Professional photographer Thomas Bachand believes in creating an immediate and honest connection between the viewer and his work. He is a storyteller—simultaneously revealing both the historical significance and present reality of a place through California landscapes photography. Although every image “has to be beautiful,” Bachand also focuses on the intersection of man and nature, subtly showing the impact and changes taking place as the two forces react and adapt to the others’ presence.

Bachand, having lost his home, archives and business assets in the devastating 1991 Oakland firestorm, has also had to react to nature’s force and impact. He takes no chances now and backs up his livelihood on Seagate FreeAgent Desk for Mac and FreeAgent XTreme drives, which he keeps stored in a media fire safe in his Oakland home.

Technology plays a significant role in Bachand’s work and his use of storage goes well beyond backup. Shooting to large-format film to maintain the highest quality for his over-sized prints, Bachand scans the film using a high-resolution drum scanner, and converts the images to files 700 MB to over 1 GB in size.

“Speed and capacity are critical to my work,” says Bachand. “Most often, I can work directly from the FreeAgent Desk for Mac via the FireWire 800 interface. When I’m done, I simply unplug the cord and place the drive in my safe.”

Bachand’s most recent book, Lake Tahoe: A Fragile Beauty captures “the allure and fragility” of the popular vacation destination. Combining historical accounts of the area, such as an excerpt from humorist Mark Twain’s book Roughing It, with beautiful and dramatic images of Lake Tahoe and its surroundings, Bachand presents readers a unique perspective on the ever-evolving relationship between man and nature.

Landscape images like those contained in Bachand’s book, with vast expanses of sky and vistas, are embued with fine detail and subtle color and tone gradations. When saved at high resolution and bit-depth, these files require a great deal of storage.

“The FreeAgent XTreme is perfect for saving and accessing super-large files quickly and frequently,” says Jeff Fochtman, marketing director for Seagate Consumer Solutions. “It also allows the user to sync content with the FreeAgent Desk for Mac, avoiding duplications and maximizing the space on these robust drives. Both drives are a natural choice for professional photographers like Thomas Bachand, along with digital enthusiasts.”

And, Bachand notes, even the drives’ compact size is a benefit. “With Seagate’s drives delivering capacities up to 2 terabytes, I’ve reduced the number of back-up drives I need, creating extra space in my media safe— for more Seagate drives, of course,” he says.

To see more of Thomas Bachand’s photography, click here.

Sugar Pine Point State Park, Lake Tahoe.Photo by Thomas Bachand.

Emerald Bay, South Lake Tahoe, on the Fourth of July.