Here are 20 quick and necessary tips to introduce how to keep the photography business running and up-to-date in an era of rapid technology.
20 ways to provide technical support for your photography business
Hardware
- Consider changing the company's computer every few years. Macs are more expensive because they can hold longer value and often have a longer shelf life than PCs, allowing you to survive longer without having to replace devices. If you are doing business and relying on your computer, don't postpone it until something breaks or becomes so sluggish that it affects your productivity. If you can’t afford to buy directly or view used higher quality machines that may be 1-2 years old, consider renting.
- stay away from cheap memory cards in the camera. Go for reliability and speed by choosing well-known brands like SanDisk or Reksha , even if they are slightly more expensive. There is a reason they have earned their reputation: lower failure rates and faster data transfers.
3. For computers, please try to set a maximum budget. It is crucial to buy the best computer you can afford when you buy. People are often lured to buy specific bargains on the street or through the internet, depending on the inventory of salespeople a lot of times. Get some experts’ help and do your homework to determine what you need, not just a job like you are now, but a few years from now.
4. If you connect your NAS (network attached storage) device to the outside world and use it frequently, it is highly recommended to use UPS (uninterruptible power supply). If the power is outage, uninterruptible power supply will remain powered for a short time, but it can also keep your router, switch and Wi-Fi (if connected to it) powered. If these devices are not plugged in, you won't be able to access it remotely from outside the house when you are not there. APC is a good brand to consider when purchasing.
5. Calibration, calibration, calibration. If you are using two different brands of screens and want them to be accurate to each other, calibrate them with devices like The Colorchecker by Calibrite. Remember that if you print with different paper types at home, you can also calibrate paper (basically this means discarding a few sheets to save the ICC profile and remember to keep the calibration device on and measure ambient light for consistent data collection near the screen). This ensures that artists, clients, other photographers and art editors are more likely to view photos with accurate colors as expected.
6. Editing is a process that requires time and energy. If you are editing your own work, I recommend checking out the Loupedeck series of tools to help increase your speed and efficiency. The CT model is particularly good! Give it some time and learn the system so you can work faster in the future and program it to have only features and buttons within your fingertips. There are many templates for well-known applications that can be customized to your specific workflow.
software
7. If you want the latest version of MacOS not to be damaged, do not put it in your company's computer. Always turn one version one later than the latest version. In fact, I don't recommend you upgrade your operating system unless there are features you can't use on the new version. Currently, Monterey is the best version I can recommend because it is the most stable, version 12.6.1 is the latest version). Ventura has received its first update and performs better than the first day version, but there are still some issues with devices connected to it, and with major changes in system preferences, it may not be for everyone.
8. Make sure that the latest updates are installed on the operating system you are using. Apple and Microsoft respond quickly to issues affecting their platform, so any patch or update release usually has a solid reason.
9. If you are using Creative Cloud from Adobe, then making sure it is set to run when your PC or Mac is started is a must, saving time.This will take up a small amount of resources, but it will let you know when new versions of the app will make critical updates to programs you use frequently.
10. For example, if you need to install files on your desktop when you leave the office, consider setting up remote software to access your computer at home. I use Teamviewer (there is a free version), although other excellent alternatives include Chrome Remote Desktop and Real VNC.
11. Run disk cleanup on your PC every few weeks. Use the Clean System Files option and select all boxes. This will organize your computer by removing old temporary and unnecessary files, making it run faster. Remember that fewer files mean faster OS boot.
12. "Disk Utility" on your Mac computer can be found by going to "Applications", then to "Utilities", and finally to "Disk Utility". Running first aid on your primary and data drives every few months will keep them in the best condition and fix any permission issues that may occur. To do this, click the drive on the left side of the page and click "First Aid " in the top bar.
13. The CRM system is an excellent way to keep your business organized and perform time-consuming tasks automatically. I've been using light blue for a few years; it's easy to use, helps me master the workload and reminds me to perform tasks and automatically sends emails and text messages to clients.
14. In low light shooting (we are all forced to do this!), check out the noise canceling software instead of trying to use the tools in Lightroom or Photoshop. Topaz denoising is probably one of the best on the market, and it is reasonably priced to buy and works very well in most cases.
Backup
15. If you can afford it, a multi-drive-based RAID NAS system is your best choice. Look for configurations that support multiple RAID configurations, including RAID 1 and 5. RAID 1 will almost certainly be cheaper, as it uses fewer disks and still provides a good level of protection. Synology provides a good fence for creatives. Both the DS1821+ and the DS1522 are good choices because they store data on multiple drives so you get better redundancy and faster access while allowing applications that run on your phone outside of your home.
16. At some point, you need a valid editing drive. It's not a good idea to store any pictures on your computer's internal drive, so ideally look for an SSD drive with higher storage capacity so you can delete and modify photos faster. Do not erase images on the camera memory card until you fully edit the image and move it from the working hard drive to the NAS or other auxiliary backup storage. The LaCie Rugged SSD Pro is very fast, but it only has USB-C, not USB-3 backward compatible, which means you can't use adapter to implement functionality.
17. If you can afford it and don't want to waste time waiting for the NAS array to rebuild after the drive failure, carry your spare internal NAS drive with you in case of problems. When you have a hard drive on hand, rebuilding your NAS is much faster than ordering a replacement before installing. Check out WD RED and Seagate Ironwolf and select a hard drive that is at least as big as the largest hard drive in the array.
18. There is a separate time machine (Mac) or Windows backup that only backs up the operating system so that if your computer crashes, all the work you did on your computer is saved in the latest state. Recovering from a Time Machine Backup on your Mac is much faster than erasing and restoring everything and reinstalling every program you have ever installed.
location
19. If you want to sell prints after shooting, event, or any other situation, please first set the gallery location on your website and create a QR code pointing to the URL for the event. Print it out and hang it where people can see it. Often, it’s easier to give them a guide to a gallery in advance than to try to contact individuals afterwards and provide them with links.
20. If you are leaving your home for a long time, it is crucial to back up photos with Lacie BOSS or similar systems. Systems like Lacie BOSS let you save copies of memory cards on site, save them directly to internal drives, and view them using the apps downloaded to your phone, so if something bad happens, your photos will be safe on the extra drive. SSD can also be directly connected to the computer for easy editing.
