Backup for Photographers

Stuart Clarkstuart@sclarkconsulting.ca

A Necessary Evil

Who is this guy?

What will I get out of this presentation?

There are two kinds of people in the world

those who have had a hard drive failure

and those who will.

What would I do tomorrow if none of my data was retrievable.

Some Basic Steps / Guidelines

K.I.S.S Philosophy

The more ‘friction’ you put into a task the less likely you will do it.

Find something that works for you

Automate when possible

Keep it organized

Keep a clean / original copy

Use the right storage medium

Keep it separate

Keep it organized

Have a good understanding on where your photo’s and other support files are located on your computer.

Other support files???

Most photo management software will keep a separate database file for the photos it is managing

This may include tags and change information.

Keep a clean / original copy

After transferring photos from your camera, make a copy of the original photos before doing any editing.

Some software will do this for you.

Use the right storage medium

Hard Drives are the most ‘friction’ free method to use.

DVD’s Tape etc. have cost and reliability issues and can be hassle to use for the large storage requirements that photographers have.

What about online?

Very easy to setup and runs by itself. However…

• Due to the total size of photos that a photographer will have the initial backup will take a long time.

• Some backup services charge by the space used.• Your ISP may have a bit cap that you may go over.

That being said….

Some photographers use online services such as Flickr for their portfolios and other final photos.

Keep it separate

Ideally you should have 3 copies of your data

•Original

•Local Backup

•Offsite backup

Why offsite backup?

Having the onsite backup beside your computer is convenient but what if one of the following happens?

FireFloodYour computer and your external drive is stolen.

Sample Workflow

Copy Files from Camera to Computer

Copy to onsite and offsite backup

Verify

Verify

Edit your pictures

When done make onsite and offsite backups

Software

There is a wide variety of software.Use something that your comfortable with.

Software

Windows

• Sync back

• Genie Timeline Home

• Vice-Versa

• Windows own backup program

Mac

• Time Machine

Hardware

External Hard drives

Enclosure or Dock?

Enclosures

Docks

Backup Methods

• Full

• Incremental

Test your backups!

Once in a while try restoring some files to make sure things work as you expect.

If you start getting read/write errors then replace the drive right away.

Questions?

Contact Info

stuart@sclarkconsulting.ca

www.sclarkconsulting.ca

stuartclark