Monday - Camera Bag and Studio Gear : Drobo review from Data Robotics

Whether you have returned from a trip to Las Vegas, Miami, Hawaii, Tampa, Bahamas, Mexico or California, or you are a professional Orlando Wedding Photographer, a portraits photographer or a destination wedding photographer you would have understood the utility of storing your precious images you had taken at these places with your expertise. Remember the precious moments you had spent with your loved ones at the Miami Beach or are when someone stole your clothes near the beach when you were busy taking the photograph of your loved one. You had to return to your hotel with just one cloth.
But who cares for the cloths when you have captured your precious moments at the Miami Beach. But one thing most of the people face is regarding storing tons of photographs. If you’re a destination wedding photographer or are a famous Orlando wedding photograph or just start taking picture of your new baby, storing images on your computer is the most vital task. They say is not “if” but “when” your Hard Driver will crash … The other day when we were gossiping I suggested my colleague the renowned Orlando portraits photographer to use “Drobo”. Made by Data Robotics, the Drobo has revolutionized the way a person store his/her data. I have been using Drobo for the last three years and found it a great reliable product to bank upon. I give to this company at list 25 new costumer until now so if Data Robotics is reading this … ( wink..wink CAPISH?) just for clarify I’m NOT receiving any endorsement or sponsorship from this company … I do this because I believe in viral marketing and also because I’m a happy costumer of Data Robotics!!! For me It works better than RAID. It not only give your data a shield against hard drive failures but it works more like an enclosure in which 2 to 4 SATA hard drives of any size or brand can be kept along with the multiple copies of your important files.
It is its competence to endure drive failures and use any SATA hard drives that makes it both amazing and exceptional for a consumer product
“Did you know that there’s a greater limit of 2 TB on a single USB volume, if the Drobo’s storage capacity exceeds that limit, your computer will in that case see two Drobo volumes”, I just got a call from one of my colleague who had just returned from Mexico and Bahamas from an assignment and I guided him via phone with the installation of his new Drobo Unit with intel mac-mini, believe me it was like a child’s play, in fact after installing the two drives and plugging it perfectly Drobo will automatically starts formatting. As Drobo has the capability to store backup of DVD collection and is the number one product in preserving the integrity of the DVD disks Drobo has now become an essential part of the home entertainment system.

What I like about Drobo is it has a killer looks, just like a great Camera body or that new lens that you just need to have, its size can expand as your storage needs grow up, it is easy to use and has almost unlimited data storage, Its data redundancy ensures availability, even if up to 2 hard drives fail.
Physically, the looks of Drobo will almost give a desktop PC or a new mac book pro a run for the money. I have now turned out to be a fan of Drobo’s black, glossy ends (front and back) are in reality stunning. Its decorated indicators and a lineup of ten LEDs along the bottom will give a clue of the consumption of its total capacity. However, if you come across a flashing red light it means a drive failure, it is time to pull failed drive out and put a new one. No more hassles. just pull the old one and insert the new one! this make buy storage more affordable, because at any time you found a cheep and bigger hard drive you can pull the smaller and put the new and big storage unit, so just look for the HD on sale

As Drobo works almost like an external storage device It looks and behave as a typical hard disk which can however be retrieved and formatted from the Disk Management Screen. The elegant part of Drobo is that it showcases all the storage as a single virtual pool - the more disks you append, the bigger it gets. Upgrading storage is painless, as you have to remove the smallest drive and insert a larger one leaving the Drobo to restructure the pool. Most of my colleagues at various locations who are using Drobo informed me that they have found their storage solution with the Drobo in few words the Drobo is the perfect HARD DRIVE back up for Photographers. It not only offers the data redundancy but has the capacity to stock up over 36,000 photos alive and well maintained. The good part of it is that it works on both Mac and PC. It is unquestionably a value for money product. One thing is sure, that it will grow with me as my data storage requirements get bigger. For more info or for the Drob0 web site click HERE

Live this moment, this moment is your life …

STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHY The Business Behind the Image

STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHY did an Article to our studio and the interview was published on the NATIONAL MAGAZINE STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHY.

from Martha Blanchfield

Studio Photography is our magazine for professional photographers. Studio Photography is sent to 50,000 qualified professional photographers in all segments of the photography market, with over 87% listed as studio owners. The editorial focus on business practices, marketing strategies, technique and workflow, and products and services offers the reader vital business information needed to stay competitive in today's challenging market.

The WOW Factor

Domenico Castaldo adds Italian flavor to weddings

Italy-the land of golden colors, sumptuous foods, and vibrant culture. A place where romance flows and lively conversations occur on a balcony or street corner, or over a cappuccino. Take a native born in Salerno and transplant him to Orlando, Florida. Give him a camera, a bride, and one afternoon. Watch him spin an experience that goes far beyond a few wedding albums and framed mantle pieces.

Domenico Castaldo is that man. In the past five years as a wedding photographer here in the United States, Castaldo has delighted in making love to his brides through the camera. He's created colorful, dreamy images that trump much of the work produced by his local competition. Brides love him, grooms want to be him-well, maybe that's exaggerating things a bit, but you get the idea.

Young Man With a Camera

At an early age Castaldo was snapping shots around his home using a small camera. He found fashion to be a popular subject, as well as random shoots of, and with, friends. His professional break came in the form of holding the flash for peers who had committed their careers to photography. After many years traipsing through Europe with his camera in hand, he fell in love with wife-to-be Cecily. In 1999 they moved to Orlando, Florida. Why Florida? "We love Florida with its unpredictable, energy-giving warm weather," he explains. "We also saw a good opportunity for a new business." In 2001, Castaldo fell in love with wedding photography.

For Castaldo, weddings offer a sense of wonder. "I love people," he says. "Photographing a wedding is awesome. I enjoy talking with the couple and learning about their lives. I want to give them the best images possible, but I want to also give them an experience they will remember. Brides spend so much time picking colors and themes and agonizing over the smallest details. They deserve to have this recorded in their photos. I want to take them back to the moment so they can see and feel the memories."

The magic ingredient for Castaldo is the word "experience." In all that he does, he strives to create or re-create an experience. He chuckles when revealing a secret tool in his studio-the La-Z-Boy recliner. "When the bride and groom come to view their images for the first time, I give them another experience to remember," he says. "I start with glowing candles to set the moment they see their first wedding image projected on the screening wall. This continues to the glass of wine, but what seals the deal is the plush La-Z-Boy." Inevitably, the groom kicks back and may even take a catnap as the images are projected. No worries-charming Castaldo gains a bit more quality time to talk business with the blushing bride.

Experience in Motion and Still

Domenico Castaldo & Associates offers videography and photography, plus framing. Aside from Castaldo and Cecily, the team includes a full-time assistant (Johnny), a part-time video editor, a part-time photo editor, and a freelance shooter (Bruce). They cover roughly 40 events per year, with the majority of work done locally. The studio is digital; the team ports a bevy of Canon cameras and a range of lenses from 28-70 f/2.8 to 85 f/1.2 in their bags. Domenico Castaldo & Associates also handles portrait, senior, and baby photography.

Castaldo reveals that a hot new purchase for the studio is a Drobo storage system. The Drobo automatically handles initial data and image backup, and the staff follows with additional archiving and storage by batch-burning images onto DVD. Since Castaldo strives to constantly provide the best experience in all aspects of his business, no image leaves the studio or is seen by the client without first being edited. The 2,000 wedding shots are narrowed down to about 700, and the team uses Lightroom, Photoshop, Kubota actions, and Nik software to touch up. An album predesign using Pictage is produced-this is what the bride and groom view when they come for cocktails.

"A bit of extra work up front pays off," says Castaldo. "We want the images to be stunning, but realistic. We don't do 'fantasy' touchups. It's our job to catch the emotion and the moment. We want the couple to relive the day each time they open their album-and to reveal little moments they did not see, but can feel. We want to keep the 'wow' factor going."

Presentation continues along that same path with the final presentation of the album. "The couple comes back to the studio, and we have their albums placed in the glow of a spotlight on the mantel," says Castaldo. "They look at their photos and the albums. And as we have done all along, we again ask if everything is to their satisfaction. We've learned that by asking for opinions start to finish, the studio can save a lot of time redoing or adjusting things that could have been taken care of earlier-for example, a slight edit or inclusion of a photo that we missed."

With a final touch of flair and showmanship, the albums are gingerly placed in exquisite packaging for the ride home. Castaldo prefers albums from Graphistudio, Renaissance (including the Album X product), Arista Albums, and Adesso Albums for guest sign-in books.

Will Work At Wedding Fairs

For a majority of wedding photographers, the wedding fair is not much more than a circus full of young women and their mothers spending the afternoon together noshing on free appetizers and sampling champagne. Not so for Castaldo-his love of people keeps him entertained at these events, and he often scoops up several new leads that turn into customers. If he's not talking with brides, he's networking with other vendors. He's a firm believer of dinner and drinks with peers, clients, and potential clients. He also stays connected through industry trade associations and community organizations.

He's also a firm believer in education, so popping for a signature Denis Reggie training session in Atlanta is not out of the question. "Photographers like Reggie are masters," he says. "The value of what you learn and take with you easily surpasses the cost."

Castaldo presses marketing and networking into all aspects of work. "In this business, you are part marketer, part photographer, and part lawyer," he quips. But he doesn't act alone: "I really must give a lot of credit to Cecily; she keeps the business on track."

He comments on a recent foray producing Photoshop training DVDs. "I love to learn and want to know how others produce certain looks and effects in their images," he says. "So I really started delving into Photoshop. Peers and friends were asking how I created certain looks, so I made a DVD and started giving it away. Cecily decided we needed to sell these instead of give them away!"

Castaldo toasts customer evangelism as a surefire way to super-charge a business. "Most studios can derive more business from existing clients and customer referrals than spending time and money marketing to unseen targets," he says. "Take a look at the book Creating Customer Evangelists by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba. There's no substitute for free and positive word-of-mouth promotion." For more images, go to www.castaldostudio.com.

Domenico Castaldo's Gear Box

Cameras
Canon EOS-ID Mark III
Canon 5D
Canon 40D

Lenses
28-70mm f/2.8
70-200mm f/2.8
16-35mm f/2.8
100mm Macro f/2.8
50mm f/1.4
85mm f/1.2

Lighting
Photogenic PowerLight 1250
Quantum Q flashes
PocketWizard

Accessories
Manfrotto tripod
Lowepro bags
Think Tank Airport Security bag

Computers
Two Mac G5 computers in the office
17-inch MacBook Pro
Apple Mac mini
Apple iPhone

Printers
Epson Stylus Pro 4800

Original Post: HERE

Debra HeadShots

Deseree Boudoir session

Our Clients' confidentiality is very important to us. DESEREE granted authorization to publish these photos