Many people hear all of the time that they should back up their images, but they never get around to it because they either forget or think that a computer failure couldn’t happen to them. Some people never are told to until it’s too late. I’m encouraging you to change this ASAP! It’s so so important. I learned my lesson the hard way years ago.

When I was 13, my family took a dream vacation to the Caribbean. We went to a couple of beautiful islands and had great experiences. Digital cameras were still a new technology and it was a big deal that we had one. We took hundreds of photos of our trip because it was so gorgeous and we wanted to remember it forever. Once we got home, we loaded them on the computer, erased the memory card and got back to our regular lives. A few months later, we went out of town to San Francisco for a few days…then came home to a dead computer that wouldn’t respond and had a fried hard drive. All of the photos of our dream trip and tons of other really important photographs were gone forever. It was heart breaking and we rarely can even discuss that trip because it’s so sad now. If only we had known to back up our images.

One of our two photos. This is full sized so we can’t even make a good 4×6 print from it.

Nowadays, I back things up like crazy both for myself and my clients. I back up my images usually in at least two, but oftentimes three, places. My main method for backing up priceless memories is through external hard drives. Hard drives used to be really expensive but prices go down every day and even if you have to spend $50-$100, it’s not even comparable to how much it would cost emotionally to lose all of your photos.

When it comes to hard drives, there are many different options when it comes to size, brand, where to buy, and price. I’ll address these below:

Brand: My two favorite brands are Seagate and Western Digital. I own about 6 hard drives from these companies and have never had a problem with any of them.

Size: The size you’ll need to store all of your photos really depends on a lot of factors, including how large each photo is, how many you have, etc. I would say though that for the average person, a 250GB-320GB drive would be a perfect size and would have extra room for future photos or for you to store extra files there. Pictured below is a great example of a 250GB hard drive that you can purchase (here) from Newegg for $45. That’s a great price in my opinion.

Where to buy: The two places I buy hard drives from are Newegg and Amazon.com. Tons and tons of retailers sell them, but those two are my favorite and usually have the lowest prices I’ve been able to find for a certain product.

Another great way to back up some of your most important photos is through an online storage company called Dropbox (click the name for a link to sign-up.) I use Dropbox on almost a daily basis to store important documents and to send photos to family and friends. The best part about Dropbox is that it’s super easy to use, a 2GB account is free, and if you sign up through this link, you will get an extra 250MB added to your account. Since the basic account is free, I think everyone should be using it to store their most important things. The benefit of storing online as opposed to storing photos on a hard drive is that nothing can happen to the online storage that could happen to the hard drive (hard drive failure, floods, fire, burglary, etc. that could happen to an object inside your home.) This is why I use both methods to back things up because I want to be protected no matter what. In addition to the 2GB free account, Dropbox also offers paid accounts with much more space.

I know that was a long post and you’ve probably heard it before, but I just don’t want to see another friend go through what I went through when it can be so easily prevented! Please don’t put it off. Protecting your digital images and memories is so worth the small time commitment and investment because just imagine how it would feel if you lost it all.

Congrats Ryan & Angela for having such fabulous details and a beautiful wedding! Personal details are one of my favorite ways for weddings to be unique and to really make it feel special.

Here’s a link so you can read their story yourself: Click Here

With this being said, I just got my new sample album in the other day and I am SO excited to share it with you! This thing is gorgeous!!

Every cover features a metal cameo of the couple…it looks fabulous in person!

This thing is fabulous when you hold it in your hands. If you just HAVE to have one of these spectacular albums for yourself then go click the “Contact” tab above and shoot me an email about your wedding!

Happy Monday! :)

Introducing the 2010 Family holiday session promo!

My available dates for portrait sessions in the Fall sure book up quickly. This promo will be valid until all of the session dates are filled.

FOR NEW CLIENTS: If you send me an email (allison [at]  allisonbessblog [dot] com) and book your session before SEPTEMBER 1st (the session can take place on any date between now and December 6th) then you will receive a free pack (25 cards) of customized holiday cards with your favorite photo from the session!

FOR RETURNING CLIENTS: Book a family session ANY TIME before December 6th and you get a free pack of customized holiday cards too! This includes anyone who has paid for a photo session with Allison (whether it be a previous senior session, or a previous family session, etc.)

These holiday cards are beautifully designed 5×7 double-sided cards with envelopes included. They are printed on high-quality paper and aren’t like the kind you can get from Walmart. ;)

Email me for more info, if you have any questions or if you want to schedule a session!

Here’s a little video to sell you on the greatness:

Also, I have a discount code that will get you $10 off of the price! Just enter: ALLSWS485 before you purchase!

I don’t think that I could say enough good things about the product and the people over at ProPhoto. They are so friendly and the customer support is incredible!

I’d love to hear what you all think about the new look in the comments section below :)

Happy Wednesday!!

Other exciting news is that I got a new email!! It’s allison[at]allisonbessblog[dot]com. So if I’m in your address book, please change it, though I’ll continue to check my old email for a few more weeks! If you ever forget it and can’t find this post, I’ve put my email in the blue bar above.

The new blog is still a work in progress but I’m super excited it’s up and working. Let me know what you guys think!

My family sessions aren’t shot in a studio. We will go on location to wherever you want! My style is simple and relaxed. I want to show your family in a natural environment so your portraits are more “you.”

In the next few weeks, I will also make a post showing off some cool family greeting card options!

If you are interested in scheduling a family portrait session, send me an email at allisonswisher@hotmail.com!

When you have a photo session with me, you have a few options for your photos but one of them is getting them printed through me at my lab. The metallic prints are my favorite ☺ but they have tons of paper choices! Another product I’m going to offer through them is printed cards for graduation announcements, etc. They’re two sided and I’ve made up a few different designs so far and below are a few samples of the front sides! If you order them, you can use one of the designs I’ve already made or I can make custom ones for you in different colors. I’m pretty excited about how they’re turning out!

Here are some sample shots: