How to store a large amount of photos. The Best External Hard Drives for Photographers

Don't risk your photos - upload and store them on a secure cloud service. Today we will check the top 6 of them to find the best place for storing photos. Backing up your photos isn't likely to make you excited, but rather to remember how boring it was when it meant wasting a lot of time burning photos to CDs.

Fortunately, keeping your photos safe has become much easier now thanks to various cloud services. “Cloud” is simply online storage in technical jargon. You can choose from numerous sites that offer 1GB to 1TB of free disk space on your remote hard drive.

Backing up to the cloud not only saves you the hassle of burning files onto CDs or hard drives, but it also allows you to access your photos from anywhere you have internet access.

Another bonus of using cloud storage is the ability to share photos; for example, Flickr allows users to not only view your photo, but also leave a comment under it.

Of course, if you prefer to keep your photos private, most services make it easy to set access restrictions so that your photos can only be seen by you or those with whom you share the private link.

So, to determine the best cloud service, we compared 6 of the best: three aimed at photographers and another three for general use.

2 GB

Dropbox is great for storing any type of file. The organization of files is made in the form of an intuitive system of folders, which you can access not only from your computer, but also from your mobile device: the service has official applications for IOS, Android and Blackberry.

All this and 2 GB of storage are provided absolutely free with a standard Dropbox account. The Pro account already offers 1TB of disk space, but will cost the user $9.99 or $99.99 per month or year, respectively. In addition, for each friend you invite to the service, you receive an additional 500 MB for free.

While Dropbox is an excellent service for its versatility and ease of use, it ultimately lacks the socialization interface that Flickr, for example, has. Perhaps, if the Dropbox developers add the ability to exchange opinions on hosted files, this service can be called the best.

Pros: Ease of use and the ability to save files of almost any type.

Minuses: In terms of cost and social capabilities, it is inferior to Flickr.

Verdict: The best service for storing files of various formats.

Rating: 5/5

Best cloud service for storing photos: 02 Google Drive

Amount of free disk space: 15 GB

Google Drive isn't just another cloud storage service, it's also a service with several free office apps. Like Dropbox, Google Drive is focused on file sharing, allowing multiple users to edit publicly shared files.

You can also store photos on this service, but it won't offer you the same sleek or user-friendly interface as other more photo-focused online storage services.

By default, the user is offered 15GB of free storage space, which can be expanded up to 100GB for $1.99 per month or up to 1TB for $9.99 per month.

pros: Cloud storage is integrated with several useful applications.

Minuses: Mastering the functions of the service may seem complicated at first glance and takes some time.

Verdict: Excellent storage with ample capabilities, but the organization of storing and displaying photos is too primitive.

Rating: 4/5

Best cloud service for storing photos: 03 Microsoft OneDrive

Amount of free disk space: 15 GB

Microsoft's cloud storage offers a set of capabilities very similar to those offered by its main competitor, Google Drive. Everyone who is familiar with the package Microsoft Office With OneDrive's built-in office apps, you'll feel right at home.

The design and organization of work in OneDrive is similar to Windows 8, so it’s quite easy to navigate. Still, the service isn't designed exclusively for photographers, so don't expect the same photo browsing experience as Flickr.

Prices are close to Google's: 15GB is free, 100GB is $1.99 per month. But 1 TB is cheaper than Google - only $6.99 per month, plus for this money you also get the Office 365 software package. So, this is perhaps a very profitable option.

Pros: The Pro subscription is cheaper than Google's service.

Minuses: Viewing photos is not as well organized as that of competitors.

Verdict: good balance between versatility and cost.

Rating: 4/5

Best cloud service for storing photos: 04 Flickr

Amount of free disk space: 1 TB

Where most cloud storage providers tell you to fork out for a few gigabytes of storage space, Flickr offers an entire terabyte for free, covering its costs through unobtrusive advertising. If you want to turn off advertising (although it is virtually invisible and not disruptive), you can activate this feature for $50 per year.

What also sets Flickr apart from its competitors is its ability to display photos in a beautiful photo stream.

Other users can track your work updates and comment on them. Or you can choose to block access to your photos, making them completely private.

Flickr is still more focused on displaying rather than storing your photos, so it can only display images in JPEG, GIF and PNG formats. If you need to download RAW, Dropbox is the best solution.

Pros: Ideal for organizing and displaying a huge portfolio of photos.

Minuses: There is no option to store RAW.

Verdict: Excellent free storage of huge size for those who are not embarrassed by the need to store photos only in JPEG.

Rating: 5/5

Best Cloud Photo Storage Service: 05 Adobe Revel

Amount of free disk space: 2 GB

Revel is a photo storage service that offers attractive image galleries. Shared libraries allow you and your friends to store photos together, and at the same time, you can make any of your photos private.

The service has the ability to integrate with Elements; in addition, Revel itself has tools for quick editing.

Easy to download thanks to the official apps for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android.

Revel has support for RAW formats.

For the first 30 days of using Revel, you can upload an unlimited number of files, then the free subscription limits you to 50 files per month. This limitation is removed by purchasing a Pro subscription that costs $5.99 per month.

Pros: Great for storing photos and video files.

Minuses: There are restrictions for free subscriptions. Download speed may be slow.

Verdict: A worthy representative of an online storage center focused on photographs.

Rating: 4/5

Best cloud service for storing photos: 06 Canon irista

Amount of free disk space: 10 GB

We have already talked about this more than once. Irista was developed by Canon to compete with Flickr and Revel.

This service supports downloading JPEG and RAW images, is easy to use, and offers ample opportunities filter images by camera and lens brand, shooting date, tags or EXIF ​​data.

Users are offered two subscription options: a free account with 10GB of storage, or 50GB for £4.49 and 100GB for £9.99 per month.

Pros: Attractive interface. Good integration with social networks. A large number of filters.

Minuses: Additional disk space is quite expensive.

Verdict: A service with excellent features, but too high a cost.

Rating: 3/5

5 Things to Consider When Choosing Cloud Photo Storage

Free disk space

Most services offer the user some amount of disk space for free, charging a monthly or annual fee for additional space. Prices vary widely from service to service, so when choosing storage, make sure you're getting a good deal.

Supported File Formats

Also the question is where is it better to store photos in in electronic format relevant not only for photographers. Today, every second person always has a smartphone with a built-in camera. Some fans take dozens of photographs every day. And for a photographer, sometimes it’s also faster to take out his phone and catch a random funny shot than to take out his own camera, turn it on, set it up, and miss an interesting shot.

This article is made short review cloud storages from 2015, which I actively use myself.

Dropbox

Dropbox is the first cloud storage I started using, which is why it comes first in this article. Dropbox is far from the largest cloud storage where you can store photos on the Internet.

They provide only 2 gigabytes of space for free. Today this is very little for storing photos. But I use it out of habit, and not so much for photographs as for storing documents and quickly accessing them from any device.

You can also invite friends to use dropbox and thereby expand your free space, but these are insignificant numbers.

Owners of Samsung and HTC phones have a nice bonus of an additional 48 gigabytes free storage to dropbox.

The Dropbox client has both a version for computers and a version for mobile devices. You will always have access to your photos if there is internet nearby.

In order to use Dropbox cloud storage, you just need to indicate your email address when registering.

Perhaps these are all its advantages. Use: www.dropbox.com

Cloud storage mail.ru

Appeared relatively recently. At the end of 2013. What particularly attracted me to it was that at that time it was the largest free cloud storage. At the start, cloud storage mail.ru offered 100 GB of space for free. It was a new cloud service. At first there were a lot of lags, the client was loading the computer, and a scandal about data confidentiality broke out on the Internet. But the mail.ru cloud storage is growing, correcting all its lags and shortcomings.

At first I used such a large space to store video files, but there was one drawback - it was impossible to view videos online. I had to download it to watch it. But in 2015, the functionality was improved and now you can watch videos directly from cloud storage from any device, be it a computer, tablet or smartphone.

There was also a promotion at the end of 2014. Everyone could expand their storage up to 1 terabyte for free. That's what I did :).

Unfortunately, today, when registering, the mail.ru cloud storage gives only 25 GB of free space. But all the bugs and shortcomings have been corrected. All functions work like clockwork.

I would also like to note that the developers care about their clients and make using the service as convenient as possible. All services have instructions for use in text format, and there is a whole “video help” section that describes all the functionality and capabilities of the service in video for both regular computers and the mobile version of the mail.ru cloud.

In order to use cloud storage mail.ru, it is enough to have registered mail on the mail.ru website

Cloud storage Yandex disk

Yandex cloud storage provides free 10 GB of space not only for photos, but also for any files. What I especially liked about Yandex disk was that there was more space than in Dropbox and I could watch videos online without downloading to my computer. I used this service before I switched to mail.ru cloud storage.

Yandex Disk has a client for computers running all popular operating systems: Windos, MAC OS and Linux. You can also install the Yandex disk application and have full access to your photos and files from mobile devices based on Android, IOS and Windows phone.

Cloud storage Yandex Disk has all the same functions as Dropbox, only it provides 5 times more space for free - 10 GB.

Free space on Yandex disk can be expanded just like in Dropbox if you invite friends to Yandex disk.

In order to start using Yandex disk, it is enough to have mail on Yandex. If you have mail, then you automatically already have 10GB on Yandex disk.

Google photos and google cloud storage

I saved the best for last. Google photos and google cloud storage. Perhaps this service is by far the most generous. The largest free cloud storage for photos is Google Photos. How much space does Google provide for free to its users for storing photos? Exactly as much as you need.

Since 2015, Google has been providing unlimited storage space for photos up to 16 megapixels in size. For all other files, free cloud space is limited to 15 gigabytes.

Previously, the Google Photos service also provided unlimited space for photos, but they maximum size was limited to 4 megapixels. Today the limit is 16 megapixels.

Is 16 megapixels a lot or not enough for photography?

For reference:

• — Professional reportage DSLR Nikon D4s has a resolution of 16 megapixels.
• A top-end mirrorless camera with a full-frame matrix and the highest light sensitivity among all cameras, the Sony A7s has a resolution of only 12 megapixels.

It's up to you to decide whether 16 megapixels is much or not. I'm quite happy with this limitation. Moreover, on Google photos you can store video files with a resolution of 1080p for free, that is, in FulHD resolution.

In addition, in Google Photos you can apply different filters to photos, make a collage of photos, make a video, apply to photos various photos effects directly online without Photoshop and even from a mobile phone.

Google Photos is an excellent solution not only for photographers, but also for all lovers of photography and being photographed. Has unlimited virtual space for storing photos and wide functionality for processing and application various effects for photos.

And today, if they ask me where to store photos on the Internet for free, I will answer without hesitation - Google Photos.

In order to start using Google Photos, you just need to have a registered Google account. Simply put, a mailbox on gmail.com. All users of devices based on the Android operating system have a Google account and not everyone knows about the opportunities that open up to them.

Ease of use

We looked at four of the most popular cloud storage services. If you are concerned about the problem of where to store photos on the Internet for free, then the Google Photos service is best suited for this. The service provides unlimited storage space for photos up to 16 megapixels in size.

If you are just looking for cloud storage with a large volume for free, then mail.ru cloud storage is best suited for you. The developers provide 25 gigabytes of space for all types of files, or maybe some of you managed to register earlier and now have 100 gigabytes, or maybe even a whole terabyte of space in the mail.ru cloud storage

Today, all of the listed services have a web version - that is, you can use, upload files, download and share them directly in the browser. And they have a client for downloading to your computer and an application for other devices (tablets, mobile phones). Working with the client is also very convenient. You add or change some files on your computer and they are automatically uploaded to cloud storage and become accessible from any of your devices on which the client or application is installed.

Now you know where to store photos on the Internet for free and free cloud storage with a large volume.

“What is the best way to store photos on a computer?” - I am often asked this question, and today I will tell you how I do it. After all, my archive of family and client photos with a volume of more than 500 GB requires order in storage, otherwise it will be difficult to quickly find the necessary photos and generally find them among tens of thousands of files :).

I have more than once observed a situation where on a computer folders with photographs are stored on the desktop, dumped in a small heap in the “My Documents” folder, and simply scattered across the hard drive in different places. Because These folders do not have a name by which you can understand what kind of photos are there; finding the desired photo often involves viewing all the folders and opening the photos in them. For me this is just a nightmare! That's it, let's move on to the description :)

First of all, I will clarify about the approach I use to store archival materials, and these are not only photographs, but also family video archives and materials from seminars, trainings, etc.

The human brain can remember the details of a moment in life if it is given the date and place when it happened. The same approach is used by the wonderful Evernote program for saving notes and by hypnotists (yes!) to extract details from your subconscious. I use a specific date format and a description of the location or type of event to name the folder. This allows me to quickly find folders with photographs taken on a specific date and refine them by description.

For example, I am photographing relatives and friends at the birthday party of one of them on March 8th of this year. I will name the folder where I will store photos from this shoot “2014.03.08 Birthday. Petya Ivanov."

More examples:

The examples are real, I just changed my name. I note that I used to call folders in Latin, but now I often write in Cyrillic, this is not important.

Why does the date come at the beginning of the file and why is it important?
At the beginning of the file name, I write the year separated by a dot, then the month, and then the number of the date when the shooting took place, since this allows you to automatically sort in ascending date order. It is very comfortable. For clarity, look at the photo of the final structure for storing photos one chapter below.

Separately about storing photos from long trips/travels

When we go on big trips, of course, in addition to impressions, we bring a lot of photographs. I usually store photos on the day of shooting inside their shared folder and specify the location (as in the example below) or event, here clear example from a trip to France (photos are in Facebook):

If shooting dates fall on New Year, then I save them in the year when the shooting began, i.e., as in the example above, in 2012.

What does the final structure for storing photos look like?

There is a common folder “!!!Photo” with folders by year and inside each year there are already folders with photos.

What to do with newly taken or copied photographs?

If you're sorting through or processing photos after shooting, I recommend creating a folder in which you save all new photos. As you process them, you will move them into a photo storage folder.

This allows you to always know that the photos are either in the archive or in a folder for processing, and not somewhere else on the computer. An important point - immediately name the folder correctly, i.e. in the “date - event” format, so that the folders are immediately sorted by date.

What to do with photos on your mobile phone?

Nowadays, for many people, a phone with its advanced camera is actually a pocket camera. This is convenient when you can take pictures of something useful and not so useful :), and we often leave photos on the phone without sorting them out or transferring them to the computer in the first folder we come across.

I also sometimes take pictures on my phone, but I stick to following rules with photos on it:

• If it's a photo from a meeting or event that I'm saving in a file storage structure (like a work project or attending a conference), I file the photo in a folder dedicated to that event. The principle of the folder name is the same - the “date-event” format.
• If these are photographs “for myself,” I save them in the archive with photographs, adding to the title an indication that they are from a mobile phone, for example, “2014.03.23 Home (mobile).”
• A certain number of quickly needed photos are stored on the phone, and I always have a fresh backup copy of them in case the phone is lost. I delete all unnecessary photos on it.

And how can I bring order to my chaos now?

To put things in order, you need to put in a little effort and take the following steps:

1. First of all, create a structure to store your photos.

If you already have a lot of folders with photos, you can start by at least putting them in one folder so as not to search through the entire disk. In the future, as you search or desire, rename the folders and transfer them to your structure.

1. Place new photos in the right place.

I also want to remind you again that your photo archive should be backed up so that if you lose your files, you won't lose your memory in the form of photos. Pay attention to this, don’t put it off later and don’t hope for chance! I personally have already gone through this twice ( the second time - no consequences) and I know how painful it is to lose the only pictures that can no longer be replaced, of your family, loved ones and friends. Take care of your insurance in the IT world.

If you have questions or comments about the article, let me know.

Read also

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After much trial and error, I came to the same general structure, each day of shooting in a separate folder, in the title first the date, then an explanation. To sort through the rubble, I used total commander, with batch renaming of files by creation date. Currently I use Adobe Lightroom. The fact is that in this program you can assign tags to each photo and geographical coordinates. And in the end, if I just need to find photographs of a person, without reference to a nearby event, I simply indicate Vasya Pupkin, and the program shows me all the photographs with this person that are in my catalog. You can also search by any assigned tag or location. In addition, the program perfectly implements the functions of collecting photos in a collection, without physically moving them, both manual and automatic, according to specified parameters. So Adobe Lightroom is not only photo processing, but also a very powerful tool for organizing your photos.

Gregory, thank you for sharing your experience!

I agree with you about the capabilities of Adobe Lightroom, although I don’t use it for editing. I had experience cataloging photos with different programs many years ago, and in the end, the current version turned out to be the most convenient.

I now register tags in iptc (though not in all years) for searching by keywords (tags) + I don’t depend on the Lightroom database; it needs to be backed up periodically at least and have Adobe Lightroom itself (I’m talking about the licensed version).

And the advantage of this structure (“date - event”) is that I use it in other folders; uniformity in data management is more comfortable for me to work with.

I also use the layout in folders by year, and in them by events and places. There is also a separate general folder - photos before disassembly and a folder with photo quotes (from the phone, sometimes I read something interesting and take a photo of the page). There’s just an inconvenience - when I’m looking for a specific photo, let’s say I know the year, but I don’t remember the location - it’s inconvenient to open all the folders and search. Maybe someone has encountered the same problem and there is a solution that you kindly write in simple language for "non-technicians" :)

Inessa, thanks for the comment.

Sometimes I also photograph interesting articles from paper publications and then sign the file as a short idea articles. And then these words (actually tags) are easy to find by regular file search. I also name documents and voice recordings and other files.

Another option is to use a program for tagging an article for quick search, such as Evernote. I also actively use it for taking notes and collaborating on projects.

Have you tried these methods?

Advice for those who already have a lot of footage, but somehow started the sorting process - the Picasa program copes quite successfully with cataloging. Sorts by year, event, and person. The photographs themselves remain in place.

Mikhail, good afternoon!

I missed your comment :(, I’m correcting myself.

Creating a structure for storing information, in this example photos, allows you to not only find them easily, but also make a backup copy.

Not everyone does this (before the first data loss), but those who make a backup copy of selective data (documents, photos, etc.) will appreciate this convenience and the elimination of the loss of forgotten photos.

Picasa is also convenient to use to understand where your photos are now.

Greetings! This topic very relevant, thanks for your description.

I have a question: Do you store photos and videos together or in addition to the!!!Photo folder there is also!!!Video.

At first I sorted them separately, but as I use them I am more inclined to think that it is more convenient to store photos and videos together. After all, sometimes you take a photo and are asked to shoot a little video of some episode, and this is all for example at some event on the same day, well, because of this, you won’t store the photo in the photo folder and the video in the video folder.

How do you like it??? I'm right?

Ivan, good afternoon.

I have not come across programs that will make it convenient to search through photos automatically. If you have thousands of files on your computer that do not have a description in the name, but only numbers, then the program will not be able to automatically add tags in any way. I have not come across programs for home that can very accurately tag images. Google (Picas) has some experience in identifying faces, yes.

Sergey, good afternoon!

I replied to you with a new message: (a week ago, I’m correcting myself.

Thanks for the question.

Sergey, good afternoon!

I have a folder!!!Video, it stores videos made with an HD video camera. Because The size is quite large (almost 1TB, so for backup it is more convenient for the video from the HD camera to be stored separately).

If the video was filmed on mobile phone together with many photos, then I allow it to be stored along with the photos in the appropriate folder, that year I even used shortcuts for convenience, you can also make hard links to folders (for example, through the FAR file manager). In any case, I have no more than two points of search for information.

I am in favor of using the most convenient and simple structure to store information and if more convenient photo and store the video in one place - why not! Moreover, you take photos and videos with one camera, as I understand it.

Thanks for the question.

VERY IMPORTANT! I'm looking for a program that will automatically parse my PC and offer to sort everything into folders. Next, it lays out, adding tags (taken from the creation dates, editing dates, file name, comments in the photo, type and my own, while using the program, etc.). Next is a convenient search, I write “February” and it finds all the photos with the same tag + adds photos from the Internet with the same tag to my photos. THIS program IS in nature. I used her and even remember how angry I was that she pumped up some photos from the Internet for my searches. I was chasing a place then. Now the goal is a stuffed content combine. To have a media file, use files for projects, without creating them and doing everything MANUALLY. Everything described in the article is BAD. That's what a PC is for, to automate everything

Ivan, good afternoon.

I have not come across programs that will make it convenient to search through photos automatically. If you have thousands of files on your computer that do not have a description in the name, but only numbers, then the program will not be able to automatically add tags in any way. I have not come across programs for home that can very accurately tag images. Google (Picas) has some experience in identifying faces, yes, but events, places and other details - no.

I add IPTC tags (keywords) to my photos and use them to find the ones I need. This method works the same way as the option of using a third-party program (for example, Lightroom).

I don’t do everything manually, I assign tags to many files at once, often it takes about 2-10 minutes per folder. For me, a PC is a tool, but not a means of automation (I have IT experience behind me and am well aware that what is usually automated is order, not chaos).

If you’ve already used it, you probably remember the program that you were even angry at. Share with us if you find it.

Perhaps you worked with Picasa (judging by the behavior you described) or Lightroom.

Hello, it's very actual question transferring photos and videos to the cloud, I have approximately 1TB of total volume, I chose filikr for this because it gives 1TB for free, but unfortunately there is no way to create a structure like you and I have in folders, my structure is still broken up by the time of year (autumn winter And so on) for example /2015/autumn/trip to the dacha/ and in the cloud only the final folder remains (trip to the dacha) well, there’s just a bunch of folders named

Gregory, I looked closely at Flickr and storage from Canon, but in the first case I just didn’t like the lack of structure, even though exif has a date and time, but I like to store/backup because it’s convenient for me, not for the tool.

In the second case, there were restrictions on files and then the service became paid.

I think it is important for reliability to store TWO copies of data in different places, the cloud can be one of them. The main thing is to synchronize your copies to keep them up to date. I myself don’t trust cloud solutions; I and my friends had negative experiences. But I’m considering it as a solution for backup.

If you already have an account in the mail.ru cloud with 1TB, then I would recommend it. I myself am looking at a Yandex disk, which has 1TB, just like in the cloud from Microsoft for 2000 rubles.

Yandex disk is more flexible for me than the Microsoft solution, although in the second case you can also get a 1-year license for the MS Office package.

Thanks for sharing your photo storage system! I have pretty much the same approach.

And here's what got me interested. Is there any secret meaning is it about adding 3 exclamation marks to the folder name? (!!!Video)

Alexandra, good afternoon.

In some article I touched on this point, apparently I forgot to clarify it here.

I put exclamation marks so that the folder is at the top of all when sorting by name. I always know that the photo folder on drive "D" is the top one. The folder with the image database has two signs (!!) and interesting photos, and one sign (!) has a folder with a database of useful materials.

This is a long-standing habit dating back to the days of Windows. You can also use other signs if necessary.

P.S. I found an article that clarified this - http://site/myself/25b5f4b59a06

Personally, I have developed the following method for myself:

http://rebus-x.livejournal.com/908.html

In short, the point is to develop something like “tags” yourself and write the whole thing with delimiters in the file name. It couldn’t be simpler (if you don’t take into account the labor involved in naming files), there are continuous advantages when searching. Pairs perfectly with folding into folders.

I don’t have too many photographs, but I do the same with them. And this was invented in order to put the database of photo textures in order, with the goal of finding as quickly as possible not only strictly defined ones, but also generally suitable ones for a particular case. Perhaps it will be useful to someone.

Roman, thank you for sharing your storage option.

I myself also use IPTC tags for photographs, but this is for photographs since 2010 only. I use these tags to search by keywords.

Considering the volume of photographs and their storage in raw and jpg (selected) formats, renaming them will take a long time, which is not worth the time spent on it. After all, I can always quickly find the folder I need even in thumbnail view mode (Irfanview or standard means Windows) to find the photo I need.

For documents, I use proper file names (close to your method) and storage in a structure that is convenient for me.

Have a great week!

As an addition, I can offer a simple way to select and search for the most successful (significant) photographs. Inside each date and event folder, I create a folder with the conditional index!AAAAA in its name. In this folder I place the most successful photographs from the series and make a selection by transferring them from the main array.

Subsequently, to automatically select the most successful photos in the photo array, I search using the key!AAAAA and in any explorer I copy the search results to a new folder. The new folder ultimately contains the best photos and is of no value, since the sources are stored in the array. For different search criteria, you can create folders with different conditional indexes in the names, for example, !BBBBB !SSSSS and so on. The root of the archive with photographs contains a short text document with comments regarding the index values. Something like this. As a result, I get freedom from different cataloging programs that change over the years, as well as freedom from the databases of different programs, the logic of which cannot always be understood and accepted.

I mentioned the photo album. Yes, yes, our photos are a category that is easy to forget about, and many people do not dare to “encroach” on it, especially paper copies. It’s almost like with books: printed photographs are a piece of memory, our history and the history of our relatives... But what if it’s no longer a “piece”, but a “bit” that takes up a lot of space?! Today I'm going to share my experience with decluttering, organizing and storing photos at home - both paper and digital.

By the way, the title photo is from my album, I’ll tell you about it a little lower.

How to organize and store photos: my experience

My irreconcilable one is already in its fifth year. Now the scale is no longer the same: in the first year I took bags out of the house... Now the count is on individual things. But my hands only got around to organizing paper photographs a couple of years ago - for a long time I didn’t even consider this category as a possible decluttering item!

And what? I found a bunch of photographs of children and teenagers, I kept them unsorted - some in some boxes, in not very neat piles, others were put in books - in the hope that someday I would sort them out... The most interesting thing is that there was also an album - large, convenient and... without a single photo :) In addition, I had old films lying around for ten years (from the late 90s), some of them exposed and completely unnecessary.

1. To begin with, I collected all this stuff together and got rid of the obvious trash: damaged and old films (after checking to see if I really didn’t need anything there), store-bought envelopes from Konica, in which they gave out already printed photographs.

2. My next task is to put things in order in the photographs themselves: I got rid of photos of poor quality, with vague blurry drawings, “repetitions” and those where I didn’t like myself (and why did I keep them?). At this stage, the number of my photos has decreased by a third, the box has become noticeably lighter! Hooray! Go ahead! And I started next stage —

3. I decided to organize the photos by year and period.(1 year, graduation from kindergarten, first time in first grade, etc.). As a result, I collected paper photographs from birth until the age of 18 (the latter were only a couple, all photos from that time are already stored in electronic form). Some photos (more precisely, the time when they were taken) raised doubts in me - I turned to my mother and grandmother for clarification.

4. Then (as a keepsake for posterity:)) I signed all the photos– at least the year and event (“Issue of 8 “B”) and decided to store the photos in an album in chronological order. To be honest, 10-15 years ago it would not have occurred to me to sign them, but now I have already come to the understanding that memory is a thing that can fail, if not now, then in 20, 30 or 40 years... It seemed to me I certainly won’t forget my classmates or “kindergarten mates,” but to my horror I discovered that some surnames and even first names have ALREADY been erased from my memory!

By the way, an interesting observation: while all the photographs were kept in an unsorted pile, there were much fewer nostalgic feelings (well, this pile just sits there and lies there, and you never touch it). And when I left a little, organized the photos and carefully placed them in an album, looking at them became much more exciting. And show it to guests too. I think it’s the same with many things: pick one or two important memories and they will be perceived as more valuable, like a real heirloom!

Read the second part of this article - about. Surprised? But they can still be used, and for some - for the benefit of the wallet!

How to Organize Digital Photos

By analogy, you can work with digital “deposits”: why store photos of poor quality or where you don’t like yourself? So:

* remove unnecessary things
* sort by years and events. I make a folder for each year, and in it I organize folders with photos in chronological sequence. So that they are saved in chronological order, I put a number before the name: for example, in the folder “2017”:

1 New Year
2 Trip to N
3 Event X

By the way!

1. If you have a lot of photos even within one month, it’s convenient to store photos in subfolders with the names of the months:

2016:
1 January:
1 New Year
2 Trip to
3 Event X

Etc. Just be sure to sign the names of the folders so that you immediately know where and what to look for.

2. If you haven’t put your photos in order for a long time, then it’s very convenient:
* create folders with the names of the years (2010, 2011, 2012...)
* then scatter the photos into these folders
* then create subfolders with the names of the months inside each year
Now we go to a specific year, for example 2012, and scatter the photos into subfolders of months.
In my experience this turned out to be the fastest way.

3. And, of course, in the process of organizing photos digitally, do not forget about backup copies so that one day, along with the breakdown of some gadget, you don’t lose all your captured memories!

And to top it off, I’ll show you a few of my pictures from childhood and beyond - just like that :) for those who are interested :)

After the holidays, as a rule, the number of photographs increases noticeably. When the weather is beautiful outside, it is easier to find shooting opportunities, as well as time and desire.

But what to do when you suddenly discover that the phone’s memory is already full, and there is not a single empty SD card for the camera. What to do? Of course, backup. But first, sort your data.

How to properly store photos

You are probably familiar with the situation when you see an opportunity for a beautiful shot... but suddenly you run out of space on your phone. And then you transfer everything en masse to the computer’s memory. Is this what it's supposed to look like? How long will it take you to find a file that is hidden somewhere in the “Phone Photos” folder? That is why, before you start cleaning the storage medium, think about a simple and suitable method for you file cataloging.

These methods will differ depending on the reason you are filming. You can take photographs purely for pleasure - to preserve memories, process them and print them for an album, or professionally or as part of a side job.

How to Organize Photos

It's time specific advice, which will help you organize your files.

File Cataloging

Photos for yourself

In the first two cases, it is enough to divide the photos between the following folders: first the year (for example, “2018”), then the month (“August”), day/event (for example, “Trip to Siberia”). Just remember that the folder needs to be given clear and precise names. The kind that will tell you exactly what is in the folder.

Do you keep photographs of documents? Or maybe receipts? It's worth having them in a digital version. Originals quickly fade or are lost in the least right moment. It is best to place them in separate folders. In the case of document photographs, you don't need to know the date the photo was taken because it is often visible on the document or invoice. Just give the files specific names, for example, “Agreement - apartment” or “Monitor - check”.

In the case of photos that you edit and print, you may find it useful to separate photos into before processing, after processing, for printing and printed. Do I need to delete the latter? In our opinion, it is better to keep them in digital form– for reprinting, editing or sending, for example by email.

Photo for work

If photography is not only your hobby, but also your job, you need, first of all, to separate both areas. Photos taken for pleasure should be separated from work files. Thus, it is enough to create two root folders: “Personal” and “Work”, which are detailed in the internal structure.

The work folder is best classified in terms of customers or companies, as well as thematically. It is generally easier to associate a photo with the order or person for whom it was taken than with the date it was created.

How to organize photos - sorting and deleting

Once you've developed your system, it's time to take action. The first step is sorting, which means nothing more than mercilessly deleting files that have no value. These are, first of all, blurry, unsuccessful or repeated frames.

Don't get attached to them - less is more. It is easier to view a catalog consisting of several dozen photographs. In the work of a photographer, it is normal that you take hundreds of photographs in the same scenery, so that later you can choose the most successful ones for processing.

It is also worth applying this principle to your private collections. Save storage space. Why waste it on something you don't need at all?

Why you should organize your photos

Developing an effective systematization of existing collections will take you a few hours in the beginning, but will save you time in the long run. The transparent system makes it easier to find what you're looking for. You will avoid ineffective digging through catalogs and the stress of possibly losing an important image.

Where to store your photos

We've reached a place where it's time to discuss photo storage media.

Phone memory, memory card or computer hard drive

Photos are first saved in the phone/camera memory or on a memory card. Ultimately, however, they should be stored elsewhere.

On your computer's hard drive? It's possible, but it's not the best best idea. The device may malfunction or be stolen. Of course, it is clear that it is more convenient to view and edit them when they are immediately available from the disk level, however, it is worth storing them somewhere else.

Memory card? It's too small, so it's easy to lose your memories. In addition, if you put everything in the memory of your phone or camera, at some point... you will run out of space for new photos.

All of the above tools are only suitable for temporary storage of newly taken photographs. For permanent storage and archiving of images would be better suited external hard drive or network drive.

External hard drive

An external hard drive has a number of advantages. First of all, it is small and does not require configuration. Just connect it to your computer's USB port and copy files. Photos take up a lot of space, so you need a drive that has a large capacity (minimum 1 TB).

What to choose? If the drive should serve you only in the home, you may want to consider a 3.5” model, which is larger, heavier and often requires additional food, but cheaper and more spacious.

However, if greater convenience and reduced cable clutter are important to you, choose a 2.5” hard drive, which can easily be used exclusively through the USB port on your computer. The most worthy drives operate based on USB 3.0 and higher, due to faster data transfer and higher voltage sufficient to power the media.

NAS server for photos

If you have multiple devices that can be connected to a Wi-Fi network, consider a network drive. This is a special server that performs the functions of your private cloud. You can upload files to it from your phone, tablet and camera (if they have Wi-Fi support).

One disk is enough for several family members - you just need to determine which users local network can use its contents and play their files. In this context, appropriate cataloging of documents is even more important - thanks to it, everyone can easily find their data.

Some manufacturers are introducing their own solutions for organizing files. On QNAP devices, the Qfiling application can itself classify files according to the specified key, for example, photos by the date they were created. In addition, thanks to the Face Tag function, the application will mark faces in photos.

Storing files in the cloud

If you value wireless solutions, you may also want to consider the cloud. You have several well-known solutions to choose from, in free and paid versions. It all depends on how much space you need for your files. For example, with Microsoft Office 365 you get access to the OneDrive cloud.

How to transfer photos from camera or phone to disk

You just need to connect your smartphone to one of the USB ports on your computer. Don't forget to select the File Transfer option in the menu USB connection on your mobile device. This way you can transfer photos directly from internal memory to storage media. This also works in the case of cameras. If you can't copy the files, send them to your computer first and then to an external drive.

Transferring files to the NAS server is also easy. It is enough to download the manufacturer’s special program on Android or iOS - with its help you can gain remote access to documents.

What about cameras that don't support wireless connectivity? There are two options: you can connect the camera using a USB cable to your computer, or use a memory card reader: external or built into your laptop.

How to Back Up Photos

There is still the issue of backup. It’s not for nothing that all people are divided into those who make a backup copy and those who will start soon.

Why do you need a backup?

We assume that if you document memories, you take care to store them securely. Once upon a time, paper albums were used for this. A few years ago, the appropriate medium was recognized as... a compact disc, which over time lost its popularity. And only recently have we had a choice among many effective solutions in the field of storing your data.

However, with the development of technology, new threats have appeared. You can lose photos and videos not only by accident, but also as a result of a failure or infection of the media with ransomware. To avoid this situation, remember to always unplug your external drive after use.

Backup on external drive

If you save your files on external media, you need another disk on which you will periodically (for example, once a week, once a month) create backup copies of all files.

Backup to NAS

In the case of a network drive, this issue can be resolved more in a convenient way: Simply by selecting a disk from the RAID array. After all, a NAS server can be equipped with more than 1 disk, and you can configure connections between individual media.

RAID means that the server has at least 2 internal hard drives and the contents of the first are automatically copied to the other. Everything happens automatically, without your intervention - it is enough that you mount only two disks in the NAS and configure them accordingly.

You have many options to choose from, from RAID 1 to RAID 6, as well as specialized solutions such as some Synology SHR (Synology Hybrid RAID) models. This way, you can customize the way you perform backups to suit your needs.

Cloud backup

Is the cloud good for backup? Obviously yes. Remember, however, that this is an external service that does not give one hundred percent certainty what will happen to it over time. Here, too, there are failures or the provider may simply stop providing such services.

Remember that the cloud should not be the only place where you will store your precious files.

Popular network drive models

See what models of NAS servers and drives consumers choose, and find the one that suits you.

	An exceptionally powerful network drive, equipped with proprietary operating system A.D.M. Has a hardware data encryption module. Thanks to this, save your files quickly and easily. The matrix can accommodate up to 4 hard drives. In total, you get up to 32 TB of space for your resources.
	Convenient home NAS server. You can configure up to 3 drives in RAID 5. You can save files, create backups, and easily share them with other users. You can also send the pictures you take directly to the server. Thus, you will immediately get free space in your smartphone memory. All you need to do is install the Qphoto app.
QNAP TS-431P2-4G	Fast, powerful and intuitive. It makes it possible not only to store data, but also to manage it. Create digital notes in your personal cloud and share it with selected users. Perfect as a place for files, center Email, as well as a hard drive for storing recordings from surveillance cameras in the home and office.
	A fast NAS server that is perfect for the office and for more demanding home users. Fast system cache is ensured by installing NVMe SSD drives (maximum 2). Flexible system shared files gives full control over the limits of all user accounts and shared folders. The device detects data corruption and corrects it automatically. Also allows you to quickly recover files.
Seagate 2TB IronWolf	Reliable and high-performance HDD hard drive. Great for home NAS server. Thanks to multi-user optimization, many users can use it simultaneously, uploading and downloading data. 2 TB of free space is enough to accommodate and conveniently catalog movies, photos and music.
WD 4TB IntelliPower RED	NAS and RAID compatible hard drive. NASware 3.0 technology optimizes its performance, improves compatibility and reliability. Perfect for a home NAS system, where you can save files, create backups and provide convenient access.
Seagate 10TB IronWolf Pro	This drive will complement the photographer's NAS. Capacity up to 10 TB provides plenty of space for all files. Copes well with intensive data transfer.
	Advanced HDD hard drive for NAS system for the professional. Designed to work under heavy loads - when you want to save hundreds of graphic files. Powerful, reliable and stable. Software helps you manage disk contents: cloning, copying and securely retrieving data.