That was a question I was asked recently. The simple answer is YES. But let me explain a little more why that is so important.
Many of you may already know I began helping people to organize their photographs after spending months helping flood victims salvage damaged photographs. Thousands of people lost the contents of their home to Hurricane Ian’s flood waters and their many photographs were a part of that disaster. I realized then that most people do not have a back up of their photographs. In the case of that disaster having had pictures stored digitally online would have solved the problem.
I realized pretty quickly that almost everyone has a story of a lost photo. It’s not just hurricanes that take those memories, there are endless ways a picture can be lost or destroyed. In ever case having had a secure back up of each photo would have solved the problem.
I suggest have pictures stored in at least three locations. If you have old print pictures you should get a digital copy of each. Then, in addition to that print, keep that digital file both on your computer or phone AND in an online location. Your phone or digital camera pictures should also be stored in two locations in addition to your computer.
Check out Amazon Photos for an online storage option. If you are an Amazon Prime member the service includes free storage of your photographs. You can add the app to your phone and it will automatically back up your photographs overnight. You can also add digital photos from your computer. This is an easy way to include the digital copies of your old print photographs.
Get an external hard drive. If you take a lot of photographs like I do, you don’t want to keep all of those on your computer. Eventually those photo files will start to bog down your computer. You should always keep pictures on an external hard drive. When photos are stored on an external hard drive they can be accessed, viewed, shared, edited just like keeping them on your computer. So long as you have your external hard drive plugged in you’ll have the same capabilities without overloading your computer.
Print those pictures! Printing pictures is rarely talked about as a way of securing them, but in all actuality, it is a back up. If you have phone pictures that only live on your phone, you’re definitely risking photo loss. Back them up to secure locations, like an external hard drive and an online photo storage service. THEN I suggest having an additional copy of those images in print. I personally pick my favorite pictures every month. Its typically only 10 – 20 pictures, not a ton, and I add those to a running photo album. I do this because my family loves to see the latest additions to the album and we can enjoy the pictures now. However, I love that I also have the security of having pictures in addition to the digital version.
Are you backing up your photographs? Let me know in the comments if you have a strategy for keeping your pictures all safely backed up!
