Backing up and letting go

I have a lot of memory cards for my cameras but I don't keep my photos on them. Every couple of months, I sit down to the chore of making sure my pictures are backed up, then cleaning the cards off so I can use them again. I first check that they were all downloaded to my computer, then I back them up on my external hard drive. Finally, I back up the "money shots", that is, the edited jpegs, on my cloud drive. Only then do I wipe the cards. I assumed that this was what everyone did; one of the great things about digital photography is that camera cards are made to be reusable, allowing us to take unlimited photos!

Not everyone feels the same as I do, however.  I was talking to a keen amateur photographer the other day and she revealed that she has Ziploc bags full of camera cards and has no idea what is on them all. At some point in her photography journey, someone she respected told her that the best way to keep your photos safe was by keeping them on the card. Cards are safe, he said, and relatively cheap. Why not just buy another card?  This is wrong on so many levels! 

All electronic media has a life span. Secure Digital (SD) cards last on average 10 years (unless you put them through the washing machine cycle). Compact Flash (CF) cards are a bit beefier and have been known to survive the washing machine test but they still only have an average life of 12 years, according to Google. Both are also pretty small and easy to misplace. But before they physically deteriorate, they are all subject to redundancy. Who is to say that you will have the means to read your cards in 20 years time?  Change is constant and hard to keep up with! Your precious photos deserve better!  

One way to love them is to print them. (Is a digital file even a photograph if it only exists in digital form?)  Print your favorites large and proud and put them on your walls. Enjoy them every day. As for the rest? Back them up well so that they will still be there when you want them. I work with a company called Forever which offers permanent cloud storage for your precious memories.  What attracted me to them was the "Forever Guarantee" that your photos will be safe for your lifetime plus 100 years!  As file formats change, they promise to migrate your pictures to the next format. It's a way to pass your pictures on to the next generation...and the next! If you want to know how Forever can do this, click this link.

Not every photo is a keeper, but there will always be those shots you are particularly proud of; the ones that came out just the way you planned and the happy accidents. The images of loved ones and special occasions, and the candid shots that tell a story. These are the ones you want to keep and to future-proof.