Are Your Photos Safe?
— 3 Tips from a Photographer —
It's morning. You sit down with your cup of coffee and boot up your computer. Today I'm FINALLY going to print those pictures from the baby's first birthday. (Never mind that he's almost two now.) You wait for the chime to signal it's up and running...and then it happens. The screen freezes. The screen of death. Whether it's white or blue or static grey (my last personal computer crash...). You feel the dread. And you realize that you have no idea the last time you backed up your computer. The baby's pictures. They're gone. GONE.
It's a feeling we've all probably had at least once. And one you never want to have again.
Now I know backing up your files is one of the. most. boring. tasks. It's not exciting to talk about. It's certainly not exciting to do. But knowing your photos are safe can give you great peace of mind. Let me share my 3 quick and easy tips for keeping a system crash from erasing your memories!
1. Don’t rely on flash drives or memory cards. Did you know that USB flash drives have a life span? Any re-writable form of digital storage does. Depending on how much you are using it, a flash drive can wear out in 5-10 years. So that flash drive of your newborn’s photos? It’s not indefinitely safe. It’s a great extra back up method, but be sure those files are also on a hard drive somewhere else! Not to mention, those things are tiny and easily lost. I can’t even count the number of legos, army men, and matchbox cars we’ve lost to the AC vents in our house… A USB drive within reach wouldn’t stand a chance.
2. Have both on and off-site storage. Most computer folks will recommend three storage sites to be truly protected: Your computer, an external on-site hard-drive, and off-site storage (typically in the cloud). The off-site storage part is really key. Think about theft or natural disaster. Without off-site storage your images are not protected. I recommend cloud storage companies like Dropbox, Carbonite, or iCloud Drive. For on-site storage, the best option is automation. You want your data backing up regularly and automatically so you don’t have to think about it. For Mac users you can use Time Machine which is an automated backup system that you simply switch on in your settings. For PC users, I recommend Genie Timeline which can be downloaded for a one-time fee. Taking the time to set these up is worth the peace of mind. Remember, it’s not a matter of if your system crashes, it’s when.
3. Don’t format until backed up. If you take photographs with a camera and use memory cards (SD, CF, etc.) one of my best tips is to always transfer your images to your computer, but then don’t reformat/erase your card until they are backed up on an external hard drive and in the cloud. Below you’ll find how I keep my client session memory cards organized. SD Cards with images from undelivered sessions stay loaded until they are edited, delivered, and backed up.
*Unrelated tip - Always reformat your memory cards in your camera (not your computer). This is the safest way to avoid corruption.
BONUS - Phone Storage. To ensure the photos on your phone are safe, be sure to turn on cloud backup in your settings. This will automatically back up any photos on your phone to the cloud in real-time as you take them. This has saved me MANY times in the past. Like that time I drowned my iPhone kayaking or the time I bought a new iPhone on a whim and didn’t have to worry about going home to back it up first. SO worth the peace of mind.