Q & A
Question: I think I want a NAS. I’m pretty confident about that. But I have no idea how to go about setting one up or buying everything! How do I actually set one up!?
Kyle: Most of the top brands of NAS systems, (Qnap, Synolgy) are trying to be user friendly. You should be able to purchase the NAS system and disks, insert the disks, plug into your router and then follow a provided setup guide.
Question: What does your "always in at least 2 to places from start to finish” process look like with your RAW files?
Savannah:
GB SD Card / Multiple Smaller CF cards
GB SD Card / Multiple Smaller CF Cards / Laptop Hard Drive
GB SD Card / Multiple Smaller CF Cards / Laptop Hard Drive / NAS
GB SD Card / Laptop Hard Drive / NAS
GB SD Card / NAS
Question: How long do you keep RAW files?
Savannah: Contractually, I do not promise to keep the RAW files beyond gallery delivery but I do obviously try to as long as I can. At this point, I have all of my RAW files from June and earlier. At the end of , I plan to delete ’s RAWs. My contract states that it is the client’s responsibility to download, backup and preserve their JPEG files and I do offer a few solutions and guidance to help them do this. It also states that their gallery will be online for 6 months following the release date and I will keep the JPEG files for days following gallery release.
Question: I’m so hesitant to wipe my cards even though I have mirrored externals AND cloud backup. Help!
Savannah: You shouldn’t be nervous about this because it sounds like you’re doing everything right. Obviously freak accidents happen and that’s where having a strong contract and a great client relationship are really important. If you’re shooting on dual cards and still nervous, try waiting until about 7 days after you deliver the final gallery to the client and then format the backup card. I know we’re all worried about the client asking about random photos you may have culled out but you have to just be confident in your culling and make sure you have an image selection clause in your contract (stating that the final say is always yours). You’ve got this!!
Question: What is the best way to back everything up so that you can confidently clear your cards?
Kyle: At least two places, all the way through gallery delivery! That’s the only way.
Question: Why and how do you use a new Lightroom Catalog every single time?
Savannah: I know a lot of photographers use the same Lightroom Catalog for everything. They’ll use labeling or collections to sort their jobs/images and just constantly use that same catalog. DONT. DO. THIS. You’re again, putting all of your eggs in one basket. While this doesn’t affect the protection of your RAW files, it does affect your workflow. If your Lightroom Catalog gets corrupted (which is much more likely when it’s dealing with that heavy data load), you’ll have to re-ediit not just the current session or wedding but everything you haven’t delivered so far. If you’re doing this, it’s also almost impossible to outsource your editing. Most services and editors require you to use a new catalog every time. It’s just the smart and safe thing to do! From there, you can use collections to sort things like sneak peeks, blog images, vendor images, etc.
Question: Long term storage of 1+ year, what is the safest option?
Kyle + Savannah: Cloud storage would be the safest and therefore the best but evaluate different companies to see which meet your need and budget most (Dropbox, Backblaze, CrashPlan, AWS, Google Drive). It really depends on what you mean by long-term storage. There is definitely a difference in the way you should store data that you need to access frequently vs. data you just want to offload but can’t get rid of completely. If it’s the first, I would suggest cloud storage or a NAS. If it’s the second, cold storage, I would suggest researching Amazon Glacier or finding your own DAS solution.
As photographers, uploading GB+ of raw files can be really difficult, time consuming and expensive. So you need to weigh how much you’re shooting and if this would even be feasible for you considering your upload speeds and the cost. Even though we have very fast upload speeds, this wouldn’t be feasible for me and that’s why I choose to go the route of the NAS + my extra workflow incorporations.
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