Image Storage, Part 1

I normally post once a week, however since a couple of readers have asked for information on online image storage I’ll add a couple of posts. I’ll cover online storage next week – First it would be practical to discuss storage methods period. I’ve been accused of being a bit overprotective of my images, both film & data. It is probably genetic – I can go to a file in one of my closets & pull the negatives my father stored from the 1939 NY World’s Fair.

Still, I’ll bet that most of you could find the negatives or slides from pictures you took years ago. Well, I didn’t say easily, but they are probably in a box in the back of a closet and if you had to dig them out it could happen. If you want to be able to do the same with your digital images you will need to develop an active archiving system. As computers change disk operating systems, file systems, media storage types and as image formats change it becomes possible, even likely that even if you found an old set of data containing your images you might not be able to retrieve them. My favorite example is pulling out an 8″floppy disk & asking a group if anyone has a system that can read it. Even though most people don’t even know what it is, the 8″floppy was a valid storage method during the mid ’70s. Again, I can easily find & use slides or negatives from the 70’s and earlier but I would find it impossible (or at least very expensive) to pull an image off an 8″floppy.

There are advantages to digital images over film in that it is possible to make as many exact copies of a digital image as you need. With film there is only one original. The problem – while film is a physical object, your data doesn’t form an image until you read it. To keep those millions of 1’s & 0’s capable of rendering an image you need to do more than tossing them in the back of a drawer.

Some basic rules for archiving images:

• Always save the original from your camera at full resolution & uncompressed.
• Always have more than one copy of every image.
• If at all possible store your images on two different types of media.
• Keep at least one copy in another location.
• Before getting rid of your old computer system, check that the data formats & hardware you are using to store your images will work with any new computer you purchase.

Click “Read the rest of this entry” for my storage methods & more.

An example: I store my images on two different hard drives. When they fill up I purchase two larger drives, copy the files from the old drives to the new ones, store the old drives, and start filling the new drives with my latest images. One of the old drives stays at home, the other is stored off site. Every so often, I connect the old drives to insure they are still OK. So far, external hard drive sizes have increased and prices decreased so that I have been able to continue this – I’m current filling a couple of 500GB drives. When Apple changed from SCSI drives to Firewire I switched both the old & new drives. In addition, ever month or so I burn DVDs of the new images. Why? Sure sounds like overkill! Well, I have had hard drives fail, and as part of my Red Cross Disaster Services interviews with fire clients, found that the possessions they miss the most after a fire are their photographs.

Because digital cameras don’t have a film cost most users take many more pictures than they did with film & have a lot more to lose if the files are no longer available. I have to admit that I probably take more images than the casual photographer, but I’m sure your photographs are just as important to you as mine are to me. Why not take some of that savings you didn’t spend on film & invest it in file storage!

For those that do not have a computer, or don’t want to carry one when traveling, there are storage devices that hold thousands of images. Photography Review compares a number of them. Since they are usually based on 2.5″ hard drives, I am only comfortable using them as temporary storage but if you don’t want a computer (or to carry one in the field) it is one possibility. A quick note – you can purchase a laptop with a larger drive for less than the price of many of these devices.

Another possibility is to have CDs made of your images at a photo kiosk at your local camera store, drug store, Target or Walmart. Not all offer the service but many will make a CD from your camera or storage card. Be sure that the CD is a exact copy, not reduced in image size or with added compression.

You can also purchase multiple storage cards for your camera & treat them like film, that is don’t reuse them. As I stated in another post, I would not purchase one huge card – you stand to lose too much if something goes wrong. Multiple 1GB or 2GB cards will hold many images. Some problems – no one knows what to expect as a long term storage limit for memory cards. Also, since most cards don’t have a write protect tab like floppy disks, it is awfully easy to put a used card in your camera & record over the old images. I don’t recommend using your memory cards for long term storage, but I can attest to the fact that they survive a trip through a washer & dryer far better than a roll of film (Don’t ask how I know!)

Next week I’ll add an entry with some information about online storage.