FB Pixel

How to organize your client photos for a backup workflow and secure them safely

How to organize your client photos for a backup workflow and secure them safely

Backing up photos you work on for your clients, is an important step that often gets overlooked by photographers.

Backups do not necessarily need to be saved on a cloud-based system or a physical system in your home, office, or studio. But it could be a combination.

In this post, I will cover how to organize your client photos for a backup workflow that covers you from all angles!

I know that you really care about your images and each time you start a workflow with a new client, it is crucial to make sure you have a good backup plan ready.

This will make sure that your carefully crafted photographs are not lost or inaccessible. Let’s go through how best to backup your images – from organizing them so they’re easy to find and retrieve, to some creative ways to get around your computer’s hard drive and backing up some of your most valuable images.

Let’s get started!

Organize Your Photos

The very first step that we recommend for every photographer is to organize your images. This is more than just a good habit – it is absolutely necessary to make sure your images are easy to find and retrieve.

If you do not already have a good organizational system, this should be your first step. You can organize your images by location, event, or even by date.

One of the most common organizational methods is by date, and we like this method because you can easily find images.

Label Your Photos, Location, and Tagging

To really get the best from your backups you will need to label them, add them to a location system, and add some appropriate metadata.

I recommend adding some tags to your images so you can find certain key images easier. Tags are also great for making sure you can find your images even if they are organized by location.

You should also always include the date you took the photo so you don’t have to go digging through your files to find them or to know when you took that great shot.

If you don’t feel like adding keywords to every photo, consider Excire Foto or their Lightroom plugin, Excire Search, which uses AI to determine keywords and adds them to your image metadata in bulk.

Here is my organizational approach:

  • Every photo session is in a folder with the example Year / Month / Day
  • I then have a Collection Set for every type of photography I offer
    • Proposals
    • Headshots
    • Family
    • Cake Smash
  • At the same time as importing to Lightroom I have the photos go into the their own Collection within the appropriate Collection Set.
  • I add my own keywords and also utilize Excire Search to automate additional keywords.
  • I use an AI based culling apps, Imagen, to give me a heads start towards good star and color ratings.

It is also worth mentioning that I either use Nikon Snapbridge to automatically geotag all of my photos, or use the Map feature in Lightroom to map where the photo was made.

Note: Yes, I named AfterShoot’s mascots Cully and Eddy, and yes, I work for their competitor Imagen. Even if I did not work for Imagen, I would not be recommending AfterShoot to anyone for so many reasons.

Creative Backup Solutions

There are three main types of backup that every photographer should consider

  • One type is on a memory card, flash drive, or DVD.
  • Another type is an external device like an SSD, or Hard Drive.
  • Then there are network devices, called NAS and DAS.
  • Finally, there are cloud backup solutions.

I recommend mixing multiple types of backups, but if you are tight on time or cash you will want to find a solution that will yield the most protection.

Memory, Flash or DVD

Your camera’s memory card is a perfect hot-swap-style backup solution. But it could get pricey depending on your client load.

You would first import your client photos from the memory card to your computer’s hard drive or wherever your photos live to access regularly.

Creative Backup Solutions

Then, you would take that memory card with the original RAW files, and store them safely in a safe or dry box or wherever you want.

The downside to this approach is you are buying a new memory card for every client job you do. The upside is this type of storage takes of very little physical space and has a very low failure rate.

This principal could also work with flash (or thumb) drives and DVDs. That is if you have a DVD writer/reader. (I personally do not)

SSD or Hard Drive

Using a portable drive for regular backups is a great idea for a few reasons. One is that it doesn’t take up space on your desk, which can be handy if you’re limited on physical space. The other is that it’s portable; you can take it with you when you travel.

You can also use a portable drive to back up your images to your computer. This is a great way to take images off your camera and put them into another device.

You can also pick up multiple drives at a lost cost and even clone them for redundancy

Then there are desktop external drives. These are larger, contain fans for cooling, but are not meant to be brought with you. They are designed to live in one space and stay there.

My personal backup solution has three desktop external drives cloned to each other for redundancy. But we’ll get to that later.

Network Drive

The next type of backup is slightly more advanced and financial much higher in cost.

NAS or DAS drives are worth considering if you do high-volume work and need A LOT of redundant storage.

I personally use Synology NAS devices but QNAP also makes fantastic products. NAS stands for Network Attached Storage. These will connect to your network with an ethernet cable. So all the data is transmitted through a wired connection for the fastest speeds.

Sure, some NAS devices offer wireless transmission but it is much slower.

DAS is similar to a NAS but also offers high-speed connections directly to a computer. DAS stands for Direct Attached Storage. QNAP makes an entire line of DAS devices, but typically DAS is more extensive than a NAS.

NAS storage is commonly best used for archival storage that isn’t needing to be accessed for real-time editing regularly.

Because a DAS has faster read and writes speeds, those could be used for real-time and archival purposes.

Finally, there is another type of NAS, called an Unraid server. This is definitely more complicated than an out-of-the-box Synology or QNAP NAS. But watch this podcast video to learn about Unraid.

Cloud Storage

Internal and external (but local) backups are essential to a striving photography business and safe backups.

But at the time of writing this, in 2022, cloud storage is affordable and easily accessible to everyone.

Companies like Amazon, Google, Backblaze, and others have cloud services available for backing up your photographs.

I personally use Backblaze’s cloud storage because it is automated for me and is very affordable.

If you have a NAS from Synology you can actually automate backing up your local archives to the cloud as well (to Backblaze B2 and Amazon Glacier).

Like I said earlier – combining local and cloud together will offer the ultimate redundancy and security of your client’s work.

Update: August 7, 2023

Imagen now offers cloud backups as part of its seamless post-processing app workflow. Now while your photos are uploading in the background to cull and/or edit, they are backing up to a highly secured cloud server.

Imagen offers three types of backups:

  1. Low-resolution which is free for all paying Imageners.
  2. Original high-resolution which does not change the original file in any way. These obviously take up the most space.
  3. Optimized high-resolution, which does lossy compression to DNG format. This offers the same image quality as the original version but with less file size.

My Backup Workflow

I am writing and publishing this early January 2022 because I want to clearly share exactly what I am doing to backup my personal photographs and client photographs as we come to the new year.

Earlier I shared how I organize all my photographs. That has not changed in nearly 20 years.

But my backup workflow changes as technology changes and improves.

Here is my backup system.

  • My original RAW files are storaged on a Thunderbolt 3 RAID drive from G-Technology (now owned by Sandisk)
  • Update on August 7 2023: RAW files are securely backed up during the culling process through Imagen’s new Cloud Backup feature.
  • I use Carbon Copy Clone (MacOS) to clone that main drive to two other drives, which are exactly the same but purchased a few months apart.
    • One of those drives is stored in my office and is updated weekly (automatically)
    • The other is stored a couple of streets over at my in-law’s house and is updated once a month.
  • I then use Backblaze to backup my Mac computer’s internal drive, Lightroom Catalog file and all of my external drives automatically.

Currently, I do not use a Synology as a local archive of my RAW files, but it is in my plan for 2022. I am just waiting on a really good deal on an 8 or 12 bay Synology.

I am currently using a 6 bay Synology for backing up all my family photos from our phones.

For a while, I was also using Google Photos to back up JPGs of all my photos but stopped when Google began charging for its storage.

While my photos are being culled and edited by Imagen, I also have Imagen backing up my photos using the Optimized High-Resolution option.

So there you go – tips, advice, and a real-world example of my method.

What do you think?

Have your own advice to share?

Comment and let me know.

Share this with friends:

Join the Community

Sign up and join the thousands of other photographers on your journey to success. be the first to know about fresh content, special offers and so much more.

What's your name?
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.


The Workflows Photography Podcast

Workflows is a photography podcast about saving you time and money in your photography business. Tune in to hear stories, strategies, and tools that can be your rock.

Photo Breakdown Podcast cover image

Ever wondered what photographers really think about the latest gear, trends, and the stories behind their favorite shots? Photo Breakdown takes you behind the lens and into the minds of today’s top photographers, offering bite-sized episodes packed with insider insights, gear debates, and industry buzz.

Flodesk Partner
Sprout Studio Ambassador
ambassador
Spider Holster Ambassador

Comments

18 responses to “How to organize your client photos for a backup workflow and secure them safely”

  1. This article brilliantly encapsulates the importance of a robust backup workflow for photographers. The practical tips on organizing and labeling photos are particularly valuable. Thank you for sharing your insights!

  2. Donna19 Avatar

    Backup is very importan! I never think to use cloud but now I will try it.

  3. Vstevens Avatar
    Vstevens

    Thank u for explaining the differnt backups. I always confuse about them.

    1. Me too, Vstevens! This helps alot.

    2. Carole86 Avatar

      Same here, now I know which one is better for me.

  4. Mia89 Avatar

    Great article, my photos always get lost. Need better plan.

    1. Jackson86 Avatar
      Jackson86

      Totally agree, lost so many pics b4. Will def try this.

    2. Edwards Henry Avatar
      Edwards Henry

      Yeah Mia89, same here. now I know what to do with them.

  5. Walsh Matilda Avatar
    Walsh Matilda

    Wow, this is super useful tips!! I always confuse where to put photos. Now I know how to orgnize them better.

  6. “Creative Backup Solutions” is such an essential topic for modern photographers. Your detailed breakdown encourages thoughtful planning and adaptability.

  7. Quinn Avatar

    The blend of practical advice with personal experience makes this article a compelling read; it resonates well with anyone striving to improve their photographic business!

  8. Eleanor Avatar
    Eleanor

    An exceptional guide! The emphasis on combining various backup solutions really highlights the necessity of redundancy in safeguarding our precious work. I especially appreciate the mention of AI tools for tagging photos. Very innovative!

    1. Serena Avatar

      I couldn’t agree more, Eleanor! The integration of technology into photography workflows is indeed fascinating and helps streamline processes remarkably.

    2. Aaliyah Avatar

      Absolutely! It’s encouraging to see such practical advice that embraces both creativity and technology in equal measure.

  9. Pippa Avatar

    What an enlightening read! Your organizational approach is refreshingly systematic, providing clarity in what can often be a chaotic process for many photographers.

    1. Thalia Avatar

      Indeed, Pippa! A well-structured workflow can significantly enhance efficiency and peace of mind when handling client images.

    2. Well said, Pippa! It’s remarkable how organization can elevate the overall quality of one’s photographic practice.

  10. Wwatson Avatar

    Loved the idea of mixing different types of backups!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *