Photo storage advice please

[PINNACLE 2,297]

I am after some advice please, on what is the best way to store and back up my photos where and how?

 

Before I got my DSLR it was easy but now I am really taking up space on my PC and I have an 8GB and two 4GB SD cards to empty.

 

I was thinking of a dedicated external hard drive is this best or just stick with DVD’s or both?

 

Is it best to keep storing them in date order or change to subject matter? At the moment I can pretty much remember what of and when I took a certain photo but as time go by this will become more difficult.

 

I realise it might be down to personal preference but all ideas welcome.

[J Darcy 5,871]

External HD mate. I have three of them now and soon to get a fourth. If you care about your pics they are essential.....and speeds up the pc too..

Maxxtor are good..

[MuttleMcTuttle 21]

What Mr Darcy said... External HD is probably easiest, maybe with a back up DVD for the stuff you really like.

 

For really important photos like weddings etc I keep a copy on a spare drive on the PC (different one from the operating system) and an external drive as well.

 

When it comes to organising pics I've found the best way is to have seperate folders for months, and the different photoshoots with description & date. Filenames can be longer these days so you can put more info in that, but I always use the date as a reference because then there is no chance of a folder being duplicated and possibly over-written. I find keywording a pain, but it can be time well spent if you want to search for an image. Every so often I have a mass deleting session and clear out all the crap... Takes me hours sometimes

[terrier410 53]

External HD mate. I have three of them now and soon to get a fourth. If you care about your pics they are essential.....and speeds up the pc too..

Maxxtor are good..

best way and dirt cheap now

[terrier410 53]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WESTERN-DIGITAL-1TB-1000GB-External-Hard-Drive-USB-2-0_W0QQitemZ150433278235QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Computing_HardDrives_RL?hash=item230685a91b#ht_2816wt_1165

just sourced this for you dont think you'll get much cheaper 1tb for £65 delivered.

[SNAP SHOT 194]

check out maplins electronics they have terabyte external hard drives for very good money..

 

i have to invest soon, but maybe a new lens first... and maybe a jeep change.... too, i need the lottery...... lol

 

 

 

Snap.

[ghillies 209]

external and dvd the important stuff...

[Working_Clumber 0]

Definitely external HD.

 

I shoot all my images in RAW mode and these are copied from the Flash card to external drive (1 Tb) into just one folder called Raw. This is done with Lightroom. Every morning at 08:00 the Ext HD 1 is examined by Snyctoys and any files that have been added or altered in the past 24 hours is copied to Ext HD 2.

 

This gives me an identical copy of Ext HD 1.

 

I do not bother with backing up to DVD

 

Steve

[Hannah4181 260]

Its essential for my business that i keep my archives organised, i always keep 2 copies of folders on 2 different external hard drives, and i won't compromise on quality . . . Lacie are the only hard drives i use and they are IMO worth every penny.

 

Like McTuttle i store my files by months/and catagories . . . weddings/ family portraits/pet portraits/hunting and other . . . . If you bear in mind i may shoot 2000/3000 images at a wedding, and do 15 weddings over a 4 month period, plus child portraits and all the hunting stuff . . . . its imperative my storage and back up system is in order!

[PINNACLE 2,297]

Thanks for the replies and it looks like I will be doing some shopping.