CREATIVE RESOURCES

.
.

PLACES TO PURCHASE COMPUTER EQUIPMENT

.

COMPUTER STORES IN NY ➙

You should get discounts at most of these:

.
ONLINE ➙

.

ART SUPPLY STORES

  • Blick/Utrecht
    21 East 13th Street (bet 5th & University)
    New York City, NY 10003
    Phone: 212-924-4136

.

COMPUTER LABS

.

HARD DRIVES

When you’re working with either photography or digital video you’ll want to work with two separate drives. One will be used as your main photo/video storage drive, the second will be used as your backup drive. Drives are very inexpensive now, so you can now get a backup drive, in addition to your main drive, for the price of what one drive used to be. I have students lose work every semester and it’s unbelievably expensive to try to have files taken off a drive professionally (approx. $700-$1000). So it’s worth it to start doing this now so that you never have to do this in the future. Drives fail all the time—I, too, have learned the hard way over the years, sadly.

You do not, however, need to have two drives for use in class. You only need to have one; I’ve given you the links to some possibilities below.

I’m happy to teach you how to format a new hard drive for use on your computer so that it runs in the most stable and efficient manner, so if you buy a new hard drive or a new backup drive, don’t put anything on it just yet; I’ll go over reformatting and potentially partitioning the drive with you—just let me know the first day of class that you’d like to do that.

.

For Photography ➙

  • You’ll want one to two 1Tb or larger USB 3.0 hard drive. This is my current favorite hard drive. If you’re getting two, get one in each color so you know which is the backup, or label them using gaffer tape (black drives are almost always the least expensive).
  • If you’re clumsy or have a tendency to drop things, you’ll want something a little sturdier than that. Here’s a “rugged” hard drive that holds up to a bit more wear and tear (you still wouldn’t want to drop the drive or throw it at someone, but you get the idea).
  • If you’d like to create a seamless backup system so that you never lose anything, get one of those drives in each color and download/purchase SuperDuper! (mac) I’ll show you how to use it. SuperDuper! (or Carbon Copy Cloner, if you prefer) clones your two drives and allows you to copy only the newest files from one drive to the other
    .
    .

For Digital Video ➙

  • Bigger is always better when working with video so if you can, I’d purchase a 2TB drive, if possible.
    • My favorite 1-2Tb Firewire 800 Drives Drives made by G-Tech are great too.
    • If you’re clumsy or have a tendency to drop things, you’ll want something a little sturdier than that. Here’s a “rugged” hard drive that holds up to a bit more wear and tear (you still wouldn’t want to drop the drive or throw it at someone, but you get the idea).
    • My other favorite drives if you need something gigantic to be built for you (for my last film I used two 16Tb drives, which actually isn’t that gigantic) can be purchased through Other World Computing. Here are some sample drives (here are some that get really huge and are custom made, but aren’t unbelievably expensive, all things considered).

.
.
Media Card Readers ➙

Also mentioned really good Media card readers (some with USB/Firewire cables).

.
.

PHOTO EQUIPMENT, RENTALS, & DIGITAL PROCESSING
.

PHOTO EQUIPMENT FOR PURCHASE.➙
.

  • Adorama — For computer equipment too. You can purchase online and then pickup here as well. They also have a used department.
    42 West 18th Street, Bet 5th & 6th
    212.741.0052
    Adorama Sales | Adorama: Used Sales Department
    .
  • B&H Photo & Video —One of my favorite places to go in New York for used and new equipment (and computer equipment as well).
    420 9th Ave. at 34th St.
    New York, NY 10001
    212.444.6615
    Main Store | Used Department

.
Also mentioned links to really good but very inexpensive starter tripods. Here they are:

  • If you would like to buy an inexpensive one that works beautifully for what you’ll be doing, either of these—this or this—are lovely and surprisingly light and sturdy. They will last you longer than you’d ever expect out of such inexpensive tripods.

.

EQUIPMENT RENTALS + “MAKING” FACILITIES ➙
.

  • NYU (we’ll discuss)
    .
  • Adorama
    >> Great for cheap rentals.
    42 West 18th Street, Bet 5th & 6th
    212.741.0052
    Adorama Rentals