WHAT I DO NOW
I shoot directly onto two SD cards.
My camera has two slots: one records RAW, the other JPG. If one card suddenly fails, it’s not a problem at all. By the way, that’s also why I use cards with small capacity — it’s better to have lots of small cards than one large one that could fail and wipe everything out.
I copy the files from the cards straight to two external hard drives.
Yes, I make two copies — learned from bitter experience. Now I store everything twice. If one drive fails, I always have an identical backup.
I delete files from the cards, but I don’t empty the trash.
Because in case absolutely EVERYTHING fails, my Mac will faithfully keep the files in its trash. Out of all the tech I use, that little bin is probably the most reliable backup buddy.
After delivering photos, I always recommend clients also store them in several places.
On the computer + on a USB stick + on Google Drive + in iCloud. You get the idea: the more storages, the better. Of course, I also keep my archives, but as I said at the start — archives aren’t forever either. And knowing the responsibility, especially when it comes to weddings, there’s no other way for me now. One careless mistake can ruin your reputation, and a wedding day can never be repeated. Honestly, I know I wouldn’t survive the shame.
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