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I had the most amazing trip to Sout East Asia visiting Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.  I shot 4,700 RAW image files – yes I know!  When I came home I fired up Lightroom and set it to import them all to my iMac.  Obviously this took some time, I just walked away and let it do its stuff.  Some time later I checked and there they were, all my lovely files tucked up and ready for me to edit at my leisure.

Some time later I woke up my Mac (I rarely switch off, I just allow the screen to sleep when inactive) and there it was, the ‘spinning beach ball of death’ – I waited and waited and waited – after all it’s just thinking, just needs a moment . .

Then I got fed up of waiting so I tried to force quit from alt-cmd-esc but my Mac was not listening to me, the ball just kept spinning!

For those who have never enjoyed the company of the ‘spinning beach ball of death’ you should watch this.  Actually everyone should watch this, I *really* wish my experience with The Ball was a s much fun!

Anyway I digress, in the end I lost my patience and just hit the power button – yes, I know!  This time my Mac obeyed and shut down.  So, then I restarted and the first thing I noticed was that the Apple Photos app was trying to import all my 4,700 images, *this* must have been what was going on to make my Mac freeze, grr.  I closed Photos and wished I could remove the app but it seems to be baked into the OS, sob.

Then I noticed.  My external hard drive had not mounted.  Yep, it had crashed.  I tried several Rescue programs but none of them could see my drive, it was properly broken.  Probably a part of the software the tells it to mount was ‘upset’ by my Power Off solution.

For about 24 hours I think I was in denial, unable to accept my WD My Passport for Mac was dead, and then I had to put my hand in pocket and pay for my backup files to be sent from California.  I use a company called Backblaze to back up all the data from the drive on my iMac and on my external drive and keep it safe in the cloud.  It costs $50 per year, but now I have to dig deeper to have the files sent to me.  If it were a small number of files I could get a free zipped backup sent by a simple download.  But, because my drive contained 1.5TB, Backblaze would need to load it on to a new drive and send that to me by FedEx.

So, I started the process on Jan 5th and noted that it would probably not be 2-3 days as quoted in the Backblaze email since my restore was fairly large. It cost $189 which included shipping a new drive.  Not ideal when you’ve just got back from an expensive holiday but at least I can get my data back.

On Jan 13th Backblaze tell me that FedEx have my drive and, blow me, on Jan 15th the FedEx fella is calling me ‘Miss Kay, will you be at home this afternoon?” 48 hours from San Francisco to Manchester, bloody amazing.

The drive Backblaze sent me is a 2TB USB3 Seagate Backup drive, pretty much the same as my now defunct WD My Passport.  I plugged in the Seagate to my iMac and set it to back up to Backblaze, it took less than 24 hours for everything (1.5TB) to be sent back to Backblaze and I am back where I started, phew!

Now I have a quandary, what to do with the My Passport? It’s not been dropped, so I am wondering if it can be reset by someone with better software than I had.  or should I just put it in the bin?  What would you do?

Lesson learnt: never Power Off with external drive or memory cards mounted.

And, how the FLIP to remove Apple Photos App?

Finally, don’t be be like Bill, BACK UP!

 

 

 

Earlier this year I shot in a field near to the Seven Arches in Bury, it was a fun day and such a thrill to see a steam loco go over Roch viaduct.

Imagine my horror yesterday when I saw this!

Hayley, my subject that day, told me that the stables and horses are all safe, but it was a very stressful time.

When I did the shoot I fell in love with this tree, I felt bad to be asking ‘what about ‘my’ tree’?  But, the good news is that it’s ok so I hope to go back in the spring and shoot it again.

 

I’ve wanted to go to Hyper Japan for some time but never managed to make it.  But recently I got the chance to go to their Christmas market and it really was quite fab! All aspects of Japanese life were represented: Kawaii and Anime, martial arts, singing and dancing; comic characters and lolitta girls along with traditional crafts and japanese foods.

Click on the photos for a better view.

MWL Events asked me to be official photographer for the Stalybridge Handmade Market and this being the last one of the year the theme was Christmas, and, guess what?  Yes, I met the Big Fella, and not only that had chance for a quick portrait session with him!  Click the photo for a closer view.

Father Christmas’s grotto was hosted by Florence and Amelia’s a vintage inspired furniture, accessories and gift shop in Stalybridge, filled with many beautiful and unique items for your home and garden.

And, as if that is not enough, Olaf the snowman came too!

You can see all the shots from the day here, enjoy and see you at the next Handmade!

My group fitness colleague, Hayley, asked for a family photoshoot – her boys, her horse and the dog.  We met up at the stables and then went to shoot in a nearby field.  I had my back to the viaduct but when Hayley said “Train!” I turned to see this steam loco. Such a delight to get this shot since I have seen them occasionally as they traverse the M60 and wished many times that I could capture a shot like this.

The East Lancashire Railway operates a 12-mile route between Heywood and Rawtenstall, using a range of preserved steam and diesel locomotives to haul vintage train services through the scenic Irwell Valley.  They run photography courses and I am very tempted!

Here are some of the other photos I took that day, click on the photo for a larger view.  It was lovely to spend time with Hayley, her boys, Libby & Ella!

There is an ancient Hindu tradition that when it is Diwali you give sweets to your Pilates teacher – honest!  Well, Hansa is one of my longest standing clients and she has been bringing me sweets for many years now – thank you!

Diwali is also known as the Festival of Lights. Light is significant in Hinduism because it signifies goodness. So, during the Festival of Lights, ‘deeps’, or oil lamps, are burned throughout the day and into the night to ward off darkness and evil.

These are the candles we lit last year on the Ganges, it was a very special part of my trip to India.  You can see more of my Indian photos here: flickr 

It’s the Stalybridge Handmade Market on Nov 21st and I am inviting all my classmates for a Cake Date with me!  And, I have been asked back to be the official photographer, I’m so flattered and thrilled that the organiser likes my photos.

I love photographing all the lovely handmade items, here are a few from previous visits to the handmade, click on the photo for a better view.

 Classmates and friends, please RSVP!

I shot this in 2010 at the war memorial in Dukinfield.

Last year I was lucky to see Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red an installation of over 800,000 ceramic Poppies at the Tower of London.  Click on the photo for a better view.

I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan of shopping in Ashton, I’m all about the bright lights of Town and the Trafford Centre.  If Selfridges is not there then neither am I LOL!

But when a boutique Home Decor Store opens then I am all over it like a rash and when the owner of the new business is a friend I will make an exception, and I’m glad I did!  I went to their launch event, enjoyed the bubbles and  the cake, took some photos and realised that I am lucky to have such a lovely shop right on my doorstep.  Click on the photo for a closer view.

Be My Guest is on George Street, drop in and see them, lets Shop Local!