonably speedy CD writer and still it takes about 10 minutes at the minimum to write and verify one CD. Thanks to some suggestions from co-leader Darrell Gulin, I changed my procedures, making photo travel life a lot easier. Here’s how I now work.

I carry a laptop on all my trips so I can write, check e-mail and run other programs. It also allows me to do simple photo editing, although I leave the serious Photoshop work for the calibrated system back in my office.

At the end of each shooting day I download my cards into my laptop’s hard drive using a Delkin 32-bit cardbus flash card reader that goes into the PC slot on the laptop. I use Downloader Pro software to do the actual process. I then copy the files from my laptop’s hard drive to an external laptop drive via a USB2 connection, then repeat the process to a second external laptop drive. This gives me three copies of all my image files—just in case disaster strikes any one component. Let me describe my on-the-road storage process step by step.

My travel laptop happens to be a small Sony model which weighs about four pounds and has a 13-inch screen. It’s got an 80 GB hard drive, 1 GB RAM, and uses a 1.7 MHz Centrino chip which consequently gives great battery life. All in all, it’s a pretty standard, reasonably compact laptop. My programs take up about one-third of the hard drive leaving the remaining two-thirds free for storing images.

I leave the cardbus reader in the card slot so all I have to do is insert a flash card. Then I use Downloader Pro from Breeze Systems (www.breezesys.com) to transfer the files. Sorry, Mac users, this program is only available for PCs. I like this program a lot and would highly recommend it. I’ve set it up to automatically open when I insert a card, add a job name, download the files, and then automatically close. Here are the steps to make it work like this. First of all, you need to create a destination for your image files. Create a folder named 0 Images (that’s a zero, not the letter "O") and it will always be the topmost folder displayed in the folder tree. Now to Downloader Pro. Open its Preferences menu and type in the location you have created along with any parameters you want. Here’s how I used Downloader Pro on my recent trip to Patagonia (note that Downloader Pro automatically created the Patagonia folder once I entered this information in Preferences).

Of course, you would change this job code name for any different locations you might work.

Now open the Automation tab and select the following:

You might have to do one more step in Windows. Insert a flash card into your reader, then right-click on its drive icon in Explorer or My Computer, and select Properties. Then click on the Auto Play tab, select Pictures, and choose Download images with Downloader Pro.

OK, on to the external drives I carry. These are about 3x5 inches by ½-inch thick and they will literally fit in a shirt pocket. I use 80 GB laptop drives that connect via USB2 for fast data transfer. These get power directly from the laptop, so there are no AC transformers or AC cords to carry. You can purchase these drives ready-made from any large computer store or online (just do a Google search and you’ll come up with a number of brands such as ION Gear, LaCie and Hammer). Or you can assemble your own as I do and save quite a bit of money. Purchase a standard 2.5-inch laptop hard drive and an enclosure (a case, that is) to mount it in. Make sure the enclosure has a USB2 connection (or Firewire, if that’s your preference and your laptop has a Firewire port). Connect the drive to the case’s port (there is only one connection, and if you can plug a desk lamp into an outlet you can connect the drive—it’s that easy).

If you put together your own external drive you’ll have to initialize it, while the ready-made ones are plug-and-play. To initialize a drive in Windows XP: connect the drive, then open Control Panel and navigate to Disc Management (Control Panel > Performance and Maintenance > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Disc Management). Pull down the bottom right panel until you see your new drive, then select Initialize from the options list. Sit back and wait, and soon you’ll see the drive listed as "healthy." It took me longer to type these instructions than the time it takes to do this procedure.

So at the end of a photo day I power up my laptop, connect an external drive, put a flash card into the Delkin cardbus, and Downloader Pro takes over. In a couple of minutes all the image files are on my laptop. Then I just drag this folder over to the external drive icon. Once all the files are transferred, I connect the second hard drive and once again drag the folder to it.

To illustrate how easy this is, I’ll time the whole process. Let’s assume my laptop is up and running and that the first drive is connected. I’ll use a totally filled 2 GB Lexar 80X card. Time to download to laptop: 2 minutes 39 seconds including time for Downloader Pro to open and close. Time to copy to first external drive: 3 minutes. Exchange drives: 20 seconds. Copy to second external drive: 3 minutes. Total time: under 10 minutes. Time saved over burning CDs: lots! Back in the office I connect to my desktop via USB2 and copy all to my office system.

Some out there might object that I’m assuming that drives will continue to work while a CD has no moving parts. Yes, that’s true. But if you’re burning CDs you’re assuming that your CD drive will continue to work. And I end up with three copies of my files. What if you lose the CDs? Make a second set of CDs and you’ve doubled an already long process. Plus, when carrying and using CDs, you have to factor in the additional bulk and weight. I’ve got over 200 GB total free space; imagine the stack of CDs or DVDs to equal 200 gigs!

Thanks, Darrell. My digital photo life is a lot easier these days.

Announcement: John's newest book, John Shaw's Photoshop Field Guide, is now available. This is an eBook on CD, with step-by-step instructions on making prints using Photoshop and Epson printers. It is available only from John's Website, www.johnshawphoto.com.