It’s got to be one of the banes of my existence, dealing with back-ups and storage of my digital life. Photographs, make up the bulk of the work, and also the bulk of the stress. I also know I’m not alone. I’m not really sure why, since everyone talks about it, but there is just such a small percentage of photographers I know who have proper, efficient systems in place with adequate redundancy and contingency plans in regards to storage and filing of their digital images.
Maybe because it can get expensive, maybe because it’s not sexy, and maybe because we just can’t be bothered. Whatever the case is, its importance cannot be overstressed, and even though most people won’t see the fruits of this labor, it’s necessary. Like having nice underwear, this stuff matters.
Professional and celebrity photographer Michael Grecco has released a sort of intro video on how to think about the different storage solutions available, listing their strengths and weaknesses, and giving some words of advice on how to approach your own storage solution.
While many of you savvy ladies and gents reading this, will, no doubt, have some varying degree of understanding of the solutions discussed, it’s always interesting to see how working pros do it. It also seems that this is the first video in a series Michael will be putting out on the YouTube channel How To Archive. The next video will be about file naming, probably the part of filing I hate the most.
Further Thoughts
It’s somewhat clear that though it’s not the focus of the video, there is enough mention of a particular product to see it’s somewhat of a plug. That said, it’s not a bad one. ProStorage is a product that aids in the storage of…your storage. It’s essentially a an inexpensive closed cell, anti-static foam that protects your drive from static electricity and shock. It can secure 18 – 24 3.5” IDE/ATA/SATA hard drives as part of a cold storage system, and I like the idea.
You can find out more one their website, and can purchase them here. You can also look at and marvel Michael’s work on his site.
