I have written about the “cloud” in the past. With this latest move by Adobe, they have indicated that the cloud based delivery is their only way to distribute their product. Keep in mind that this delivery method makes it so there is no physical box or documentation to create, and they can deliver updates immediately to your software that you have installed. Yes, I said, “installed”. You still install the product on your computer. Many have asked about what if their laptop can’t connect to Adobe for validation of your license (or subscription)? I have been assured by Adobe that depending on your subscription plan, you can go 30-180 days between verification with Adobe. What if you don’t want a subscription? Well, there isn’t one. The only option is paying for Photoshop with a monthly fee.

I have listened to other photographers on their feelings about this offering. The larger organizations (companies with 20 or more licenses) are really happy to get this plan and are very happy with this announcement. Their cost for all of the Adobe products have decreased and licensing has been simplified for them. With others, there has been many different opinions and issues with this update – most being upset and outraged. First and foremost is that they will be stranded without the ability to access their files if they don’t pay their license fee.  All it takes is one OS update, and everyone who has a previous version can no longer run any Adobe previous product. Oddly, this is more from Apple computer users than those running MS Windows. Several photographers have indicated that they are worried that even Lightroom will also be only available under this type of plan. There has also been a lot of misinformation.

What do I think? Funny you ask. Right now, I thing Adobe is doing what they think is best for their product. This means capturing and making those customers who are their major customers of the Adobe CS product happy. They have done this. The rest of us, we aren’t a strong revenue stream for Adobe and our comments weigh less on their policy. They do need to get paid an appropriate amount for their innovations and development of their product. From my perspective, their development costs are too high, but I am looking at this from the outside of the company and don’t know any internal information.

I have also recommended that Paint.Net and Cinepaint be used as alternate products to Photoshop for the hobbyist. No, these aren’t Photoshop. Cinepaint won’t run on Windows. But, they are products I have used that come close. There are many others out there to choose from. Complaining about this to others won’t make anything change. Complaining to Adobe, maybe. But it won’t change it tomorrow. Make the best of the situation.

First, there is nothing worse to a photographer than having to toss an image because of “Kooky Eyes”. You know the images – the models eyes are pushed from looking so far to one direction that the model’s eyes look kooky – so much white and the iris is off center and covered. How do you avoid the kooky eye look? Simply keep your eyes mostly in front of you and in the same direction as your nose. That will keep your irises centered and looking good. Is there an exception? Of course, when is there not an exception? The exception is looking over your shoulder to your back where it is expected to have some kooky eyes, or then it looks weird.

So, where should you be looking? The first place to be looking is to your main light. Wait, what is the main light? If you are outside and in the day, the main light is usually the sun. It can be a flash or strobe in the shade. In the studio, it is more difficult, but it is usually the biggest light that is also the brightest (the less bright bigger one, if you have one, is a fill light). Wait a minute, that means if I am outside, I will be squinting into the sun. Well, yes. But the key here is to be pointing in that direction but not quite looking directly at it. We don’t want you to hurt your eyes. Even if looking in the same direction causes problems, then you can do a three count to open your eyes, then quickly close them again. Just  hope that your photographer has the quick enough reflexes to capture you while your eyes are open (most do!). In the shade and studio, you don’t have to worry about doing a count.

The next place to be looking at is your own body or a few feet just in front of it on the ground. This gives a different look and tone, and unlike closing your eyes, it won’t tense up the muscles in your face. This also is a way to show off your eye shadow work that the makeup artist did on you.

The next place is where everyone looks – directly at the camera. The key here is that you point your nose a couple of feet to the left or right of the camera lens and then look back at the camera with your eyes. This brings out the contours of your face giving it definition, unlike pointing your nose to the camera where those same lines aren’t brought out.

The final place is off to your right or left, somewhere in the distance. You don’t really need to focus on anything when you do, but key is getting your face to look in that general direction. This often provides a full profile to the photographer.

Where do your eyes point? Always the same direction as your nose or you end up with kooky eyes. Ok, but where should my nose be pointing? First, to the main light, then to your body, then to the camera, then finally to your left or right. Remember this as you pose or when you get stuck, and it will help the shoot go a lot smoother.

The first thing that usually goes through your head when you, yourself, are a subject is “OMG!” and then having to lose weight and finding the right clothes and maybe even getting your hair cut. I look horrible and why would anyone want my image captured? What do they see in me? These are the physical reasons why you don’t want to get an image taken. Everyone goes through this to some extent. The easiest thing to do is just push through this. Either you do or you don’t. As a photographer, always encourage your subject.

The next thing is making time – when will I fit it in. How will I get it done. Will I be late? Or, will I be super early? Again, in many cases, this is anxiety about having your image shot. Some people will avoid scheduling as a way to get out of the session. Others avoid showing up – and flake on the shoot. Some people are just super are just super vigilant about being on time. I usually ask people to be there 15 minutes early. More than a half hour or being late indicates there may be a problem. It could even be misjudging time it takes to get from point a to point b. It could be something else. Talk with your subject and know this is going on in their mind.

Ok, you are there and about to take pictures. Clothing and styling has been done. What do I do with my face? Hands? Feet? Again, short of being a model, many people have this problem. Even I had to borrow a few minutes to figure out which muscles did what for expressions. Everyone will feel awkward unless if they are in front of a camera frequently.  Guide your subject through poses and lean how to hide flaws through posing. Oops! Didn’t mean to do that. What? You want me to do what? You get to see some of the communication problems you encounter from the other side of the camera – why some things work in giving directions, and others that do not. Depending on the images taken, you can also be sore after the shoot from being a model.

The biggest value in getting in front of a camera is to realize what it is like for others to get in front of your camera. What are they experiencing? What makes it better for them? Learn from this experience.

One of the things that my recent photographer was surprised at was how the images captured make an interesting stop motion video, sort of like a cartoon. Part of this is because I push models to learn this technique – change only one thing in each click of the shutter and move through posing like you are acting. So, even with you on the other side of the camera, the photographer may learn something from you, too.

Agents are people who help facilitate you being a model. You don’t work for them as a model. Instead, you are your own business. You are still expected to get modeling jobs on your own. You still need to do go sees and test shoots with people in order to be recognized and to learn modeling. They will often place additional requirements, check out the people who you work, and protect your image for the industry. But, they will not usually pay your way until you start making money for them. Remember, they get paid off commissions from the paid work you do. They make nothing off of the free work you do. They also will help you find additional work but it is still your job to find work with people yourself. An agent has access to additional people who want solid models – people with a look who know what they are doing as a model. They have to constantly be on time and very reliable. If they aren’t, the model wouldn’t be working for them. I will repeat this: as a model, you still need to find your own work and impress people with your skills as a model. An agent can’t hand work over to you on a silver platter and guarantee you constant work.

What kinds of things do models pay? Pretty much the same things that they pay if they wouldn’t be working for an agency.  These are things like education as a model, a website, social networking, comp cards, books (portfolios), headshots, and prints. In addition, you may be restricted to getting them done like the agent requires. This is more for consistency and carrying their brand which adds value to you as a model. Your book, for example, will probably be one they specify with their logo on it. You won’t be able to just go buy something that will do or choose one of the current fad albums – they will specify exactly the one you need to purchase. You should expect this. You should also expect to purchase new comp cards every 5-6 months (at the least), and replace the images on them with newer ones each time. This is just part of being a model. You also have some of the more regular items: clothing, accessories, and makeup. If you freelance, you know how these add up already.

What about the money they advance me as a model, you ask. Well, most smaller agencies don’t advance you money. Worse, if they do, that money comes at a cost called interest. You need to pay the agency for them advancing you that money. This is typically at 18 percent or higher. This adds up quickly.

Also keep in mind that you don’t get paid until the agency gets paid (usually two or three months after you do the work) and that the agency processes it. Some of your clients will pay quickly, but some take their time. As a freelance, you get paid the same day you model in most cases.

So, why do you want to work with an agency again? Don’t get me wrong here. Just know that many models who have gone the agency route have felt like they have been mistreated by the agency because they had many bad experiences. A lot of this is because the model expects the agency to do all the marketing and work for them as a model, and the model doesn’t realize that they are a business themself. Keep this in mind and know what you are getting into when you join an agency. There are advantages, but it isn’t the holy grail of modeling that many models make it out to be.

What is a creep or creeper? That is someone who makes someone feel unsafe or uncomfortable to be around. This may have ax murderer feelings associated with it, or even sexual fears. The key here is being unsafe or uncomfortable. This means that being called a creep will happen more with males than females (for some odd reason). Being a creep can occur at large gatherings to small personal interactions.

Know that you can’t determine if you aren’t a creep – that is for others to decide. You can decide to be a creep, though. It isn’t what you want but rather how others around you perceive you in those settings that you are with them. You may be trying hard to be interesting and engaging in that situation.  This simply means that it is your responsibility to not creep people out as best you are able and be aware of how others react around you. If you really don’t care, then you are a creep. Worse, no one has an obligation to tell you that you are being a creep, but they will tell others.

As a photographer, I am always looking for new models. When you find someone who works well with you, it is great. But, as a photographer, you need to taper that desire. People don’t exist for you solely to capture in images. This also means that just because a person is a model that they want to date photographers they meet. Some of the photographers I know use their status for dating, and even worse, sexual favours. And, no matter how prestigious of a photographer you are, people around you aren’t your little minions to be at your beck and call to do what ever it is that you want them to do.  Some of the things I have seen happen in real life: always changing the conversation to sexual innuendos, propositioning people, being desperate, publicly sulking because you didn’t get your way, and getting really upset and loud when people try to get away from you. Remember, you are there to socialize, network, and be friendly in almost every social setting.  Learn something about those people who you are there with you.

At meet and greets and social settings, don’t come up with ways to partner yourself with someone else if they don’t want to work with you. Let me rephrase this: don’t cheat the system to force someone to talk with you. As a photographer, you will hear “no” many times for a multitude of reasons. Accept this and move on. It is just a fact of life for any photographer.  This also means you don’t want to make it difficult for the person you are talking to leave. You don’t want to follow them if they leave. These are both strong signs you are creeping the people out and the only way to stop this is by escaping from you. Let them have their space – be it a city of separation or just a conversation distance that is comfortable to them. If you don’t, you will only make things worse. If you aren’t wanted to be around someone, just go away from them and leave them alone.

Finally, nothing signals creepy more than touching people inappropriately. Sure, many people hug in social settings in the US, but intentionally putting your hands on someone who doesn’t want them there is a sign of a creepy person. Put them some place sexual, and you are likely to be on the ground in pain (or maybe worse).  If you are just a “huggy” person, and if someone tells you not to touch them, then don’t. You should apologize for touching them and for making them uncomfortable, too. If you have a significant other, and you bring them to the social gathering, you shouldn’t be in someone else’s arms and lap so much that most of the people think that they aren’t your significant other.

I hope this gives a few ways that I see people being creeps as photographers in social settings.

The first thing is to know your equipment, the settings, and how to take good pictures. You don’t want to be fumbling around for the manual trying to figure something out while you have someone waiting. You also don’t want to be chimping your images or machine gun shooting in front of a model or subject. Nothing screams unprofessional more than doing either of these. You should know your equipment well enough to change settings with just a quick glance. You shouldn’t be looking at every image you shoot in front of your subject.

The next thing is to shoot to capture the feeling or emotion of the instance. With everyone out there, most will only shoot to capture the people or place… but if you can capture an image with the emotion of the instance, you now have jumped in front of everyone else. This may mean telling a story, showing a feeling, or even evoking a response from the viewer. This gives your images meanings. Several photographers create stories to go along with their images as a way to create this feeling. Don’t just take a snapshot of a car, capture something that tells you something about it… like the wings from 1967 that made it a rocket, or that coke bottle fender that made it modern and futuristic sports car or even that interesting grill on the front that took several years to become what it was. The feeling has so much more than just a snapshot of an object.

You should also pre-visualize what you want to shoot and have a solid idea of what you are capturing before you pull out your camera to capture it. For instance, I often have a chicken scratch cheat sheet with me of everything I want to capture and work to complete those images. I don’t have to stick to just those images (although, in film days, I did). The key is having some idea of what you want to shoot before you get there – once you are there isn’t the time to decide. It isn’t a simple – let’s shoot. It is knowing many of the things you want to capture before you get there to capture it. Another thing I often do is go to new locations and capture pre-shoot images prior to shooting people there. My focus is to capture lighting, things, environments, and anything special about the location. This allows me to plan out some or all of the shoot. If you don’t plan something out, you are playing the lottery of capturing something worthwhile  Planning it out prior to the shoot, you are no longer playing the lottery.

Another thing to do is to focus on the techniques to capture your image. This means playing with your equipment before anyone or anything goes in front of your equipment. This could be simple adjustment of lights and their modifiers or flags, or it can be fairly complex where you need to develop specialized equipment like something that will rear curtain sync your studio strobes. The point is that you work on the techniques to capture the images you want through practice, practice, and more practice. You will also find that stuffed animals are your best models when you do (or anything else that doesn’t move around). Always stretch your knowledge and grow - don’t become stagnant in your technique.

Finally, remember to do your own thing. You are the artist and the creator of your images. You need to forge your own path as you learn your craft. If you follow someone else’s footsteps  you will become another them. This may mean you need to ignore some criticism. It may mean going somewhere no one else has been. The key is to produce work you are happy with producing and that you have fun doing. If you don’t, you will tire and get suckered into something that you no longer have fun creating, and your creative style will disappear. Remember, you are the artist. You aren’t supposed to be like everyone else.

The one comment that I hear repetitively from them is how models are making judgements about other models with their outfits. For instance, one model complained about how another model looks heavy in one of the outfits. Another model commented that a model would be better off wearing nothing than an outfit that a designer selected for a model. Many times designers hear how the model doesn’t like something and “won’t” wear an outfit. Let’s be clear on something here: as a model, it isn’t your judgement that matters. You job in the fashion world is to just wear and sell the clothes you wear. You aren’t there to tell other models what you think, that a designer’s judgement is wrong and you won’t do something, or that other models are below you. In each of these, you are telling your employer, the fashion designer, that they are wrong and you know better. When you consider that the typical designer that has experienced this has a six figure income and been a designer for over seven years, how can you say any of these things as a model? Know that your “help” or comment that you make can be very insulting to the designer. Don’t ever get a big head and be a diva or divo and tell the designer their business. As one designer said, “One model said she didn’t like this about one outfit, she wouldn’t wear this because it looks bad on her, and that the outfit needed something else in a different way. Well, we decided we didn’t like her either, and dismissed her as a model.” Remember: as a fashion model, you are there to model the clothes that the designer feels is appropriate. If an outfit shows too much for you, let them know. Everything else is their decision. This is the fashion world. Bite your tongue no matter how much it rubs you the wrong way.

Another comment is how they have dropped several “good” models from their shows because their image no longer fits their image. They had hoped that the model would come up to their standard, but instead, they didn’t improve and in some instances, did things that detracted from their being a model. I know this has impacted several organizations that give models decent contracts for being their model. Let’s start with image: this is what you represent, how you appear, and the ‘vibe’ you give off. This includes who you are when you aren’t modeling, the past and current jobs you take, how you talk informally, and what people will assume about you when they see your face. This is all image. Once a model gets “in” with a designer they want or sometimes just as a model starting out, the model will say something like “they have to accept me for who I am, and this is me.” In reality, you have to prove who you are and keep yourself clean. They don’t care where you came from or what you have done, unless you can come up to their standard and what they want you to present for them. Speech and how you talk is a big issue: imagine presenting a $12,000 outfit at a show, and then after the show while walking around potential clients you introduce someone as “This is my old man”. In the social class that buys the outfits for $12,000, they never refer to their spouse as “my old man” but rather their “husband” or “boyfriend” or “significant other”. By saying this, you have just lowered the perceived value of that designer’s clothing and damaged their reputation with the clients in hearing range. If you are going to work with someone who sells clothing at this level, you have to be able to speak like their clients do and come up to their social level and behavior. Other areas that this is an issue are the images and comments you post on social networks – do you have images of you taken with a camera phone in a bar while you are drunk? How about posts talking about how all these “bitches” are after your “old man” or something similar. These all fit into this catagory. Another reputation killer is modeling in lingerie and doing nudes. In the fashion world, your face and form define what a designer wants you to be for them. When you show their clothes off, they often don’t want people thinking “nude” women or boudior images associating with your reputation as a someone who wears almost nothing. They want the clients looking at the outfits they are selling. Again, this type of reputation devaluates their name and brand, and lowers the worth of their clothing (not to mention is a big distraction to their clients). While this may be alright for some designers, many designers frown upon these types of images. Two designers this week refered to this as “nude of the month syndrome” and have said to me that they recognize that models see the quick money they can get from this type of modeling, but when they do this type of modeling, the model is only a flash in the pan. Why? Because, once you cross that line, you can’t take it back and undo it. The pictures will always be out there. Keep in mind this is in the “fashion” world where “perceived image” and “perceived reputation” is everything. The people who paid you to do the lingerie or nude images will only pay you long enough to get what they want for images, and will tire of you. It isn’t in the nude photographer’s best interest to keep working with the same nude model over and over unless there is demand for your images. Besides, there is always another model who will have their interest, just as you captured their interest. Once they have a few sets of you (or even while they are shooting these sets of you), they are off to the next model and the cycle continues with someone else. I am not saying you can’t make a good living as a nude model or that I am against people being nude models – I am saying that organizations and designers in fashion who do pay good money for their models have an image to protect. Doing nudes or lingerie images is a good way to eliminate your consideration or continued work with these people who do pay in the fashion industry. Yes, there are models who are in major fashion magazines who do nudes and continue to work as models, but they are the exception and not the rule. They work for people and organizations who don’t mind this reputation or who want to play off of this “appearance” for their brand. Know who your clients (designers) as a model.

I want to emphasize this: image and reputation is everything in the fashion world!

From this, I hope that I have covered what is meant about “image” and “reputation” in the fashion world. Don’t get somewhere you want to be or just close enough to almost be there, then destroy your chances of staying there by insulting the designer, or by presenting the wrong image or reputation for them. Stay vigilant and work to maintain that stellar reputation that you have. Work to constantly improve your model skills. Don’t be a diva or divo and think you know more or better than the designer for whom you work. Know what the line is that the organization or designer has for their reputation. If you cross that line, it is almost impossible to get back to the other side.

First, your actions say a lot about you. There are some models who are _always_ at a session right when I get there or shortly after. As a photographer, I am usually on set at least an hour before anyone else. I do this to clean up, get the set ready, take a stroll around to see if there might be a better location or angle to shoot, etc. But, what does that tell you about a model who is there that early and ready to go? Compare that to the model who is _always_ five to ten minutes late, who isn’t dependable to show up for a shoot, who never really pays attention once they are there, and who texts or talks on the phone even while shooting. Would you want to continue working with that model? If they were a photographer, would you want them to shoot your images? You want to be that person who is on time and ready to work.  I know I do.

Second, think about what you blog or put on social networks for statuses. While it is easy to put things like “FML” or similar with how awful life is going for a little support, if this is your professional page or you have a lot of your professional people on your page, think about what you put up before you post it. Being negative, saying you need to learn something for a session, or similar type of post doesn’t need to be posted. If you attack people or post something like “U dat B who…” aren’t appropriate for professional people and it makes you look uneducated. Think before you post something like that. If you must post something like that, restrict it to only certain people to see – specifically the people who are your close friends and not the general public. I can’t emphasize that image is everything, especially for a model.

Think about everything you do and focus on longer term goals. One of the biggest problems I see are people who are looking for short term gains without looking at the consequences of the longer term. Always keep the longer term goals in mind = and I mean goals for five years out. There are things people do that will give them short term gains and be very positive, but it locks them into more of those patterns — and in the long term, that can be very detrimental to their business or career as a model. For example, it may be one photographer is “in the rumor mill” for whatever reason, but they may be someone who you will need to work with again and again. Don’t do things that alienate or aggravate that person even more. Be polite and courteous when around that person. Other ways are doing things that will damage your reputation – getting drunk with the girls and posting images, shoplifting something, and the like. Think about your longer term future before doing something that will haunt you the rest of your life and make it impossible to accomplish your long term goals.

One of the biggest things I hear from models is that they need to be paid more. There is nothing that upsets me more than hearing from a relatively new model who has done a shoot or two, then demands being paid $100+ an hour plus all rights to the images that are captured. For me, it marks the person as someone who I won’t work as a model because they are saying “I don’t want to work with you, but if you want to work with me, I will tolerate it for…” Yes, your goal should be to get paid, but you also have to be reasonable in what you say. While you are focused on numbers here and the business, you have lost touch with your clients. Always stay in touch and listen to your clients – be reasonable. When you lose touch, you will lose clients. For me, once I am burned, it makes it much more difficult to get back “in” with me. There will be those people who you don’t want to work, ever, but as I stated in the past paragraph, stay friendly and don’t burn bridges. You never know where they will come back and haunt you. The same for focusing strictly on numbers. Remember that you are dealing with people and not a computer program.

Finally, don’t let your anger make your decisions for you. While you may be upset with someone for whatever reason, don’t let this run your decisions. As stated previously, you never want to burn bridges with people. It will always come back and bite you in the rear end. Try to always stay reasonable and focused on what you need to be doing for your goals. If you do get upset, don’t talk with that person until you are calmed down. It may take a few months to get to that point.  You should never have to take any form of abuse from anyone – photographer or client. If it means that you need to walk away from something, do it as best you can without burning any bridges. Don’t put up with being treated poorly. But, also don’t snap back and say something that you will regret the next day.

Probably the granddaddy of these providers is “Drop Box” (https://www.dropbox.com/). This is one of the oldest service providers of cloud storage. They have clients for Windows, Mac, Linux, and various phones. For the OSes (operating systems) that aren’t supported, you have a windows based interface that is cumbersome to use, but functional. Everyone is given a small amount of space free: 2 GB. This is expanded by 500 MB for each person you refer to their system, up to 18 GB maximum free space. Paid plans start at $10 per month if you have larger storage requirements. The client software makes the “drop box” available to you as a simple drag and drop operation – no web client to learn and very easy to use. Sharing is simple with those who have accounts, and is fairly easy to accomplish. Unfortunately, this has to be performed both on the client software and then the web interface (it is easy, though).  This service does one thing and does it well: storing and sharing files.

Another plan is Google Drive (https://drive.google.com). This service from Google is part of the Google Applications bundle of services that you may have heard as “Google Docs” in the past. The security on Google Docs isn’t as complete as you find on Drop Box, but you can share folders with anyone who has a Google account and give them access to “view only” or “edit” the document. Everyone starts with 5 GB of space. I don’t know the pricing on the payment plans. You may be wondering what the other applications are that you can use with Google Drive, and that should be what you are asking. You have spreadsheet, word processor, forms (data collection and survey), presentation maker (slides), and drawing. I haven’t worked with their new “Fusion Tables” beta project, but it aims to make presenting data in the form of charts easier. With third party applications, you can add other functionality including diagramming, project management, and a lot of other helpful applications to the common business. The bad news: you have to install all these apps in Chrome to use them on each system, and mobile isn’t supported for all the applications. Another bad thing: it is only accessible via Windows, Mac, and Phone. If you have Linux, you are just out of luck for a client, but can still use the web interface. On a positive note, the speeds that you can upload and download files are incredibly fast – by far the fastest I have used short of a dedicated storage system at an organization I used to work. When you weigh in the other functionality that Google has given to you with Google+ and Gmail, you can’t ignore this provider.

Since we have Google, we might as well add some comments about Microsoft’s product: Sky Drive (https://skydrive.live.com/). If you have a Windows phone, this is the only cloud service that integrates with it. As with Google, if you have Linux, you are out of luck with a client package but can still use the web interface. I am not sure what the storage you will have if you try using your account – I know a few people who started with 25GB and others who started with 7 GB. Again, if you need more space, Microsoft will gladly provide an additional 20 GB for $10 per year (you can get more if you want to pay more). One of the biggest differences is that Sky Drive is strictly web interface based. Microsoft is working on a client package to install locally and give the seamless look and feel of the other providers (a small number are beta testing this and unfortunately, can’t say anything more than something is being worked on). I wouldn’t be surprised if Microsoft is working on more to compete with Google’s full product offerings.

Another service is Amazon’s EC2 cloud storage system. Anyone can get 5GB of storage space for free. The bad news: there is only a web based interface that uses Adobe Flash to upload files. This means it is difficult to use at times. If you purchase your music from Amazon, you can store it in their cloud at no additional cost to you (and stream from it with Amazon’s Cloud Player). More storage is available starting at $20 for 20 GB more. They have recently released a Windows client package to make everything seamless. There is also a photo viewer for Android phones.

Lastly, I am going to cover Ubuntu One (https://one.ubuntu.com/). This service is available for Linux, Windows, and phones. I haven’t tried to make it work on a Mac. Ubuntu One offers 5GB of storage for free, and starts with a streaming service with 20GB of space for $40 per year. My experience with the client software has been excellent, but have heard from others that they have had problems with Windows 7 and Windows 8 operating systems.

There are other services out there such as Apple’s MobileMe/iCloud service, Copy, and the like. These services are constantly changing, and overall they are improving. With Apple, I am not sure what they are doing with their service and believe that Ubuntu One will be going in their direction.

I hope from this that you can see you have several online or “cloud” based storage options available to you. Seriously consider them for your business, and instead of burning a new CD or DVD each time you need to send images to your clients or business partners. Even if you don’t, why not use the free storage space?