What should I do with my digital files?: Three Easy Steps for Backing Up Your Digital Photos

If you’ve been following for any length of time, you may be well aware that I’m obsessed with Heirlooms…whether it’s a box of  your favorite prints, a statement gallery or that annual Family Heirloom Book. I believe photos are meant  to  be printed instead of dying a  slow death of  being lost on a hard drive somewhere!

But, being in a digital age still means we have digital files. And, with all of my family collections, a print/Heirloom credit is included along with a set number of  digital files (or all of them!). Even though I believe wholeheartedly in investing in Heirlooms and  printing your photos, I still believe  it’s valuable to have some digital  files from your session so that you can continue  to archive and print them over the years. 

 

So, what should you do with your digital  files? And how should you back them up? 

 

One of the most valuable pieces of advice I received early on in my career was that “if a photo  doesn’t exist twice,  it doesn’t exist.” About a year later, I dropped my external  hard drive containing my entire portfolio and had to pay a very pretty penny to  Drive Savers to  revive my drive. Even with a discount they gave  me (as I was in tears on the phone), it was a large  chunk of money for  a college student (over  $1,000). 

Needless to  say, I learned that lesson very quickly,  and now I have a  backup system I love and a system I’m always refining. Let’s just say that if you work with me, your photos are on multiple hard drives  along with a cloud backup. It’s something I  take very seriously, because hard drives can decide to give out for really no reason at all.

Now, your backup system most likely won’t  be as complicated or as thorough as mine because this is my work and I need a surprisingly large amount of  storage each year for my client work. If you’re looking for a simple backup process for photos, I suggest the following three steps so  you can rest easy knowing you’ve got  a great system in place!

 

1. Backup to a cloud storage system

– Personally, we use Amazon Photos because it’s something we are already paying for and it’s easy to backup our phone photos everyday into one place. It’s not as organized as I’d like, but it organizes the photos  by day, month and year,  which is sufficient for us! You can also backup to Amazon via your desktop  for any photos that aren’t your “phone photos.”

– A few more options for this cloud backup are Dropbox, iCloud, Google Photos and Backblaze (which is great for a home computer).

2. Backup to at least one external hard drive, preferably two

– Hard drives are so affordable these days, and also nice and light.  You can get a 2TB or 4TB drive (which should last you a long time) for  under $100! Create a folder per occasion, or simply create monthly folders  within a folder labeled with the year and backup  to the drive.

-If you’re a Seagate fan, this one is great. If you prefer Western Digital, here’s a great option. You could even get one of each brand since everyone has opinions on  how “reliable” each brand is. The reality is, hard drive reliability is just hard to predict. Many people swear by Western Digital, but Jeremy and I have both had WD drives die. Many people are against Seagate, but I’ve  had great experiences. My solution? I have a mixture  of the brands!

-Admittedly so, I don’t have the time to backup all my iPhone photos to a hard drive too, but my personal “real camera” photos are on multiple hard drives. But, I do print my iPhone photos, which leads me to my next point!

3. Print  Your Photos

– We all knew I was going to say this, right? The truth of the matter is yes, prints could get lost or damaged, but they can’t have a technology glitch and  they are very user friendly – no technology required!   Plus, why would you want  your digital files to simply stay digital files?

– If you’re working with a photographer, ask them about the prints & Heirlooms they offer. The  perk of this, is that most photographers use companies that offer high-quality professional Heirlooms that will  last a lifetime. The colors will be spot  on, the quality will be high and they’ll help you through the process – easy peasy!

– If you’re looking to print your everyday photos from your phone or other cameras, I suggest Artifact Uprising, Chatbooks (use this code for $10 off your first book) and Blurb, depending on what you’re wanting to print. I personally use  Artifact Uprising for yearly photo books for our family and Chatbooks for monthly photos from my phone  – Eisley loves these!

This is a nice and simple system that any busy mama or family can make happen, but of course,  if you have any questions, feel free to reach out. And of course, if you’re wanting help to print your photos or want me to design an Heirloom for you, it’s always a favorite part of my job!

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Amy Nicole Photography has been documenting stories of life and love for over 10 years. Amy is a family & newborn lifestyle photographer based in Charlottesville, Virginia. She strives to create timeless, genuine and effortless photos for you and your family to enjoy for years to come.

I’d love to create photographs for your family that feel genuinely you.

You can learn more or contact me here!