As life passes by, years seems to be shorter, and days disappears at in the blink of an eye; we use our own cameras or hire a professional photographer to capture these precious moments, which are next framed and hung on our walls or sit above our fire places. But, of course not all photos hang on the walls; simply because there wouldn’t be enough space for all of them. So, do you keep your precious digital photographs in a safe place, are you backing them up?
A study by Harris Interactive found that 25% of people never backup their digital assets. Yet, 54% of adults surveyed personally have lost files or know someone who has lost files and 72% people surveyed ranked photos and videos as their most valued digital assets.
Do you have a many years’ worth of digital media and want to make sure you don’t lose them? We asked Connie Doull who is a professional photographer what advice she has:
Connie takes a large amount of photographs over the year. A wedding could easily be more than a 1,000 images. Connie also invented and offers ‘This is me’ – a free service to build confidence and create smiles for anyone suffering from hair loss, burns or scarring, birthmarks etc. Showing everyone that your illness, scarring etc. does not define you. ‘This is me’ session could easily be up to a 100 irreplaceable images. Therefore, Connie has developed habits to help manage these images and keep them in a safe place.
‘I capture the moment that counts. Freeze it in time so you can look back on those memories and share them. It is crucial to have a backup system in place whether you are a professional or an amateur.’
At Octagon Technology, we are aware that people who do not back up their data say that they do not think about it or that it is too much effort. And yet, the majority have experienced data loss.
‘… what is the probability that the Bride and Groom will recreate their day, in an attempt to capture those special moments again?’
Connie said: ‘The likelihood of the computer, portable hard drive and cloud all failing at once is very low. Portable hard drives are very reasonably priced, as are cloud options. Once I have finished a session, the files are uploaded onto my computer. These are then also loaded into a portable backup hard drive as well as the “cloud.” This may seem excessive, but imagine this was your wedding or important event in your life. If the computer was subsequently stolen, what would I as a professional photographer be able to do?’
‘As an additional measure, I do not format my memory cards as soon as I have uploaded the images. That card is set to one side for a few days. It just gives me a few extra days if needed to get the files from the source memory card should there be any technical issues. They are also stored in suitable protective cases when not in use.’
Ways of backing up data
Clive Catton, Technical Director at Octagon Technology said: ‘Automated off-site backup is a great solution in terms of computer or hardware failure, theft, fire, flood or site damage… Read more here…
