Losing Photos Is a Career-Ending Event
A hard drive failure with undelivered wedding photos on it is not a bad day. It is a lawsuit. A ruined reputation. And a client whose memories are gone forever. Your backup strategy is not optional. It is as essential as your camera.
The 3-2-1 Rule
The industry standard for data protection:
- 3 copies of every file
- 2 different storage types (e.g., hard drive + cloud)
- 1 offsite copy (not in your home or studio)
This protects against: hardware failure (copy 2 saves you), fire or theft (offsite copy saves you), and accidental deletion (multiple copies save you).
The Backup Workflow
On Shoot Day
- Shoot to dual card slots if your camera supports it. One card is your immediate backup.
- Do not format cards until images are on at least two other storage devices.
- When you get home, copy files to your primary working drive.
- Immediately copy to a backup drive before you start editing.
During Editing
Your editing files (Lightroom catalog, working files) should live on your primary drive. Your backup drive mirrors the primary through automated backup software (Time Machine, Backblaze, Carbon Copy Cloner).
After Delivery
Once the gallery is delivered through creavio Collections:
- Verify the client has downloaded their files (check gallery analytics)
- Archive the final edited images to your long-term storage
- Keep RAW files for your retention period (1-2 years is standard)
- Upload the archive to cloud storage for offsite protection
Storage Solutions
Local Storage
- Primary working drive: Fast SSD for editing. 1-2 TB minimum.
- Backup drive: Larger HDD for mirroring. 4-8 TB.
- RAID or NAS: For studios with high volume. RAID 1 mirrors data across two drives automatically.
Cloud Storage
- Backblaze: Unlimited backup for $7/month. Backs up everything on your computer automatically.
- Google Drive: 2 TB for $10/month. Good for selective archive uploads.
- Amazon S3/Glacier: Cheapest per-TB for long-term archival storage.
What creavio Stores
Images uploaded to creavio Collections are stored on creavio's servers. This serves as an additional copy of your delivered images. However, creavio is a delivery platform, not a backup service. Do not rely on it as your only archive.
Retention Policy
Define how long you keep files and communicate it in your contract:
- Delivered galleries: Keep accessible in creavio for 6-12 months
- Edited images: Archive for 1-2 years minimum
- RAW files: Archive for 1 year, then delete (or keep longer if storage allows)
Add your retention policy to your creavio contract template. Clients should know that images are not stored forever.
Disaster Recovery Test
Once per quarter, test your backup:
- Pick a random session from last month
- Can you access the files from your backup drive?
- Can you access them from cloud storage?
- How long would recovery take if your primary drive died today?
If you cannot answer these questions confidently, your backup strategy has holes. Fix them before you need it.