I never considered myself tech-savvy, but as a professional pet photographer, I’ve learned a few things the hard way. Last year, I started experiencing issues with my backup external hard drive. I'm not sure what went wrong, but I knew from experience that I needed to back up my files to another hard drive as quickly as possible. I did that and thought everything was working well.
The Wake-Up Call
This week, I discovered that during my new backup, I lost some photos. The process was hit-and-miss, and there was no specific pattern regarding dates or months. Some folders were empty while others contained all the files. I searched through every client folder.
Unfortunately, some photos are missing. A few folders contain only a handful of photos. However, my personal edited photos from Thanksgiving vacation are gone. Thankfully, I still have the raw files for those as well.
Photo Life Lessons
This unfortunate experience taught me valuable lessons about cherishing memories. Firstly, I learned the importance of creating multiple backups. External hard drives are not cheap, but worth every penny. Whether you're a dog owner with countless pet photos or a professional photographer, save your photos in multiple places.
You know what else? Print your photos! I have pictures displayed all over our house, but sometimes I get busy and don't manage to print them within the same year. That’s a BIG MISTAKE.
I always require my clients to purchase prints, and not a single client has ever regretted making that investment. We truly cherish our prints because they don’t get lost on hard drives or buried among thousands of photos on our phones. Your photographer has put all the time, experience and love into the images - please consider purchasing from your photographer.
Social media is another way to have a backup of your photos! Post them on Facebook, Instagram, X and others. I was able to salvage a couple of my dogs from Facebook. But as a pet photographer, I do not post everything on social media. I want my clients to post their photos and share.
A Lasting Reminder
The failure of my hard drive taught me about the fleeting nature of digital memories. It reminded me to cherish every single paw-some picture of my fur-kids and yours. I encourage you to value the time spent with your furry friend, back up your photos, and invest in printed photos and albums.
After all, they say a picture is worth a thousand words—let’s ensure those words last forever!
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