Before I pick up with the Value of Photography from last week, I want to remind my readers of the promotion on newborn photography sessions and 6 month old photography sessions that will be ending on Friday. The $100 savings on session fees and the complimentary 8×10 mounted print is good for any newborn and 6 month session during 2011 if the booking is made by this Friday. And since I reward my frequent clients with their third session in the same year with no session fee, it means you can book a full newborn lifestyle session, a weekday 6 month session, and a weekday 1 year session with Ashley Ward Photography for $375! And thank you to those who have already taken advantage of my lowest ever session fees! The calendar for the rest of the year is filling and I am so excited to be working with beautiful new and growing families!!
I also want to thank all who commented or liked or linked to my last Value of Portrait Photography blog post! It was so awesome to see that kind of support for truly valuing portraits – both professional and snapshots. I am thrilled that others found it informative or helpful:)
So, while last week I wrote about why portrait photography is so valuable, today I want to focus on how to take care of those priceless memories. Let’s address your digital photos first. How many copies of your digital images do you have and on what type of media are your images stored? And where are your copies stored? I love external hard drives. I have quite a few. I have also had 2 of them fail……completely dead with no warning. It is a good idea to have AT LEAST two copies of your valuable files. But what if there is some kind of disaster like a fire? My question that started this whole topic was what would you grab from your house if there was a fire and you knew all your loved ones and pets had made it to safety. But what if you aren’t at home when the fire breaks out? I know there are many people who like to keep their valuables locked in a fire-proof safe. It seems like a good idea. But did you know that many fire-proof boxes are not water-proof? If you have a fire-proof safe, I urge you to check and be sure it is also water-proof. So, what if it is a tornado or hurricane? Your best defense in this situation is to have a copy of these files kept off-site. You can achieve this in a few different ways. You can make discs and keep them at a relative’s home. Or keep duplicate hard drives in a safety deposit box at your bank. Of even better, look into storing a backup on your files with an online backup service. If there is a fire, flood, tornado, hurricane……not to worry. Your image files can be downloaded on your new computer (hopefully paid for by your insurance company). Think how much peace you will have knowing you don’t have to mourn for the loss of those priceless portraits, that they are safely stored until you are ready to download them again!
There are many companies that offer remote data storage and I won’t be recommending a particular one. Be sure you investigate the company and their policies well. Be sure you understand what happens if you accidentally delete a file. Will it also be deleted from the online server when the backup runs? That is an important question to ask as we have all accidentally deleted a file at one time or another. Here are a few companies that offer this service:
Carbonite
Mozy
iDrive
SOS online backup
When you purchase your digital files from a photographer, be sure to immediately download your images to make multiple copies. I usually tell to my clients to make a copy on disc to keep in the home, keep a copy on their hard drive if they like, and put the original disc in their safety deposit box at the bank. Multiple copies in multiple locations increases the safety of your files long term.
Now, what about all those old snapshots and photographs you have printed but do not have in digital format? This is a little harder to handle. First, let’s address your old professional portraiture and how to keep those items safe. If you aren’t at home and a fire breaks out, you are likely to lose the print in the flames. If you are serious about ensuring the safety of these images, I would recommend contacting the photographers who took these portraits and asking them if they keep the negatives on file and what disaster plans they have in place. If they do not have the negatives or any disaster plans, my suggestion is to ask for permission to scan the images for backup purposes. You must ask the photographer’s permission because they are the artist who always retains the copyright of the image unless you have a contract with their signature saying they are releasing their right to the copyright. It is against federal law to copy, scan, print, etc. any work by a photographer without their consent. So be sure you are getting consent before scanning the work of any artist.
Your own work can be scanned and stored as an image file which you can treat as your other digital files in the manner we discussed above. This is really the only SURE way to protect your printed snapshots that currently have no digital file. If you hire someone to do this for you, be sure they specialize in photography and understand what the criteria are for scanning an image so that the file can be used later to make a quality print. If you do this yourself, I recommend scanning color photos at 300 dpi. However, you can find much information online regarding scanning photographs and I would suggest you arm yourself with as much knowledge as possible before you begin.
I know this is a lot of information and some very technical issues to consider. But this is a post about the security of your portrait photography and how to protect your images against all kinds of disaster. They are priceless and your most valuable possessions. Take some time to ensure you, your family, and generations to come can always enjoy them!
Brooke: That is some kind of sweetness!!
Elyse: Wonderful pictures and a precious baby!
Trish Shandor: Such a cute little boy!!! Love the hat.
Kara Layfield: Oh my...love how you captured his little smile! Precious Ashley!