Honestly, I think it's for the first time that this happened to me. I was trying to browse my external HDD for photos in order to publish some and the HDD wouldn't cooperate. It said I could fix it. And I tried. And it says it's fixed now...
But the photos are gone. Everything but an old folder from last September.
Unfortunately, some photos existed only there in the original. The best of them were published and they now exist as small images on the web only. Some of them exist only here, on my blog now. The images from the 2019 Sofia Marathon, for example.
Or these close up shots of rocks and waves from my previous vacation...
A Black&White version of what I published in color before.
As a memory of the picture that was.
Photographers often like stealing the souls of things that, with time, turn to sand. Sometimes, their own photographs turn to sand (...s of time?)...
I am too tired to feel bad. Although I know somewhere deep inside I kind of...keep thinking I should.
But I also changed. Meaning, I had lots of experience as of late, related to discerning what's really important and what you can wave your hand at and dismiss. Photographers losing some of their work, big deal...
I was not proud of a single photo from that marathon.
Waves are just waves. Beautiful and unique, but they will always be there.
Selected twelve of them will always be here, on the blockchain. And me, having published them here first, still the author of those photos of them. No matter I have no "material digital" proof of authorship anymore. I have the PoB (proof of blockchain — this is a joke and not a true reading of the popular acronym).
This is also a good use case of the blockchain, isn't it? It could be. I hope it becomes such.
Some photos of my daughter are gone, too. But I think we still have the best of them. Some series were kept on another drive, although not edited. Some series are missing. But the selection of the finest moments is safe, I hope, on a flash drive somewhere, and also printed twice.
And the most fortunate thing is...
Lots of the series are still on my memory cards. I have become less organized, more Lebowski, and I don't format the memory cards that often anymore. Better lazy and lucky than...not.
And...some of that lost vacation was actually taken on my mirrorless second camera, and good material, too, so still safe on its huge memory card.
It could have been much worse.
In fact, I hurt only about the originals of these two:
Both also previously published in color in their separate posts.
In this case, some second thoughts and precautions did save my ass...although I know someday I will wake up and remember about another missing shot that I would miss.
Anyway, take care! Remember what is important.
Yours,
Manol