Back Up Lite

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Backing  up here, folks. Clear the pathway. Driver can't see all the corners.

Or alternately, clap an Eye-Fi card into your camera and do it easily. These are the SD cards that have the little wireless thing in them that can talk to your PC or Mac. You get the complete setup in the box - 4 or 8Gb card with the WiFi built in, software for Windows or OS X, Eye-Fi app for iOS and Android, a USB card reader, and a setup guide.

You shoot into the card and then you can wirelessly save it into your smartphone,tablet, or computer. Then you can send it effortlessly to Facebook,YouTube, Picasa, or Mobile Me. Then you can lose all control of it and watch in horror as it appears on everybody's website all over the world. The best you can hope for is that they spell your name wrong - in reality they will not only get it right, but will be able to link it into your telephone account, your school record, and your bookie's little black notebook. If that doesn't act as a spur to privacy and  moral behaviour I don't know what will.

It's not that bad. Now you can do studio shoots and keep the card in the camera rather than constantly breaking down the thing to connect to the laptop. You no longer have to search through 4 desk drawers to find the computer cable. One less thing to leave in a hotel room somewhere.

And as the title of this essay suggests, this is a good incentive to back up that card as you go. If you are really paranoid, back it up to several different devices.