HOW TO BACKUP AND ORGANIZE YOUR PHOTOS!
This is how I organize and backup all my photos from RAW files to iphone pics!
This is the Dark Side. They keep important data files in one single blow-up-able location. Read this blog to not be like the Dark Side.
A few weeks ago, I randomly posted about backing up hard drives and a lot of people seemed interested in how I organized and stored everything. I thought it would be a good idea to go through it all in detail for anyone interested. Finally my overly detailed particularness for everything having a proper place can be helpful to someone!
Even if you’re not a full time photographer, business owner, or even hobbiest, this info will be great for anyone who wants to organize their photos from their phone or camera. It’ll help you keep things organized and make it easy to find things later. I’ll start with the raw files taken with my digital camera, but if you just need info bout organizing and backing up phone photos jump to section 03.
01. I start by inserting my memory card and importing the photos I want to keep into Lightroom Classic. I choose the “Copy as DNG” option and Lightroom creates a folder with the date each photo was taken inside a parent folder for the year they were taken in.
Some people like to first save photos to their hard drive and then import them to Lightroom, but that seems like additional work to me so forget that.
02. Once I edit the photos and no longer need them at a moment’s notice, I’ll move them from the local hard drive location Lightroom initially saved them in into a folder on my 2TB external hard drive*. My 2TB external is small and doesn’t require its own power source (think of it like a larger flash drive) which allows me to keep it on my desk and easily accessible. This keeps my computer’s hard drive relatively empty without creating a hassle when I need the photos again.
*You must move the files from within Lightroom otherwise Lightroom won’t know where they are when you want to use them later. Message me if you don’t know what this means.
03. When I do export my photos from Lightroom to post on Instagram or send to friends and family or have printed, I have a tried and true method of organizing them. This is also where photos I take on my phone come into play. On my computer, I start with a folder for the year, so 2021 for example. Then instead of breaking them down by month, I do it by season that way I don’t have to remember if it was the beginning of May or the end of April, I just have to remember it was Spring. From there, I break it down to event and date like, “Zion Trip (5/2-5/9)”. I find this easier since I often remember the event I’m looking for more than the exact date I shot the photos.
04. As I mentioned in section 02., I try to keep my computer’s hard drive as empty as possible so every year I transfer my photos from two years prior off my computer and onto two separate external hard drives. Unlike my 2TB drive that is compact and doesn’t need another power source, (at the time of this writing) my two other externals, an 8TB and a 1TB, both require external power thus making them more inconvenient to use. From left to right, 2TB - 1TB - 8TB.
You might wonder, “Shawn, why are you putting the exact same photos on two separate drives?” Well, it’s because I’m extremely nostalgic and what I call a photo hoarder and if one hard drive fails, I don’t want to lose all my past photos forever. The likelihood of both hard drives failing simultaneously is extremely low. There are even times when I’ve left for vacation that I have put my hard drives in my fireproof safe just in case the house burns down while I’m away. Yeah I’m that kinda crazy about my photos.
04-a. Just as I back up my exported Lightroom photos, cell phone and event photos to two drives, I do the same with the Lightroom catalog photos that have been migrated to my 2TB drive. I make a copy of that and put it on my 8TB drive for safe keeping.
05. At any given moment, I like to have two copies of every photo. And I have photos ranging back 15 years at this point. This is great for a number of reason like reliving memories of events and people long passed, documenting your business’s progress, or my personal favorite, blackmailing friends and family with embarrassing old photos. Half my college friends should never run for office with the dirt I have… just saying.
BONUS. Ever since I got the Satechi Mac adapter, my workflow has been so much smoother! The Mac mini has only a few ports in the back, but this adapter puts them all up front and actually has even more including an SD and Micro SD card slot that the Mac mini does not. They have tons of products for improving workflow, organizing your area, or just new tech products. They’re not sponsoring this post, but if you are interested, use my link and we’ll both get a discount!
And with that, I wrap this blog post about photo backups and organization. I hope this helps your file management process! If you have any additional tips you wanna share or tell me I’m doing something less efficiently, let me know in the comments below!
Cheers,
Shawn