Introduction
As someone who takes a lot of photos on my phone and camera, keeping those memories safe and organized is very important to me. I want to make sure I have multiple copies of my photos in case something happens to my devices, and I also want to be able to easily find and view my photos years from now. In this article, I will share the photo backup strategies I use to protect my digital memories.
Back Up Photos to External Hard Drives
One of the most crucial parts of my photo backup strategy is to regularly back up all my photos to external hard drives. Here are some tips on using external hard drives for photo backups:
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I use multiple external hard drives to store my photo backups. This way, if one hard drive fails, I still have copies of my photos on the other drives. It’s critical to not keep photos on just one drive.
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I store the hard drives in different physical locations to protect against theft, fire, flood, etc. For example, I keep one hard drive at home and another in a safety deposit box.
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I replace my backup hard drives every 2-3 years since hard drives can fail over time. All drives will eventually fail so it’s important to replace them regularly.
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I use hard drives with at least 2TB of storage space to accommodate all my photos. The storage capacity needs to be large enough to hold your entire photo library with room to grow.
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I encrypt my external hard drives for extra security in case they get lost or stolen. Encryption converts data on the drive to an unreadable format unless the correct password is used.
Use Cloud Storage Services
In addition to local external hard drive backups, I also back up my photos to cloud storage services like Google Photos, Amazon Photos, and Dropbox. Here are some best practices I follow:
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I use multiple cloud services to avoid losing photos if one of the services goes away or loses my data. Diversifying cloud storage provides redundancy.
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I opted for paid cloud storage plans that offer more storage space since my photo library is quite large. Free cloud plans usually only offer up to 15GB.
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I enabled two-factor authentication on each cloud account for extra security. This requires me to enter a randomly generated code from my phone when logging in from a new device.
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I configured the cloud services to sync my computer and phone photos to the cloud automatically so my backups happen seamlessly without manual effort.
Organize Photos into a Logical File Structure
I organize all my photos into a carefully planned folder and file naming structure on both my local and cloud backups. Here are some tips:
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I separate photos into broad folders by year such as “2019 Photos”, “2020 Photos”, etc. This keeps photos grouped by when they were taken.
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Within each year, I have folders for specific events like “Hawaii Vacation” or “Emma’s Wedding”. This further organizes photos into events.
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I use a consistent naming convention for events such as “YYYY-MM-DD Event Name” to keep them chronological.
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I use subfolders for large events to organize photos from specific days of the trip or wedding.
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I tag people in photos so I can easily search for photos of specific people later. Both local and cloud apps have face tagging capabilities.
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I add relevant keywords to photos such as locations and activities so I can search my entire library for keywords.
Regularly Review and Prune Old Photos
I aim to regularly review my photos and prune unnecessary ones to keep my photo library neat and manageable:
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I review my most recent photos every 2-3 months and delete blurry ones, duplicates, and photos I don’t like. This prevents accummulation of unwanted photos over time.
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I do an annual full photo library review and prune older photos that I no longer want to keep copies of. My storage needs and interests change over time.
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I delete low resolution copies of photos that I’ve edited and exported at higher resolutions. Holding onto lower res versions just takes up space.
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I delete RAW photo files if I’m confident I’ve fully finished editing the corresponding JPEGs and don’t need to re-edit them. RAW files take up a lot of space.
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I regularly empty the trash on my devices and cloud accounts to fully free up space from deleted photos.
Conclusion
Protecting my photo memories for the long term requires dedicated effort to implement robust backup, organization, and maintenance practices. My current strategy uses local hard drive backups, cloud services, organized file structures, and regular reviews to keep my photos safe and findable. As my library grows over time, I will need to continually evaluate my process and tools to accommodate my needs. The most important thing is implementing a consistent system that fits my habits and requirements. I hope these tips can help guide you as you consider your own photo backup strategy. Let me know if you have any other best practices I should incorporate!
