# so I'm stupid... another reason I don't do this full time.



## jdramirez (Jun 7, 2014)

It is a tale as old as time. I transferred images from one event to my hard drive... looks as though they all moved over, but no.... I eclipsed 9999 images which means it saved the last part of the event to another folder... which I didn't transfer over. And I formatted in camera the next day... but I don't think it was a complete format, so I can salvage most of the lost images.

Honestly, it isn't a big deal... it was just the last game of my daughter's softball season... and I have five of the six innings documented so no one will notice... but that was just dumb.

And I can only imagine if I lost a client's images... so I bare my incompetent soul to y'all... because when people say I should be a photographer full time, I know the reasons why they are wrong.


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## unfocused (Jun 7, 2014)

When people talk nostalgically about film, I remember:

Film slips off take-up spool. Shoot 48 exposures of nothing before thinking: Wow! That's a really long roll of film;

Better put some film in the camera. Open camera back. Oh, film was already in the camera...exposed;

Film sticks together on developing reel. Best shots are always the ones destroyed;

Pour the developer out of the tank. Hmm, smells like fixer...oh oh!

Fire call comes in over the police radio. Rush to the scene. Shoot flames coming out of building. Switch film. Wait! the ISO dial says 400, but that was slide film;

That print looks pretty good, lets flip on the lights...who left the box of paper open!

Just shot six rolls of film of championship game. Loading the film now. In walks someone. Light flip: "Anybody in here?"

I could go on and on. I definitely don't miss the film era.


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## neuroanatomist (Jun 7, 2014)

How do you transfer images? With a card reader, you generally see the folder architecture, so you'd see the '101' folder. 

Personally, I have extra cards - the card with the images doesn't get formatted until the set is at least triaged (so I know it's complete) and stored on the internal SSD and at least one external HDD.


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## Orangutan (Jun 8, 2014)

If you were a full-time pro, this is a mistake you'd make *exactly once.* Then you would develop a fool-proof process to make sure all files transfer. There are many different ways; the right one depends on how you think and what equipment you have.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Hoover#Hoover_Nozzle_and_Hoover_Ring


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## verysimplejason (Jun 8, 2014)

You can write an OS script to transfer all your files automatically so you won't miss anything. Just one click, all your files are transferred. I can write one if you want one.


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## Over40yearsofCanon (Jun 8, 2014)

unfocused said:


> When people talk nostalgically about film, I remember:
> Film slips off take-up spool. Shoot 48 exposures of nothing before thinking: Wow! That's a really long roll of film;
> Better put some film in the camera. Open camera back. Oh, film was already in the camera...exposed;
> Film sticks together on developing reel. Best shots are always the ones destroyed;
> ...


 ;D When people write "LOL".. they're usually not. Not this time. I'm glad there's no one around at the moment, because I can't stop howling. Thanks for the memories! Each and every one...


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Jun 8, 2014)

When the images rolled over to a new folder, I'm wondering why they did not transfer, what software are you using? 
I could see it happening to me, if Lightroom does not see all the folders on the card. Lightroom will not overwrite images so, if they are duplicates, a error will come up.
I tend to rename the images during import to a descriptive name like Joes Graduation - June 2014, which prevents duplications.

Since you did not do a low level format, you should be able to recover them.


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## TeT (Jun 8, 2014)

I myself use windows photo gallery to pull my pics through the card reader. It pulls everything on the card that is not currently in the picture directory on the CPU. Pulls both JPG and RAW, renames them numerically and I let it rotate (or the camera does) but it does not seem to lose any content or quality.

I dont erase the card until I have processed the pics I need to use (usually pics of my eBay crap)

Thanks for the errors of film era post... That was fun...


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## jdramirez (Jun 8, 2014)

neuroanatomist said:


> How do you transfer images? With a card reader, you generally see the folder architecture, so you'd see the '101' folder.
> 
> Personally, I have extra cards - the card with the images doesn't get formatted until the set is at least triaged (so I know it's complete) and stored on the internal SSD and at least one external HDD.



It was late at night and I was tired... that's the crux of the issue. I transfer the file via usb directly into the camera... i am trying to avoid taking the cf card in and out because of the bent pin concern... 

I can see the folders... i just was careless.

also, I had plenty of space on my card left over for my next project... I again was being lazy because I didn't want to sort through yesterday's photos with today's photos... I fully accept the consequences of my laziness... and next time i'll go through the confirm, regardless of the time of night.


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## Oceo (Jun 8, 2014)

Appropriate for this D-Day anniversary. Do you recall Robert Capa's famous images of the D-Day landing? He went ashore with the 16th Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division. "He used three rolls of film and exposed 106 frames. After reaching England, he sped by train to London and delivered his precious film for developing.
A darkroom technician was almost as anxious to see the invasion images as Capa himself. In his haste, the technician dried the film too quickly. The excess heat melted the emulsion on all but 10 of the frames. Those that remained were blurred, surreal shots, which succinctly conveyed the chaos and confusion of the day." The story in Capa's own words at http://www.homepagedaily.com/robert-capa-his-lost-photos-of-d-day/


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## jdramirez (Jun 8, 2014)

verysimplejason said:


> You can write an OS script to transfer all your files automatically so you won't miss anything. Just one click, all your files are transferred. I can write one if you want one.



Thanks... but I can just not be lazy. It's a conscious effort issue. If I do it again... then I may come back beggin'.


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## jdramirez (Jun 8, 2014)

Over40yearsofCanon said:


> unfocused said:
> 
> 
> > When people talk nostalgically about film, I remember:
> ...



I did some film work in college... but it was of nephrons and really not very interesting... but I can say... in my limited experience... I didn't have any of the above happen... though I did have a partner do a crap job on attaching the kidney in the parafin... so the suspended tissue just fell off the block... I'm never going to get over that one.


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## jdramirez (Jun 8, 2014)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> When the images rolled over to a new folder, I'm wondering why they did not transfer, what software are you using?
> I could see it happening to me, if Lightroom does not see all the folders on the card. Lightroom will not overwrite images so, if they are duplicates, a error will come up.
> I tend to rename the images during import to a descriptive name like Joes Graduation - June 2014, which prevents duplications.
> 
> Since you did not do a low level format, you should be able to recover them.



I drag and drop. I know lightroom will do the work for me... and I even learned how to set that up... and then I proceeded to forget about it because of hubris... plain and simple.


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## RustyTheGeek (Jun 8, 2014)

neuroanatomist said:


> How do you transfer images? With a card reader, you generally see the folder architecture, so you'd see the '101' folder.
> 
> Personally, I have extra cards - the card with the images doesn't get formatted until the set is at least triaged (so I know it's complete) and stored on the internal SSD and at least one external HDD.



Ditto here, I have a similar workflow.

And you can easily recover the images even after the in camera format with some recovery software.


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## jdramirez (Jun 8, 2014)

RustyTheGeek said:


> neuroanatomist said:
> 
> 
> > How do you transfer images? With a card reader, you generally see the folder architecture, so you'd see the '101' folder.
> ...



I've had a CF usb 3 card reader in my cart for around 6 months now... and finally I have a compelling reason to buy it.


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## JPAZ (Jun 8, 2014)

jdramirez said:


> . but it was of nephrons and really not very interesting...



Beg to differ. Perhaps the photos were not that interesting but the Nephron is!



By the way, as they said, anything that can go wrong will.......

I've screwed up with file names and overwritten stuff I meant to keep, at least once! That's why each project now gets downloaded into the PC into a separate folder labeled for that project. At least then, I cannot overwrite a same-named-file form anther set of shots. And, like Neuro and others have said, I never reformat or overwirte a card until I am way sure the images are all safely transferred and backed up. Just recently this saved my hide. After all, IMG_0001 follows IMG_9999 chronologically if one starts near the end of the series because of not starting the numbering / naming anew. At least in the same folder, all I had to deal with was re-ordering the files by date then batch renaming them in Bridge. 

Anyone else ever strip the little holes off the film so advancing the film "didn't" and the result was a bunch of exposures on the same frame?


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## deleteme (Jun 9, 2014)

Even if one does it full-time stuff still happens. The greatest danger is when lulled into a false sense of security that allows lapses. A pro will generally not share his or her gaffes as it is far more psychically painful.
-Norm


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## jdramirez (Jun 9, 2014)

I might just be getting old. I was returning two movies to Redbox and when I got to the store dot dot dot what did I forget, the movies.


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## tron (Jun 9, 2014)

jdramirez said:


> neuroanatomist said:
> 
> 
> > How do you transfer images? With a card reader, you generally see the folder architecture, so you'd see the '101' folder.
> ...


Is this a real issue or not? I mean I read about it and I try to be gentle or ... shoot using both cards at the same time (mirroring) and then using the SD card to transfer images via a card reader.

But should we be afraid? Is 5D3 so fragile? When I had a 5D2 I was moving the CF card in and out with no issues (for almost 4 years).


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## jdramirez (Jun 9, 2014)

tron said:


> jdramirez said:
> 
> 
> > neuroanatomist said:
> ...



I think if you use cheap products with poor quality control and you force the card... I think it can happen... but with the mkiii + a San disk... I'm guessing the risk is near zero... but not zero... so I'll be vigilant in my fear.


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## Vivid Color (Jun 9, 2014)

Oceo said:


> Appropriate for this D-Day anniversary. Do you recall Robert Capa's famous images of the D-Day landing? He went ashore with the 16th Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division. "He used three rolls of film and exposed 106 frames. After reaching England, he sped by train to London and delivered his precious film for developing.
> A darkroom technician was almost as anxious to see the invasion images as Capa himself. In his haste, the technician dried the film too quickly. The excess heat melted the emulsion on all but 10 of the frames. Those that remained were blurred, surreal shots, which succinctly conveyed the chaos and confusion of the day." The story in Capa's own words at http://www.homepagedaily.com/robert-capa-his-lost-photos-of-d-day/


Thank you for sharing this story of how Robert Capa lost almost all of his D-Day photos. I've read a good bit about him but I had not heard this story.


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## tron (Jun 9, 2014)

By the way I use Sandisk Cards. So I have licence for Rescue Pro. I need it yesterday and it worked fine.


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## jdramirez (Jun 9, 2014)

tron said:


> By the way I use Sandisk Cards. So I have licence for Rescue Pro. I need it yesterday and it worked fine.



I had the license... I meant to take it upstairs but I didn't and the wife probably threw it away. But there are plenty of free programs... so that isn't a big deal.


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## IMG_0001 (Jun 10, 2014)

I must be a slow shooter cause it seems unlikely for me to shoot more than 10000 photos on a single event. That is a photo as second for three hours! And those can't be CR2s or they would have filled a 256GB card! I was at the F1 GP last weekend and took 2000 pics on the first day. Granted there is lots of dead times on such an event but still...

I guess a benefit of using small cards is that it limits the number of folders to 1.



JPAZ said:


> jdramirez said:
> 
> 
> > . but it was of nephrons and really not very interesting...
> ...



I didi something similar this winter. I was shooting film on my old Nikkormat and when I tried to wind it back at the end of the roll, I felt a little resistance and then it went smooth again. I thought the film was all in the can so I opened up to change and... the film had snapped and was ruined by me opening the lid. I was pretty sad as I felt I had taken some nice images.


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## jdramirez (Jun 10, 2014)

I never reset the count... so I reached the 10k Mark after one year.



IMG_0001 said:


> I must be a slow shooter cause it seems unlikely for me to shoot more than 10000 photos on a single event. That is a photo as second for three hours! And those can't be CR2s or they would have filled a 256GB card! I was at the F1 GP last weekend and took 2000 pics on the first day. Granted there is lots of dead times on such an event but still...
> 
> I guess a benefit of using small cards is that it limits the number of folders to 1.
> 
> ...


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## IMG_0001 (Jun 10, 2014)

jdramirez said:


> I never reset the count... so I reached the 10k Mark after one year.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yeah, that'd make more sense, like how did I not think of that...


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## mackguyver (Jun 10, 2014)

JD, I've done that one, too, and back in the day when my wife modeled, a pro wiped out an entire day's shooting...so you're not even remotely alone on this one.

The way I try to handle it is this - I buy 2 big cards - currently 64GB with the 5DIII and 1D X - big enough to hold 2 of my normal shoots or one big shoot and 1 small one as a back up - currently 32GB. I download the photos but I don't format it until I have completed my third shoot on my 2nd card, and then I start the process again. That way, barring a full day sports shoot, I still have the photos on the card for at least 1-2 more shoots, while keeping at least one blank card at the ready.


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