When we’re processing our images, the first thing on our mind is NOT data protection. How many hours do you spend on your work? How many hours do you spend in the field with your camera?
Consider the time and energy in organizing, post processing and preparing your images. How many hours a week are you behind the camera or in front of your computer? It’s almost painful to think about – even though we love it.
The outcomes of our invested time include income, recognition and photography networking. The other outcome?
Personal pride in our technical skill, artistry and artwork.
With the investment of hundreds to thousands of hours per year, what happens to your artwork when disaster strikes? By disaster, we’re referring to:
- Human error – deleting, moving, losing files
- Damage – fire, electrical issues, natural disasters
- Computer/technical – hardware/software failure or dropping the external drive, laptop
- Theft – any time, any where
Today I have over 85,000 images in my Lightroom catalog. Some of you have more, some have less. Those images are gold. They are our blood, sweat, shivers (for those of us in the north) and tears.
What does your data protection and backup approach look like today?
At the very least, our work needs to be backed up on external drives. I use multiple Seagate Drives (available at Amazon) for my core work and for local backup. If your work is on your computer and it’s backed up on an external hard drive, that’s better than nothing.
However, any of the disasters above could impact your work if your backup drives are under the same roof. A simple, cost effective data protection approach is Backblaze.
Backblaze is a photographer’s data protection chill pill.
I have used Backblaze since 2014 and have been advocate for 5 years. My hard drive crashed one week after I did a total backup for the first time, too close for comfort!
What does Backblaze look like? Backblaze is cloud based and the storage is unlimited. I’m not kidding. That means our crazy number of mega-sized RAW files, catalog files, backup files, documents are safe and secure. Factor in that the monthly cost averages out to the equivalent of a couple of cups of coffee ($5.00 per month on the annual plan) – that’s a great insurance plan. (Applications and System Files are not backed up.)
Getting Started with Backblaze and data protection
After I loaded Backblaze back in 2014, the ease of installation, setup and use was simple. The dialogue boxes were straightforward. The hardest part? Waiting for the first upload to complete. If you have lot’s of data, it will take a few days. But not to worry, you’re able to keep working on your computer as you normally would – the backup is happening in the background.
A tip: Adjust computer settings to prevent your computer from timing out during the first upload. During the first upload and ongoing backups, normal computer work is not interrupted. If you need to shut down, that’s absolutely fine as the process will pick back up.
Additionally, their support data base is useful. Questions and answers are easy to find. Their technical support, pleasant and responsive.
Other data protection options
Yes, there are other data protection options available. I’m attaching a link to a chart comparing cloud backup services: Comparison of backup services. Research and networking with other photographers is encouraged. For my requirements, it has made data protection easy and something I don’t think about. I’d rather be photographing clouds instead.
A final tip
If a local strategy is the best solution for you, I do recommend two complete backups. Storing one offsite minimizes a total outage. Just make a reminder to bring it back for an update on a regular basis. It’s not as efficient as Backblaze but it minimizes lost work.
If the only place you have your work is on your hard drive, the risk for a disaster is high. You’ll rest easier with a data protection plan that ensures your work is safe and secure.
For fun and a bit of the right kind of therapy, you may enjoy: Photography Therapy
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[…] To ensure I have a realtime backup of my work, I use Backblaze combined with local backups. See Backblaze, Before Your Work is in Ashes […]
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