Mary Ann's Photo Gallery and Tips

Somewhere along the line I lost hundreds of photos.  After I installed the new version of Lightroom 2, I decided to use it for the photos that I wanted to keep only. These were mostly for my entries in the La Crosse Camera Club or because they were good family, nature, and about 20 other keyword categories which I may use in the future. 

After I did my fair photos I went back to start working on something else and discovered there was a ? in the corner of the thumbnail in the library in Lightroom.  When I clicked on it the message told me that the photo could not be found any where in my computer.  WHERE AND WHY DID THIS HAPPEN?  I started looking and hundreds of photos of our trip to Kansas City this summer, a nature trip to Trempeleau, and some awesome Scarlet Tanager photos from Black River Falls.........all gone.

I didn"t know how this could happen so I called Tom Donovan who was my instructor at WTC in Lightroom and he explained another student had this same problem.  When I imported the photos into Lightroom 2 apparently there is a selection to copy or to move.  I must have chosen the wrong one and then when I went back, even though I could see each and every photo...it was only a thumbnail and no copy actually exists. 

Now in my right mind I can"t even imagine why Lightroom would have this option in Import.  In the meantime, I am still without my photos...until I remembered a little disk that accompanied a new Scan Disk I purchased.  It is called RecuePro by Scan Disk.  Oh, I didn"t tell you the worst part yet...I had formatted all my memory cards when I put them back into my camera.

This software is able to retrieve all the photos that you did not shoot over even though it was formatted.  The good news is that I now have recaptured most of my lost photos...anyway the ones I mentioned above and have copied them to a DVD to have an additional backup copy. 

So if you want to learn a lesson from me:

Always:  back up you photos onto a CD or DVD immediately before you look at them.  Patience is a virtue!

Always:  if you use  Lightroom make sure you are importing them correctly and not just getting a thumbnail. 

I will post another Orton effect that I recently did so that you can view a photo with this blog.  The other photo is of an early morning fog in the Coulees around La Crosse.  Yes, you have to get up early to capture this type of beautiful landscape but it is so worth it.

Enjoy!  Mary Ann