Build A Better Backup Plan - 12/10/07

It’s a shame that being a digital photographer entails a whole lot more than just shooting pictures. Concerns over where to store all those photos—not to mention how to make sure they’re around in years to come so that you can find them—are as much a part of photography today as ƒ-stops and shutter speeds ever were. Consequently, I have a relatively healthy backup and storage plan for archiving and finding all my digital image files. On a monthly basis, I copy all of my new photo files to an external hard drive, and back them up in duplicate on DVD disks. As Blu-ray and HD DVD become more attainable, my process is sure to get quicker and simpler. But for now, my method—knock on wood—seems to work pretty well. When it comes time to find the files, I have a document index of the pertinent keywords, usually organized by client, subject and date. Naming the files appropriately in the first place makes it easy to return to those photos months and years down the road. What’s your preferred storage, backup and retrieval plan? If you haven’t started thinking about it yet, there’s no better time than now. Otherwise you’ll soon find yourself mired in the digital equivalent of a pile of unmarked negatives. And if -- like the many other millions of people are saving your images to CD or DVD -- it is important to purchase an archival grade disc. Verbatim has what they call Verbatim UltraLife™ Gold Archival Grade CD and DVD-R, or Delkin Devices Archival Gold DVD’s and CD’s the supposedly protect your images for more than 100 years.