Oh S**t! Must-Have Back Up Systems for Photographers

I just got home from a shoot, plugged my SD card into my computer – and it had failed.

I feel sick. My heart is racing.  In 5 years of business, photographing hundreds of families every year, this is the first time I’ve ever had an SD card fail.

But despite the panic, I was ok. I knew my systems would save me. I’ve often wondered if my “belt and braces” approach to things was a bit OTT. Tonight showed me it’s not.

I managed to get the SD card to work and recovered my RAW files. But it was a great lesson that my backup systems are there for a reason.

So here are my back up systems – just in case they help you too…

1. Shooting to 2 SD cards

I shoot simultaneously to a second SD card. It’s 512GB and records JPEG copies. If my primary card was unreadable, I have a backup.

2. Insurance

If you’re shooting for money, you need insurance. Not only for your kit, in case of accidents or malfunctions, but also public liability, income protection, and workers compensation (if you hire any employees or contractors).

3. A contract

Again, if you’re exchanging photography services for cash, you need a contract. It doesn’t have to be complicated, but it needs to be signed for every job.

4. Multiple Hard Drives
I have at least two hard drives on which I store copies of shortlisted RAWs and edited JPEGs.

5. Off-Site Storage
I store copies of full hard drives off-site at a relative’s house.

4. Cloud Back Up
I use Adobe Cloud, BackBlaze, and PicTime as cloud backups of my RAW and edited files.

6. Spare Kit
I have one spare camera body, at least one spare lens, spare batteries and spare SD cards at every shoot, in case one fails.

7. A Community
I have cultivated a strong community of photographers. If I ever needed someone to step in last minute, I know they would (and I have for them in the past).

Do you have backup systems in place at every step of your process? What am I missing?