I have over a million photos stored. A MILLION! So here’s my simple, yet usable advice for any and every person to keep their memories stored and safe and organized. This is NOT advice for professional photographers. If you’re a pro with client work, there are a couple of additional steps you should be aware of 😉

1. Have an External Hard Drive.

Why? At least twice a year, I receive an e-mail from a client that their computer crashed… Horrible amiright?! I get anxiety just thinking about it… The truth is that things happen, and your images should always be backed up somewhere other than your computer. Will a thumb drive work? It could…, but I would recommend just 1 heavy duty, high quality, external Hard Drive. In this day and age, the size of our photos is increasing all the time- especially if you’re always taking photos on your phone! And chances are, you’re not done taking pictures or getting photos taken any time soon. My recommended hard drive is G-Tech’s 1TB drive. It’s more than enough space for most people! And it’s a high quality professional hard drive that won’t get ruined the first time you accidentally disconnect it before clicking ‘Eject.’ 

  

2. Have a Labelling System- and stick to it! 

Mine is simple- all images are in folders of YEAR-MONTH-DATE-Description. It’s easy to search through and no confusing names or titles that you thought you could never forget, but somehow still forgot. Something chronological is sure to help. Whatever you name them, be consistent. You will thank yourself down the road! A good option for parents could be sticking to YEAR-MONTH-Description. That way, If you shoot lots of phone photos you can just back them up every month. 

3. Have a Cloud!

The automated backing up on Apple’s Cloud, is one way to do it! But there are many options for non iPhone/Apple users like Amazon (guys amazon prime has unlimited photo storage!), or Google Photos, or even Flickr! Hard Drives break or fry or fail (especially if it’s low quality), so do computers! That’s why it’s important to back up files online in case that ever happens. It also allows for easy sharing 🙂 If your cloud allows for it, try to keep a similar (if not identical) labelling system than you do with your drive. 

Do you have a favorite way of backing up your images? Or any other questions at all (I love to chat!)? Comment below 🙂