An Empty Room in India

My 2TB of photos are still MIA....it has been almost two months now. This is the last email I got from Singapore in regards to my Drobo failure...

"I hate to say it, but it's not clear at the moment what the next step might be. We do not know enough of what happened on that fateful day, only that power failure and force reboot (etc) all occurred. Anything else could have happened.

I have kept your case open in our system. And if you do come to Singapore, I would be happy to take a look at your Drobo, but regardless, it does not look too good, I'm afraid".

Needless to say, this last email does not make me happy. I just don't understand...am I the ONLY Drobo owner that has gone through such a failure?? I don't get it...

So, in the meantime, I am finding photos here and there...some on my old USB's, some on my work computer, etc....the photo below, I found on my USB...

Bike and Wall

You know how I love photos of textured walls and bikes...it is a scene that I can't walk by without taking a photo...

This may be my last "new" photo to post for awhile...I am having a major crisis with my Drobo. On my birthday (a couple of days ago), my computer said all of my 85,000+ photos are gone. I have almost 3 Terabytes of photos from the past 10 years all on my Drobo, and at this time, I have no access to them. I am fairly certain they are all still on my drive, but I am working with Drobo to find out how to recover all my data. Needless to say, I am majorly stressed about this. I don't know what I will do if I were to lose ALL my photos...it would be a major disaster!!

If and when I do finally get things back to normal, I will need to totally re-think my back-up strategy. I bought the Drobo so that I would feel secure in my back-ups, but didn't count on the Drobo itself to fail....arrrrrrgh!!

If any of you out there are Drobo experts, let me know...I really need to talk to you...

Old Dudes Hanging Out

Yesterday's photo was of some kids hanging out...on the other side of the village, the elders were hanging out...

Caught In The Act

I love it when I can capture people without them knowing I am taking their photo. Not one of these kids knew I was taking their photo even though I was standing right in front of them...something caught their attention, and so I became invisible to them...I'll leave it to you to imagine what they are looking at...

Another Shot With Texture

Here's another shot I worked on last night from India. I also used "On-One's" professional frames to get that "acid burn" look on the edges. The cool thing about using textures, is that you can take an ordinary mundane looking photo and turn it into something pretty cool...

I Felt Like This Door

Ha ha...this textured wall was about how my stomach was feeling when I took this photo. My third day in India, and I had caught a parasite. It was not comfortable. I walked around with severe cramps...the type that make you bend over in pain...that didn't stop me from taking photos though...it takes more than a parasite to stop me..ha ha...

Another View of The Taj

I was very lucky to be at the Taj Mahal on a day where there was a blue sky. Last time I was there, it was so hazy, you could barely see the Taj...this time, it was clear...woo hoo.

The Store Front

I often wonder what people actually buy at these small stores you see all over Asia. Maybe this place sells ropes? Or flowers on rope? The guy attending the store doesn't look too excited either way...gotta love Asia!!

I Told You I Liked Bikes and Walls

Well, here I go again...another photo of a bike against a cool wall with lots of texture...I can't resist...what can I say?

People Photos With The Leica

One of my early complaints about switching over to the Leica M9 from my Nikon was the ability to capture good people shots without a zoom lens. It took me a ton of practice. I am only armed with my 50mm lens, and that makes it more of a challenge to catch people. At first, I was slow to focus, and by the time I had my photo composed and focused, the subjects would move away or the moment was lost. I lost countless photos because of this. I am getting better, though. I can now focus pretty quickly and accurately. This shot is an example...I saw the one light in the corner, and the two kids standing next to the door. I knew it would make for a good shot, so I walked slowly towards the door, and the kids didn't move. I had already set my camera to a fairly high aperture to capture good depth of field, so all I had to do was compose, focus, and shoot. It took mere seconds, and I got the shot...right after, the kids moved inside. When I first got this camera, I would have missed it or it would have been out of focus. When you nail a shot like this with the Leica, it is a good feeling...an easy thing for the Nikon to do though...point and shoot with the Nikon, and you get the shot, but for some reason, it is just not as fun...

Back From India

So, the trip to India was great, except I got sick on the third day...your typical "Delhi Belly"...

Two years ago, on my last trip to India, the Taj was almost completely shrouded in fog. This year, it was pretty clear. Our guides said it was REALLY clear for this time of year...so, I guess I got lucky...I took this when I was still feeling good. The number of photos I took on this trip diminished as the week went on and as I felt worse and worse. I love Indian food, but I sure don't like the things that grow in it...