i don’t have the answer for your year, but i do have for my last year. so, here are the news. well, so far no news from the “doctor” where both laptop and hard drive are, i keep going there and they keep saying that they are running every program thee is in order to find or save some information, but still nothing has worked (lucky me!) and yesterday i was searching for any other possible solution on google (yes, that master of all things) and found a company here in portugal, that brought a little light to my heart and mind. after all, there was some chances! this company claimed to have 12 years of experience and in about 80% of the cases, data was recovered in less than 72h. thinking that all my work, from photos, to branding, to web-design projects, to photo sessions, to whatever i had on both hard drives, could actually be saved in such short amount of time did bring a smile to my face and hope to my heart. i almost wanted t go to bed earlier, so that the next day could come fast and maybe some good news as well!
and this morning, i couldn’t wait to call them and ask them discreetly how much such thing could cost. and let me also tell you that voices on the other side sometimes make you feel a bit fool. she sounded not portuguese and i thought “oh great!” (and this is not something against foreign people, it’s a whole different story) and after telling her the symptoms of the external hard drive to begin with, she started saying what may have caused that (whow! the woman knew what she was talking about!) and then she ended with this sentence “in these cases, data recovery may cost something between 1000€ and 1500€.”, i almost chocked silently, thanked her for the information and hung up the phone. and stood still on my desk thinking “could i spend that amount of money to get my work back?” well, the answer is a simple “no, i cannot, because i simply don’t have that amount of money!”, but if i had… would i? or would i just buy a new professional camera and start all over again… for the second time in one year?
what would you do if you were on my shoes?
Marta Costa says
I can not imagine how this must feel for you! It’s awful to everyone to loose files and documents but for someone who’s work is mainly digital is even worse. My heart is with you. I hope everything turns out ok and you could recover some of that files.
If I had the money I pay that much, but depends if all the work is “easily” replaced or not. I’ts a question of cost/benefit.
Best wishes!
twiggs says
hello marta, thank you so much for your comment! you are completely right! and i think that i’ll just start from scratch, though i would pay if i was a little bit richer :) thank you for your wishes!!!
Iro - Ivy says
oh dear. This is a very serious amount of money. I honestly cannot know what I would do if I were you.
What comes to my mind is to simply go on from where you left it and go on producing your work.
After all, what might in the end not {and then hopefully they’ll be recovered!} be working is the hard drives.
But why would you also get into more expenses by aquiring a new camera since the new one in your hands since a few months is perfectly working?
I think perhaps I would simply just go on. And do everything in my spiritual & heart power to not let the event put me down.
And if I got a bright moment {you know it happens from time to time ;)} I’d also try to figure out what the repetance of events is asking me to deal with.
I undestand your frustration. And I can’t help thinking that it could be the symbolism that also hurts you, as much as the actual practical event itself.
Your work is about you & who you are first {and all that is perfectly intact!} and then your equipment. Be happy for your working camera! It is your main means of expressing your work. So you can perfectly go on!
All the very best!
xoxoxo
twiggs says
you know my friend, i read your comment today right before going out to do some shooting! i was in need of going out and be entertained doing what i do best, taking photos and photos and wander around this city of mine1 you are right, it also hurts the symbolism, actually in two situations, a) that this is the second time that it’s happening and b) that there is a serious amount of work there saved and it might be lost for good, including memories of traveling like those three weeks in new york. but i’ll move on, how could i not move on? and as you ask, being this the second time, and this one was actually pretty unexpected, this is clearly ask me to stop being dumb and back up through several ways, not trust only on one device, because as we know, one device might fail. it’s also asking me that if i’m going to be a professional photographer i must also be professional on backing up my work, protecting it like it should be protected.
the new camera is unfortunately needed, but i can wait for a better time. but upgrading myself as a professional photographer, i do need professional equipment, but as i said, this can wait for better times and it’s not something i need to do tomorrow!
and finally your last sentence left me with a smile on my face and almost saying “yes, i can do it, i’ll do even better this time!!!”
THANK YOU so much for your kindest words of encouragement!
Sílvia Silva says
Ena pá, não sei. Acho que tudo depende do trabalho que lá tens e do que vais/ias fazer com ele. Se é histórico e sentimental, eu diria que podes esperar e para já começas de novo. Quando tiveres mais ‘disponibilidade’ voltas lá. Se esse trabalho te ia trazer ‘trabalho’ se é que me faço entender já é outro assunto. Mas antes de tudo, eu procuraria outras pessoas. Olha vou perguntar ao meu amigo Pedro, que ele está mais habituado a estas coisas:D
twiggs says
é isso tudo sílvia… para já começo de novo e começo melhor (que já comecei a fazer back up de algumas coisas que foram salvas no pc!) e depois obviamente que há coisas com um valor muito sentimental ou não fosse eu uma fotógrafa, que é o facto da fotografia/imagem ser a minha forma de expressão e mesmo as fotografias de viagem não serem apenas memórias, mas a minha visão pessoal e profissional. mas sabes… por 1500€ vou eu e o rapaz cá de casa para NY outra vez e tiro ainda mais fotos :):) mas claro, se o teu amigo Pedro tiver conselhos, estou cá para os ouvir, experimento tudo sem ter de pagar uma pequena fortuna :) obrigada e um beijinho!
Pedro says
olá!
já escrevi à Sílvia acerca do teu problema. infelizmente eu não tenho grandes sugestões. :(
há uns tempos falaram-me de um caso de uma empresa que teve de pagar bem mais que 1.500€ quando houve uma avaria geral dos discos. o meu irmão também já teve um problema semelhante, mas teve mesmo de esquecer e seguir em frente. agora realmente depende da forma como valorizas o que perdeste. se eu estivesse no teu lugar aproveitava esses 1.000€ ou 1.500€ para ir a sítios novos, ou voltar a NY, e fazer tudo de novo. é bom ter memórias, mas realmente o que dá prazer é fazer o trabalho, não é? e tu fazes muito boa fotografia. ;)
força!
twiggs says
olá pedro, obrigada pela resposta! bem me pareceu que não havia grandes hipóteses! mas é o que dizes, não tendo os 1000 ou 1500€ assim para dar pela recuperação, não dou, sigo em frente e continuo a fazer aquilo que sei fazer melhor! se os tivesse acho que cederia à tentação de ter tudo de novo aqui comigo, mas sim que era um bom dinheiro para umas viagens… olha aqui na europa era muito mais rentabilizado! e obrigada pelos elogios ao meu trabalho! :)
suzie says
How dreadful this situation is. If this happened to me, I would have no choice either, I could never get my hands on that sort of money. But I suppose the only thing to do is to just get back to work, continue to produce great things and move forward from this point. Perhaps it’s true all clouds have a silver lining and there may be some scrap of positivity to gain from “a fresh start”.
Nothing can take away from you your talents, your energy, your inspirations and your determination.
{I’m sure I’ve already told you how I worked in a particular way sculpturally for years. Then an accident left me disabled for months and after initially hitting rock bottom, I picked myself up and had to learn a new way to express myself artistically. It has turned out to be a blessing and i’ve never looked back.}
lots of love my sweet friend x
twiggs says
oh my friend, i can tell you that by now, after 4 days i’m on the silver lining already and for now i feel the strength to start over again, and all i can think of is that the amount of money asked for recovery would pay me another trip to NYC with mr twiggs and i would be able to take even more photos, so i would not pay that much…. it’s not just photos from NYC but also a lot of work from this year, but now i’ll do things the right away and already started backing up some things that got saved from the laptop that came home today! at least something was good :) and just like you i’m picking myself up and going to strive again for better work!!!! :) thank you so much for your love!!! so appreciated!!! :):)
oh and you know what? film is the best thing! those are still there in the box in the negatives and cd’s! those i never lost so far! :)
anka says
Wow, I expected to cost quite a lot from the way you started the post, but still I chocked a little. It’s difficult to say what’s best to do in such a case, but I think I would pay that amount if I was sure I can recover work as beautiful as yours. And then make a hundred copies and save them in several places…
On the other hand, all the work is in you and I think you have the strength to create even more and even better, it’s only matter to find it in you to move forward and (try to) not look back (that much).
Sending you best wishes of luck!
twiggs says
oh yes anka, i also expected a lot, but not this much! when she said that i really lost my voice for a few seconds… thanked her and hanged up the phone! like i said previously on another comment, for that money i would go to NYC again and take a lot of photos, and the rest of the work will be done again… some was actually saved in the laptop and other is still missing! and i have the strength you talk about! after 4 days i actually found it! :) thank you for your best wishes!!! ♥
MissLilly says
ohhh this is so bad!!! It would be so frustrating if the same happened to me! Well, I think the majority of your works you can actually recover from your blogs, not everything, but parts of it. It’s quite a big an amount of money, so I doubt I would do it, maybe save it for some holidays or to invest in new equipment (but I think you already do pretty amazing stuff with what you have).
It can be an opportunity to start from the scratch. I really think it’s too much, even if it’s a physical recovery of the disk, I can hardly believe why it’s so expensive. any plans in the future for data backup?
best wishes really!
twiggs says
oh miss lilly it is that expensive because they treat the disks like treasures and stuck them into cold chambers or whatever, so all that special equipment they have must be pretty expensive as well. and then of course, it all depends on your urgency in getting the data back! though i value my work a lot, and though i’ll miss my NYC photos, for that amount of money i could just go back to NYC and take the photos again and even better! so, of course, i won’t do it… i’d be crazy if i did it! and now things are being backed up online! i got some files back from the laptop which was nice to begin with… and the hard drive is still being analyzed! so for now, i already have a back up plan and some work backed up on an online cloud! but i’ll go further and also save it on another external drive and eventually some DVD’s! this way, nothing will catch me :) thank you so much!!!
Traveling Mama says
GIRL! Do I need to come over there and back things up for you? :-) I’m always looking for an excuse to come for a visit, aren’t I? Well, I don’t think many of us would pay that much, so buy yourself a new hard drive and move on… Or go to NY! :-) Or just come to Copenhagen. NYC is sooo last year! Haha! I’m being silly, but I really am sorry that you’re in this predicament. Sending big hugs!!!
twiggs says
ahahahahaha, this is by far the best way to start a morning! yes NYC is sooooo last year, europe is the thing now sister!! yeah! i know you’re sorry my friend,and so that you know i’ve started backing up just yesterday when my laptop arrived with some files recovered! so i’m there, i’m there!! :)
sara (sushi lover) says
wow, nunca pensei q custasse tanto. usa a minha dica do lightroom (se bem que te vai dar uma trabalheira do caraças) e vamos em frente! eu acho que cortava os pulsos – ou quase pronto.. ainda no outro dia uma amiga minha dizia “odeio que toda a minha vida esteja num computador” bom estávamos a falar de trabalho, ela tem vida para além da “máquina” mas é inacreditável a nossa cada vez maior dependência do computador.
Força e ainda terás muitas muitas fotos pela frente!
Beijinhos
twiggs says
dependência da máquina e acho impressionante como confiei tanto num só aparelho, mais uma vez! a sorte de ter algumas coisas no pc, por causa do LR, foi uma benção :) mas imagina… 1500€?! isso dá para tanta coisa e ao mesmo tempo, se fosse assim abastada sei que os pagaria, para ter tudo como tinha até há 5 dias atrás. e depois esquecia como se nada tivesse acontecido! mas pronto, não tenho, não tenho, não se pensa nisso! beijinhos!!!
Sheila Sim says
So sorry to hear about your files. What’s the latest news, did they manage to retrieve some of your hard disk without it costing too much money? I have just invested in a new laptop, and your blog post reminded me that I MUST make sure all my work is backed up professionally. I’d be interested to know what your reader-photographers do for back-up. Any smart ideas out there? Wishing you all the best xx
twiggs says
hello sheila, how are you? thank you for your visit! they didn’t manage to take any data from the hard drive, but from the laptop they actually saved everything that was here, though it represents maybe 15% of what i had, still, not that bad! for backup, that i started immediately, i used mediafire, with a pro plan, and i’ll get another external drive asides from using the laptop memory and maybe some dvd’s as well for some files. we never know! now i’ll be over careful! have a great day!