Business Photography

The 3-2-1 Backup Rule Saved My Business (And Why Most Photographers Are Still One Hard Drive Away From Disaster)
Business & Workflow

The 3-2-1 Backup Rule Saved My Business (And Why Most Photographers Are Still One Hard Drive Away From Disaster)

My twins deleted a folder of client proofs when they were seven years old. I had the files back in 90 seconds. Not because I’m some kind of IT wizard, but because I’d built a backup system that treated data loss as inevitable rather than unlikely. That single folder represented about four hours of culling and editing. Without the backup, I’d have been rescheduling the client, re-editing from scratch, and explaining to a stranger why I wasn’t as professional as my website suggested.

The 3-2-1 Backup Rule Isn't Enough: How I Protect 10 Years of Client Work From a Single Point of Failure
Business & Workflow

The 3-2-1 Backup Rule Isn't Enough: How I Protect 10 Years of Client Work From a Single Point of Failure

My twins were seven years old when they figured out how to use my editing workstation. I walked back into my office one afternoon to find them proudly showing each other something on the screen, and my stomach dropped when I saw the folder they’d been clicking through. A full set of client proofs, 340 selects from a corporate headshot session, gone. Dragged to the trash and emptied, with that cheerful little crunching sound macOS makes.

The 3-2-1 Backup Rule Isn't Enough Anymore: A Working Photographer's Real Workflow
Business & Workflow

The 3-2-1 Backup Rule Isn't Enough Anymore: A Working Photographer's Real Workflow

My twins are nine years old. A few months ago, one of them got curious about my editing machine while I was making coffee. By the time I got back to my desk, a folder of client proofs, about 340 JPEGs destined for a corporate headshot delivery the next morning, was sitting in the Trash. Emptied. Gone from the primary drive. I had them restored from a local backup in 90 seconds.