Brian

A low-end gaming laptop. Just like a desktop. I5 or i7 CPU 8GB RAM at a Minimum 16 GB Preferred. A 1TB HD This is the kicker: A separate and dedicated video card with its own memory. Adobe's products are using the Graphics Processor for a performance boost. So integrated video is not what you want these days. Most of these type of laptops are around the $1200 mark, give or take.

I still do not recommend using a laptop for photo-editing. Because that laptop and it's high price-tag will be "Too Slow" in about 2-3 years. There are two major components, a IPS based screen, and enough horsepower to run Photoshop and store photos and a dedicated video card with its own video memory. Just like a desktop. Since it's portable, the price is higher. You are paying for convenience. You could get a decent desktop for 1/3 of the price.

Since there aren't a whole lotta threads in Ask Brian 2.0, it's easy to find stuff. Just look for the laptops threads. You'll see them.

A friend of mine (non-photographer) just got a ASUS ROG Laptop. It is a SWEET LAPTOP with a GORGEOUS DISPLAY. I think Damien has one himself. If I were to buy a laptop, that'd be the one I'd get.

Here, buy this laptop. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1183445-REG/asus_g752vt_dh72_i7_6700hq_16gb_1tb_128_windows_10_64_970m_17_3.html Seriously, take a look at the specs. That's what you want. While you are at it, buy one of these: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/650472-REG/Acratech_6005R_Viewing_Angle_Gauge_Red.html

Yeah, it's in my head. I haven't written it down. Some members have paid me to log into their Macs and do things for them. I have been toying around with a "Macintosh Class" for awhile. We could also network the two Macs together, but that's a whole process and one I'm not willing to tell you how to do for free. It's techy-nerd-type-stuff. We are going to create a new one. I know you don't want to hear it, but instead of trying to link every single file and folder, all 140,000 of them, it's just faster and easier to create a new catalog. Do you really want LR to find 140,000 files? Because it's not going to do it on its own, you are gonna have to click them. That would take hours, possibly a week or two. Honestly, it's just better to start fresh and import the photos that you want / need. It already sounds like you have a data-management process / file-structure in place, so we will stick with that. If you caved in and used Bridge, as Damien recommends, this whole thing would be a non-issue. Hell to the NO!! See above.

I actually use LR, but am slowly moving away from it. Damien is persistent. I agree 110%. Large LR catalogs have a habit of corrupting, randomly. So that photographer that hasn't had one problem with a million photos in his LR catalog will convince you that there isn't a problem and just go ahead and do it. Which in my opinion, is like playing roulette. I have personally never transferred large amounts photos in LR, I've always done this outside of LR. Too risky. LR catalogs have enough problems as it is. So since you are asking me, I would do this outside of LR. The downside is LR gets really cranky when it can't find things. OMG does it b-i-t-c-h. Honestly, do you really need all of those photos in LR? Think about it. After you delivered the photos to the client from 3+ years ago, are you seriously going to dive back in and re-edit them? Most of the time, you will have your latest sessions and maybe your "Greatest HIts" photos. The others just sit there, just taking up space. What you should do is turn on the EHD icons on your desktop, and that's in the Finder Preferences Menu. Right now I'm on my Work's laptop, so I can't do screen shots. I will post them later. Basically what you want to do is COPY the photos from one HD to the other. You NEVER-EVER-EVER want to MOVE the photos. The reason is, when you move files and folders, you are deleting the photos from the source folder as it copies them. If something happens and there is a glitch during the data transfer, there is a very good possibility that the photos will go "Poof," which is bad and causes tears. When you copy, you aren't deleting anything, as the source files remain intact. If something screws up, you can cancel the data transfer and start all over again. I myself used to be one of those guys that always moved files. What could happen? I'm a computer guy, I know what I'm doing!!! LOL!! Ummm....yeah. I ate Crow, not sure if it tasted more like Chicken or Turkey. I hadn't had a single problem in 20+ years...until that one data move cost a customer 100 non-replaceable files. (Which turned out to be corrupted .pdf files on the destop, but we didn't know that until we tried to transfer things.) Learned my lesson on that one. OK, before we start moving anything, let's get that WD drive setup as a RAID 1 and make sure things are happy. THEN we will start dorking around with your photos. Sound Good? But to answer your question, yes...you are correct. We will do a mass copy to the new EHD then load LR on your new iMac (You can have two licensed copies running with Adobe's products.) When the LR is installed and the photos are transferred, we can re-import things. I'm also sure there are presets and other stuff to move over. This whole process is a bit of a pain, and is tedious. This stuff isn't fun, but it is a way to start over fresh. I would also download the latest LR CC 2015 and PS CC 2015. El Capitan has known issues with Adobe's products, and the LR / PS CC 2015 versions have the greatest chance of being updated to fix bugs.

Good point!! Comfy Chair is a requirement. You want your arse to feel as though it's being coddled by angels. Those type of chairs aren't cheap. Minimum $500.

Another thought... Say your husband is fast and edits 30-50 photos per hour. Ok. Then we are talking money. Quicker turn-around means higher profit. But then since he is a newbie, it's really easy to become sloppy. Especially when chasing the dollar. My advice: He should take Damien's classes and edit your shoots. Start there. Eventually he will "know" when to branch out to others...probably in about 2+ years.

I can tell you that looking at the same person in a few hundred photos becomes mind-numbing. I don't care how beautiful the person might be, cloning out that wart on her eyelid in each photo...ugh. Or smoothing skin / zapping zits / looking at pores sometimes turns my stomach, especially if you are editing something like a wedding. I personally hope that strapless gowns go out of style. Because having to liquify fat rolls and armpits on a bride 500+ times...oh let's not go there. Most people aren't beautiful. They are average looking and never think to have their makeup professionally done. "My Sister / Cousin Friend will do it!! She's watched a lot of YouTube videos and is passionate!!" Uh-huh. Good luck with fixing those mistakes / spray on tan in each and every photo. Think long and hard before diving into the trenches of retouch-up work.

It would be in both of your interests for him to take all of Damien's classes, then spend time on editing (and learning how to edit) your photos. Being consistent and proficient takes time and experience, often years. While Damien's classes are excellent, by no means will you take them and be an instant expert, taking on editing, restoration work and the like. Basically if you have to ask...chances are the answer is "No." There are no shortcuts. I don't care what website or workshop giver tells you. Damien has been doing this stuff for a long time, I think 20+ years. Yes, there is a market, but it's an investment of time. Even if you edit a photo for 3-5 min, after a few hundred / few thousand photos, that time adds up. Let's say 4 minutes per photo... that's 15 photos per hour @ $1.00 a photo. So $15.00 per hour. You have 600 photos from a wedding to edit. That's 40 hours at $15/hr, or $600. $600 for 40 hours of work. You can make more working a part time job. LOL! Oh, let's not forget taxes and things like equipment to buy and electric / internet bills to pay for. So take 40% out of that $600. So you are left with $360, conversationally speaking. Now take into consideration that photo edit / restoration work is piece-work. There will be times when you are overwhelmed and other times you are dead. Combine this with a full time job and it becomes a major time-suck. But wait! I will charge $3 per photo!! I will make more!! Uh-huh. Tell that to the photographer who charges $2000 for a wedding that you want $1800 to edit. They will look at you as if you are nuts. Oh, the more profit you make, the more you pay in taxes.

RTFM. I gave you page numbers in my comment above. But I really think it's the stupid BBF that's tripping you up. We also need to check to see if you are on Focus Priority.

Stop with the blasted back-button focusing!!! It is not the end all and be all technique that it's made out to be!!! It really only works if you shut off the shutter release button from focusing. Honestly, start using the shutter button to focus. Learn good technique. Yes, I know of all the blog posts and forums that claim it's the most Amazeballz thing you can do to nail focus and blah-blah-blah. The truth is, it works for some, but not all. AF-C is meant to continually focus when the shutter button is pressed half way. You really should be on AF-S (Single) when you BBF. If your subject moves, your focus will be off. If you are BBF and recomposing, you will have a few inches for your head to move, or else your subject will be out of focus. If you have the shutter button's ability to focus turned off and you only have a rear button allowing your camera to focus, then it will only focus when you press the rear button. Which for me will be a pain, literally. As I would likely poke myself in the eye. In addition, you need to set your Focus menu setting to "Focus Priority" instead of the default "Release Priority." When you set the camera to Focus Priority, it will only take a photo that the camera thinks that it's in focus. Release means it snaps the photo regardless. So let's start using the shutter button going forward, just to see what happens.

Now what's the difference between the "Business" and "Consumer" XPS 8900? State-side support if you live in the US. When you call Dell for help with the consumer models, you get "Bob," "Abraham," or "Judy" in India or Pakistan. With the business edition, you get "Joe from Kansas" or where-ever Dell US Support is. I like the 8900 because it doesn't come with a whole lot of crapware / bloatware. It's a straight forward computer. If someone comes across this thread and hates Dell, that's fine. Choose a different brand with the specs that I listed in the above comment box.

If you are an "Official" or "On-the-Books" business, then I'd get this Dell: http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/xps-8900-desktop/pd?oc=cax8900w7ph1057&model_id=xps-8900-desktop If you are a hobbyist, then the Dell XPS 8900: http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/xps-8900-desktop/pd?oc=cax8900w7ph1057&model_id=xps-8900-desktop What you are looking for is: i5 or i7 CPU 8GB RAM at a Minimum / 16GB RAM Preferred 1TB HD at a Minimum / 2TB or larger Preferred Dedicated Video Card with its own Video Memory. 2GB or 4GB of Video Memory is fine. Windows 7 Pro 64-bit at a Minimum. DO NOT get a Windows 7 "Home" edition, as it caps out at 16GB of RAM. You need the "Pro" version to go higher, i.e. 32GB of RAM. Windows 10 is "fine" at this point, as long as it comes with a new computer. Most of the issues that people have are ones that have upgraded from Windows 7 or 8. With brand new computers, the upgrade path to Windows 10 is easier. As for which one, Windows 10 Home Edition or Windows 10 Pro, I would always recommend going the "Pro" edition. But it's not a deal breaker if the computer comes with Windows 10 Home.

You are fine. Plenty of space on both drives. Bridge has a cache for the same reasons as your web browser does, when there is a lack of RAM, it looks to the HD to supplement which helps with performance and stability.

If you feel like spending $999, go ahead. Basically, the Thunderbolt Display is 1/4 of a whole Mac. You provide the CPU, HD, etc. For $700 more, you can get a whole new iMac, that has a faster CPU, faster graphics, larger and faster HD. You are paying a premium for convenience. Your MacBook will hook up just fine to it and Apple provides a cable to hook your MBP easily.

BUY IT!

Oh I know what that is. Mac has an equivalent called a Fusion Drive. Just get the one without it.

Do not fall for the marketing tech-speak. Don't spend an extra $120 on the "Special Edition." Do not spend a $120 on a 32GB SSD drive. You can always add a SSD drive at a later date.

Here, I'm gonna make this easy. If you are a legit on-the-books photography business, then buy this Business Edition Dell 8900: http://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/productdetails/xps-8900-desktop/cax8900w7ph1057 If you are a hobbyist, and can't buy the biz-edition, find the consumer version and try to match all of the tech-specs.

Neither. A Solid State Drive is like a bunch of CF cards all put together in a device that looks like a HD. The benefit to them is speed. Windows 10 can boot up fully in as little as 15 seconds. Now before you go buying stuff, in this case I WOULD NOT BUY EITHER. 256 for a main drive is microscopic by today's standards, let alone 32GB for a SSD drive!!! Please promise me you'll look for at least a 1TB HD and you'll post a screen shot of what you are going to buy before buying it. Pretty Please??

EHD on the left is the G-Drive. EHD on the right is the TM Drive. (Self-Built, has a WD Caviar Black 1TB 7200 RPM drive in a case.)

My Humble 2009 iMac:

If you are getting a new Mac, I'd use the Thunderbolt port. The nice part with that G-Drive is that it has a Thunderbolt Port AND a USB 3.0 port. I don't edit photos on a laptop. I have a Mac Desktop. My TM drive is always connected, but not always power it on. I'm more on my iPhone than computer these days. But to answer your question, you could hook up your laptop nightly for a TM backup. Of course, the benefit to TM, is if you screw up and delete something, you have a better chance of getting it back, as long as it's in the TM backup That said, nightly is fine. Hell, I go months, but I'm not shooting a bunch of sessions every week either. I do have a second HD that I clone the main drive, but it's not a G-Drive. It's just a EHD that I built myself with a old 2TB HD that I had. I just clone my photos to it. Document files, the little I have, get backed up to Dropbox. Honestly, I've been 2nd shooting lately and really haven't had my own gig in the last year or so. In fact, I'm almost ready to end this whole "Pro-Photography" thing. Don't have time for it with a day job. So I'm not the best example with how to do things. Asking me what *I* do might cause you serious issues. LMAO. But I accept if things go horribly wrong it's my own fault. I'm not going to go to a group and beg for help if something bad does happen. Now, when I do have gigs, I'm a little more paranoid. Cards get pulled out of rotation and images are copied from them, never moved. I don't reformat and use my CF cards until my Wedding / Gig is delivered to the client. The 2nd HD is used more, etc. Having multiple copies of files with at least one off-site backup is a good thing. Producing ACTUAL PRINTS is also another way to "backup."