"I'm backed up baby..." Photo: Hilary Camilleri
I’ve said it before, but it would be remiss not to mention it again: Back up your data.
Sad reminder of this again when I saw a recent story on PetaPixel about a guy who is taking Apple to court over lost baby photos, saying the failure of a storage device caused him to lose priceless memories. Perminder Tung used an Apple Time Capsule to back up his photos. The Canadian man claims that the device failed and that Apple subsequently told him that data was gone forever. Tung, a lawyer, says the data included the birth of his child and is now suing for $25,000 to compensate for the lost memories. Sad. But is this really Apple’s fault? Hell no. Drives fail. As photographers and filmmakers who depend on the retrieval of data not just for nostalgia – but for our living – we must accept this fact and take the necessary steps to avoid being int the position of the forlorn Mr. Tung.
This is one of the most important fundamentals–not just for professional photographers and filmmakers like us–but for anyone with valuable digital content that’s worth backing up. You can review my workflow video on how to back up your data here.
The workflow video I hinted at above, under the link “said it before” walks you through steps you can take to NOT be this guy. This may well be the most important behind-the-scenes video we’ve made, not because it’s fancy or sexy, but because it covers arguably the most essential information on a set of topics that every photo and video person should understand: workflow, storage and backup of your precious images. This video covers all the ins and outs, the theory and the details of our complete photo and video workflow from capture to archive and everything in between. It’s a tad dated, given some updates in technology, but the theories are crucial and sound. So whether you’re a seasoned pro, an aspiring amateur, or just starting out in photography or video we’ve worked hard to make this worth your time.
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Too cute baby photo: Hillary Camilleri and Angela Smith
Everybody wants to have a pie of Apple’s huge cash pile.
Next thing you know they will sue over the camera not taking the photo they envisioned in their mind. It is sad that this has not been tossed out already. Some people need to wake up and accept responsibility for their own stupidity rather than blaming someone else or a company in hopes of making some money..
Thats why I also backup important family photos the old school way. I print them out. A hundred years from now my great grandchildren can find them in the attic. I guarantee they won’t be able to find my photos on a long gone external harddrive or flickr account, or Facebook, if it is still around.