Preserve Your Memories

          

I’m a person who loves photography and videography. I have always derived a great deal of joy from documenting both special and everyday events. I have accumulated an enormous amount of photo and video information over the years. In order to enjoy these special memories, they must be easy to find and reference. I thought I would share the way that I have found to archive, back up, preserve and store my precious images. I hope it will assist you in organizing your own collections.

My first cardinal rule is that I never delete the photos or videos from the camera until I have them backed up in at least two places.
1.    On the appropriate labeled computer file and.
2.    On a DVD archival disc.
3.    Where video is concerned I also burn a viewable home movie disc in addition to the computer back up and the archived raw data DVD. Well worth the extra step.
Once I have the data backed up ONLY THEN will I format my camera.

 

So where do you start?
Pick a drive on your computer to house your media files. Make sure the drive is large enough to accommodate the space needed for video and photo files. I recommend investing in an external drive for media if possible. The prices have recently dropped considerably making even a terabyte drive, which stores a thousand gigabytes very affordable.
I have developed four Folders within my external media drive.
 
1.Video Archives
2.Video NEW
3.Photo Archive
4.Photo New
 
In the two folders marked VIDEO NEW and PHOTO NEW I place data that has NOT yet be archived by burning it on to a DVD and that has NOT been erased from camera yet.

I use these folders as holding tanks and I like to get my data backed up in these folders (ASAP) as soon as the event or trip is over, just in case of a camera mishap, loss or damage.

The two key folders are always the VIDEO ARCHIVE and PHOTO ARCHIVE folders
In my archive folders I break down the entries by year for easy reference.
I like to archive my information by date, I always have done it that way and it works for me.
It looks like this

(Folder in your Drive) PHOTO ARCHIVE

(sub folder of photo archive) 2006

(sub folder of 2006) 2006 1 New Years Day

(file of 2006 1 New Years Day) dsc9753 files photo pertains to 2006 1 new Years Day

(file of 2006 1 New Years Day) dsc9754 files photo pertains to 2006 1 new Years Day

(sub folder) 2006   2  trip to California
(sub folder) 2006   2 Valentines Day .

(sub folder of photo archive) 2007
(sub folder of 2007) 2007   4 Road trip April in NYC
(sub folder of 2007) 2007   6 Wildflowers in June  MD.

(sub folder of photo archive) 2008

(sub folder of photo archive) 2009

(sub folder of photo archive) 2010

 

Note: the number following the year indicates the month the photos were taken so
1-12 =Jan.-Dec It serves to keep the photos in date order within any given year.

       This system also works very well for old photos. As you scan your old photos they can be filed by year or even by decade depending on how many old photos you need to archive.

It is also a good idea to store your archived data discs or additional copies of them with a family member or friend in a different location. If the unthinkable happens and you experience a fire, flood or robbery you will still have your precious photos and videos secured for the future