It’s been a hot minute since we did a #tuesdaytips post. This one I feel like EVERYONE can relate to, I mean we alllllll take pictures but where the hell do we store them?? Well…..here we go, buckle up, but if you take one thing from this always remember……YOU CAN NEVER BE TOO SAFE!!

Storage

Fun fact, I always have TWO backup sources – one on a “cloud” service and another hard copy (USB, hard drive, etc.) – that way if something happens to one, you have the other. If someone tells me that have only 1 backup source I have a small panic attack. I personally have FOUR back up sources! You’re probably thinking, that’s a slight overkill, but remember I’m storing photos for professional use and again, you can never be too safe!

For personal photos, I exclusively use SmugMug. It’s cheap, has unlimited storage, amazing organization capabilities, and their newest feature is Auto Upload and it is a Godsend!! You can have it automatically backup your phone photos into a folder that AUTO SORTS for you by date!!! LIFE CHANGINGGGGGG! I do also manually upload photos from my phone into their own folders though because sometimes the dates of photos can get lost or mixed up and I’m a freak and it has to be right! I will say, Smugmug has professional options and add-ons like a store feature and custom URL capabilities.

If you’re a professional – you NEED to look into Backblaze. It’s a program that runs EVERY TIME your computer is connected to WiFi and constantly backs up your hard drive. It’s nice peace of mind to know that it’s constantly being backed up without having to actually do anything with it – and it’s SO easy to go in and retrieve files/images if need be. It’s saved my ass MANY times. It is SO worth it!

Galleries + Organization

All my professional galleries are through, CloudSpot. It’s a gallery service for professionals (aka it’s a little more streamlined) plus it integrates with my CRM service Dubsado. I LOVE that it integrates with my CRM service, because it makes life SO much easier, especially for my long term clients. They can see all of their galleries, invoices, etc. all in one spot. It is truly a 1 stop shop to find anything and everything Mager Image!

Organization you ask….I’m practically The Home Edit version of storingimages. Sometimes you can autosort things by name or date, but personally, I find it’s easier to break it down and set up folders by date/event. The more specific you can be, the better – everything is easier to find that way!

I’m #OCD, it’s no surprise. But when I have literal THOUSANDS of photos to sift through, I have to be! So to organize, I name all of my folders by year first, then month, then day of month, followed by a title. That way if you sort by filename (which is most commonly the default) then it’ll break it down by chronological order and the title helps when you’re trying to find “grandma’s birthday” in a sea of folders. For example, 2020.04.11 – Suzie’s Graduation Party. I have to use two digits for all days and months so that way the space used is consistent and everything lines up in list mode. Again I say, I’m #OCD!

So, I want to know, what do you do for photo storage?! I’m always ears to what other people do!