Do you ever hear stories like the poor couple who’s photographer’s SD cards got corrupted on the day and they lost all their wedding photos?

 What about the story of the wedding photographer who’s car got stolen and the SD cards were inside…. or the photographer who had uploaded the photo’s to their computer and then it blew up during mid editing? 

In all these instances… the photos (your precious memories) could have been saved, not lost, not stolen and could have stuck around for years to come.

I thought I would write a bit of a blog post about what questions you should seriously ask your photographer before booking when it comes to the security of your photos and a checklist of 10 things every professional photographer should have in place to ensure the safe keeping of your precious memories.

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10 Questions you should ask your wedding photographer regarding the security of your images

What kind of cameras do you use?

How many camera’s do you operate with on the day?

What happens if your SD cards get corrupted?

How do you ensure the safety of my images before handover day?

What kind of backup system do you have?

What happens if your camera gets wet?

What happens if your camera/camera’s get stolen on the day?

When do you upload the photos to your computer?

What if your hard drive’s fail?

Does your second shooter keep the images on the day or do you?

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There are many more questions you could ask but these are the most important!

These are your once in a lifetime memories!

10 things your wedding photographer should have in place to secure your memories 

External cloud based storage or external hard drives. When I am talking about external, I mean not in their physical house or office and I say hard drives as they should have more than 1….

More than 1 camera handy on the day

A professional DSLR or mirrorless camera with dual SD card slots (this means it writes to 2 cards and not just 1)

A professional contract with their 2nd shooter where the main shooter and most importantly, the one who will be handing over the photos/editing them has access to all the photos to provide all the photos taken by them on the day.

Removal of the SD cards if they stop on the way home from your wedding for a coffee…

Insurance on their contents in their car.. so they can at least pay you back your money for the memories they lost + interest (if they refuse to follow the step above…)

A professional enough camera that it is at least semi water tight for those rainy days where the camera could blow up because it’s super soaked. That also means your SD cards and memories could be compromised. An umbrella usually does the trick or a professional wet weather cover that is suited to their camera. Don’t ask your photographer to stand out in the rain with no protection for them, you are risking your memories. Be smart and be sensible and remember that at the end of the day, it’s an electronic device that it holding photos of your day.

Have a system in place where the photos they take on that day, are on their computer the same day. SD cards can get lost, they are small, thin and easy to fall down behind cupboards, get trodden on and the chips can be damaged quite easily. If they are on the computer at least, it won’t matter if the SD card gets damaged.

Again, I stress that they should have the proper insurances…

They should be vigilant with their equipment on the day. I have heard a couple of stories where the photographer left their bag of cameras next to that building over there, while they were shooting the couple over here and the bag got stolen by a passerby and can you believe it… a wedding guest. There goes the memories of your day IF they had not secured the used SD cards onto their own self and left them sitting out there to be stolen.

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Most of the time… a client would not even be aware of most of these points and would just assume their photographer has it under control.

Don’t assume… EVER

Once your memories are lost… they are gone.

The moment you hugged your granny and she died a week later…. gone

The moment your father walks you down the aisle… gone

ANY professional wedding photographer would not be offended being asked these questions either and if they are, then you would seriously need to question the integrity of the safety of your images on the day and after your special, once in a lifetime day….

Have any other questions, you want answered or me to write about?

Send me your questions and topics here at diana@dianamphotography.com.au

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Written by Diana Maddeford – any copying of this script, written sentence or republication must be at the approval of DianaM Photography or Diana Maddeford ©