It turns out I was much too quick to boast about beating those dirty rotten hackers! I thought I had the issue resolved, but ultimately the havoc they wreaked on my server was deeper than I had realised. After many days of battling the problem I had to completely pull down my Photo Journal, slideshows and galleries, abandon my server and start fresh with a brand new hosting account. I’ll state for the record that the hackers won, and I lost!
Starting fresh was the only answer, but definitely time consuming and a last resort. If you have attempted to visit this Photo Journal in the last 3 days you would have found nothing but error messages! Finally I have my new server space, and I’m so happy that this Photo Journal is up and running again. If you are looking for a slideshow or proofing gallery I’m afraid I still don’t have all of them re-loaded yet, but will get that done in the next 2 days. In the mean time I apologise for any inconvenience, and ask for your continued patience.
Once I have loaded all of the slideshows and galleries, they will have a slightly different address.
If the address of slideshow you’re looking for was – http://www.anniewarren.com.au/name/
It now becomes - http://www.anniewarren.com.au/slideshow/name/
If you’re looking for a gallery it’s address will now be - http://www.anniewarren.com.au/gallery/name/
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you need any help.
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Thursday, January 28, 2010
Some people might have noticed that my site was behaving very strangely for the last 3 days, and at times was missing altogether. Other people might have been looking for a slideshow or gallery, only to find it wasn’t there. Today I finally have control of my server again, and I thought perhaps it would be a good idea to let you know what has been going on.
Before I scare any of my previous or future clients with this terrible tale, I want to reassure you that there was never a time when any of my images were at risk. All of my images are stored and edited on a computer that has no access to the Internet, and are thoroughly backed up on external drives. The virus and subsequent hack was on my server, meaning that it only affected everything that I have on the web. These dirty rats kept intercepting and stealing my log in details and password, then helping themselves to the coding on my sites. It was an extremely stressful and upsetting ordeal for me, but thankfully it’s over, and I have learned a few very hard lessons in the process.
Firstly, I learned that it CAN happen to me! My web sites and Photo Journal were not adequately backed up in preparation for an attack like this. I got REALLY lucky because the hackers didn’t attack my databases, meaning eventually the entire Photo Journal was able to be restored. From now on I will be MUCH more vigilent about backing up what I have on the Internet. Precaution is the key!
Secondly (and more importantly) after my initial over-reaction of shock, rage and even tears I have realised that MUCH worse things can happen than having my web site hacked. In the grand scheme of things it’s not the end of the world. PEOPLE that I love matter. Hacked web sites…. not so much. Yes, it’s very inconvenient and a horrible waste of time and resources, but at the end of the day, no blood was spilled. All that being said I am eternally grateful to a very dear friend who has got everything back on track. From the moment I spoke to him on the phone I felt an overwhelming sense of relief, and finally calmed down a bit. His name is Damian, and he is a darling, not to mention extremely clever! If you enjoy reading my Photo Journal, thank Damian, the man who saved the day.
Finally, if you’re a photographer who has a blog I strongly recommend that you back up your blog database, theme and uploads folders RIGHT NOW, and then after every significant post. If you don’t know how, Google it. There’s lots of help out there.
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Saturday, January 2, 2010
Jacinta and Brendan were married in Bendigo on November the 28th, with an afternoon ceremony at Nanga Gnulle and a marquee reception at Jacinta’s Father’s home that evening. They had only told a very small number of family members and very close friends that they were getting married, and only those people were in attendance at the ceremony. Now here’s the fun part. All of their other friends had no idea, and thought they were attending their engagement party when they arrived at the reception that evening! It was such a brilliant surprise when Jacinta & Brendan were announced into the marquee… as husband and wife. Awesome! I just LOVE surprises. I think there are too few surprises in this life.
Jacinta & Brendan had a fantastic day, though we did have to deal with several really heavy downpours of rain. What is it with November and rain? We dodged and weaved the weather, and I captured some beautiful images for the newlyweds. I think dealing with wet weather on your wedding day is all about having the right attitude, and I must say that this couple definitely didn’t allow the rain to spoil their gorgeous day.
I’ll begin with some of the beautiful details… flowers, shoes, rings and things.
Jacinta looked stunning in her antique gold wedding gown. I just adore the bracelet she wore. Everything looked gold, shimmery and opulent… the dress, the jewellry, even her hair!
Jacinta with her Maid of Honour. Looking stunning ladies!
CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE OF JACINTA & BRENDAN’S WEDDING
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Fiona & Steward were married on the 5th of December in very emotional ceremony at the Bendigo Town Hall, with a reception that evening at The Conservatory. This gorgeous couple actually live in Queensland, but decided to come back to Fiona’s home town of Bendigo for their special day. Because they had booked me to photograph their wedding over the phone I didn’t actually meet them until a few days before the wedding, when we had our first interview to discuss all the details, create a schedule for their photography and get to know each other a little better. I immediately liked Fiona & Steward, and loved their level of excitement and enthusiasm about their wedding. They certainly had a fantastic day, and everything was absolutely beautiful.
Fiona got ready at her parent’s house, with 3 lovely bridesmaids to help with her preparations. The house had such a happy vibe, and everyone was buzzing with excitement. I’ll begin with some photographs of Fiona’s accessories, including a gorgeous old marcasite watch that had belonged to her Grandmother, and chocolates with custom designed wrappers to give to their guests.
Time to get Fiona into her exquisite Elizabeth de Varga wedding gown.
This divine antique mirror had also belonged to Fiona’s Grandmother. How very special!
Fiona looked absolutely amazing! Such a beautiful bride. Sigh….
I love all the brilliant colour combinations that I see at the weddings I photograph, and this one was particularly striking. Charcoal satin bridesmaids dresses and orange orchids in the bouquets. Really fantastic colours girls, and you all looked stunning.
Fiona had a feature wall in her bedroom that I loved, and was very keen to use as a background. The paint was metallic, with mottled brushstrokes of different colours. I just love the way it looks in this gorgeous image of Fiona.
CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE OF FIONA & STEWARD’S WEDDING
Happy New Year!
I have soul searched for a worthwhile New Year’s Resolution for this year. It doesn’t need to be anything too profound, and even though I really should quit all of my bad personal habits, keep my house perfectly organised and tidy….. oh and lose weight, I thought of something even better. I’m desperate to catch up on posting my weddings in this journal. I’ve been trying to catch up for so long, but because I’ve been flat out with shooting and editing weddings it just seem like an impossible task. When I started this Journal early in 2009 I began by back dating the first few entries because I wanted to post about the weddings I had shot in the previous 6 months. Since then I have fallen further and further behind, with little hope of ever catching up. So my resolution is to jump forward to the very last wedding I shot, and keep it that way. From now on I will post about each wedding the week after I photograph it. Phew. THAT feels good.
The only problem with this plan is I have photographed so many wonderful couples and magnificent weddings in the last 6 months that I desperately want to post about those as well. So I’m going to attempt to intersperse some of last year’s weddings with the current ones. I doubt I’ll be able to catch up enough to post about every single one, so I’ll just be choosing them randomly. They’ll be my ‘turn back the clock’ posts!
I feel good about this decision, and I’m determined to keep my New Year’s resolution. So my very next post will be the last wedding I photographed, then I will go backwards until I photograph my next wedding in mid January. Confusing? Yeah, I’m a little confused myself, but maybe that’s because the ‘Naughties’ are finished, and I have no idea what ridiculous cute nick name they’re going to give this decade. The Tenties? Oh Lord, I hope not!
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by Annie Warren
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