editing between two different computers

When I first started blogging it was more obligatory because websites need new content to stay relevant. Over the past year or two I’ve really tried to write more blogs that are helpful content. Whether it’s helpful for clients in answering questions about session information, of if its content for photographers in regards to studio/posing information; such as my post about building a light wall. With that, I give you a nice little post about editing between two different computers.

I have two separate computers, an iMac Pro and a MacBook Pro. I use to edit completely at a desktop, and then when I started doing births I had to find a way to edit on the go. I’ve switched between many different desktops, and many different laptops, and I have found that a Mac has everything I need. I can communicate with text/FaceTime across all my devices, and syncing between the devices is relatively seamless as well. One of my favorite ways to sync is AirDrop. I can edit images on the computer and then AirDrop them to my phone for posting at another time – it’s great!

My only issue was being able to keep files accessible on both computers so if I was home I could edit on a desktop, if I was on the go I could edit on the laptop. I tried many different processes and none of them could keep up with what I was doing. I’ve tried screen mirroring, that was a bust. I also tried file sharing, so I could use my iMac to access the files on my laptop and edit directly from the folders. That works, but it has some serious lag time. So images loading, and saving, it took way too long. I like to batch edit my work, so lag time seriously cuts into my flow.

After the new year I was consolidating all of my files from multiple external hard drives onto a new larger external, and I decided to use one of my mini externals has my home base for all my files so I could edit completely off of there. The only issue with that, and this is the tech nerd in me, was it couldn’t read/write fast enough to keep up with my flow. It was much faster than the file sharing, but it still had a lag to it. I started to research the read/write speed for the one I was using and it was average, like 120mb/s. So essentially using it to just store the files was fine, but to actively work off of it was too slow.

After much research and a few recommendations from other photographer I decided to test out this portable SSD. When I tell you it’s been a game changer, I mean it has been a game changer. It’s read write speed is about 1000mb/s, so 10x faster than the other hard drive I was using. It’s also been seamless to bounce between computers without lag or interrupting files on another computer. To top it off, it’s so easy to drag my completed files from the SSD to my main external hard drive.

I know I have a lot of photographers on insta who were dying to know what process I came up with to make my flow a little easier and less hectic, and I am happy to say I finally figured it out! From my camera memory card I import the files directly onto my SSD, I work them completely from there until the final files have been delivered to my client, and then I move the file from my SSD onto my main external. This has been so much more seamless for me and I’m really happy to have found a working solution! I love that the SSD is 2TB also, it’s super helpful knowing I can put a lot of files on it without running out of space (and that my computer won’t slow down from too many files on it).

I’m happy to answer any questions if anyone has some, feel free to leave a comment! 🙂