How to keep your wedding photography safe

/in , ,
  • How to keep your wedding photography safe 1

How to keep your wedding photography safe

As a wedding photographer, I’m acutely aware that the wedding photographs I take and provide to you on your final USB may well be the only way you can reminisce about your wedding day, a year, decade or 50 years down the line. As such I’m keep to present this short guide on how to keep your wedding images safe from your special day for years to come. Losing or otherwise damaging your wedding photos is often a huge concern of wedded couples and can cause much grief if they truly are lost, but with some easy steps you’ll be able to avoid this heartbreak.

USB ribbon

Keeping data safe starts with your photographer

Before you consider booking in your wedding photographer or videographer, make sure they have a clear process for backing up and keeping their data safe. Any wedding photographers worth their salt will have their digital photos backed up and secured in multiple ways as they know that their livelihood and business depends on it. It should be the worst thing in the world for a wedding photographer to lose a wedding!

They should use multiple cameras on the day with possibly a third redundancy – preferably with dual memory card slots so they are backing up on the fly, they should also be able to describe exactly what they do with your data after your wedding to keep it safe.

What should you do once you receive your photos?

Copy everything on the USB you receive to your computer immediately. That way you’ll have a duplicate copy of all your memories straight off the bat. However, the expected life for an average computer’s hard drive is only 3-5 years, while a USB flash drive is expected to be anywhere between 5-10 years, which means that that USB drive is more likely to outlast you computer’s hard drive – which is one reason why it’s the current method of choice for photographers to provide your files.

Personally as a professional wedding photographer I keep an archival backup of all my work on two different physical hard drives both on site and offsite (in case of local disaster) Which means I have over 200 weddings backed up in duplicate at all times, While my most recent year’s work is further backed up on 3 further separate hard drives connected to my computer for editing.

But that’s just me, you only need to worry about your own wedding photos, so you can also keep multiple backups of your digital files like I do. But you can also take advantage of cloud based services such as Google drive, which is free to a point – you just need to take the time to upload the (rather substantial) size of your wedding USB. This is probably the most robust way to secure your digital files, but still isnt 100% perfect.

Framed Print

Print your photos

The absolute best way to keep your memories and wedding photography safe is simply to print your photos and display then on the wall, or in a wedding album. Just imagine 20-30 years in the future and you’re showing your children or grandkids your photos from your wedding and you whip out the USB drive you were given. They’re likely to laugh at the antiquated technology you have in your hand, and computer may not even have a USB drive that suits anymore. This would be like putting out a roll of film, or slides and firing up the slide projector.

It’s already happening with the recent shift to USB-C based technology rather than the more traditional rectangular USB2 or 3.  But with a wedding album, you will not have that issue with your precious memories. Books haven’t changed in hundreds of years and will last the test of time. Your grandkids will be flicking through the pages and laughing at your outdated haircuts and zany clothes choices – or your otherwiuse most precious moments in no time!

Premium Album

What can you do if you have lost your digital files?

Hopefully this never happens to you, but it’s just the unfortunate fact that technology does fail, and it’s no secret that hard drives in computers are often the most common thing to fail. So what can you do to keep your images safe?

First, contact your wedding photographer – if they are anything like me they’d have every photo they’ve ever taken backed up to wazoo like I do on multiple external hard drives in a fireproof safe and be able to send out a replacement copy ASAP. That said however many photographers only back up to a certain point – be it 1 to 5 years – so that may not be possible.

Damaged or lost files on a hard drive or SD cards can be recovered using certain backup softwares, or if that doesn’t work you can send the hard drive to professional data recovery centers that may cost quite a bit. Just make sure that once you have discovered that your photos have been lost you immediately remove the hard drive from your computer to prevent any data still on the drive being overwritten accidentally.

If your device has had water damage, immediately unplug the device and let it dry completely and you may be lucky with it coming back to life, otherwise a professional data recovery service may be your only option.

 

Camera Shy? 5 Tips to Achieve Great Wedding Photos

/in , ,

Are you Camera Shy?

Not all couples who are about to get married are comfortable being in front of the camera. It’s only natural to feel anxious and camera shy – particularly as it’s not rerally something you do very often. However, you need to work through it; otherwise, you won’t have good wedding photos you can look back on.

Don’t worry; we will share with you some tips to have beautiful wedding photos. Let’s begin!

Some tips on how to get over being camera shy

Bride and groom in the sunny vineyard

 

Get Some Inspiration

Go on Pinterest, browse through wedding magazines and blogs, and check out real weddings. Do these things and more to get inspired. You can get a lot of wedding photography inspiration as well that will help you feel more motivated to strut your stuff in front of the camera. Moreover, this will help you know about the style of photography you want for your wedding.

When you’re inspired, the motivation can take over, which will help you overcome being camera shy more easily.

What I like to do with new couples is run them through a similar wedding – hopefully at the same wedding venue as they are planning to hold their own wedding at. This way you’re better able to picture yourself doing the same things that couple did – and may also give you some ideas for your own wedding!

Mollydooker Winery wedding photo

Work With a Professional

You need to hire a good wedding photographer to have beautiful wedding photos. And it’s not only that. A professional photographer knows how to work with camera shy couples or are anxious in front of the cameras. Additionally, the photographer can provide you with tips on how you can be more comfortable in front of the camera.

That is why you need to prioritise finding the best wedding photographer you can to ensure you get the best wedding photos and at the same time, feel comfortable in front of the cameras.

Find someone with many years of experience in producing good wedding photography as this can guarantee you that he or she knows exactly how to capture stunning photos on your wedding day.

intimate First Dance Photo

Have an Engagement Shoot

When you have found the perfect wedding photographer you’re really comfortable with and confident in their abilities, consider having an engagement shoot. An engagement shoot is an excellent way to overcome your camera shyness, and this will help you feel more relaxed with having your photos taken. Also, this is a great chance for you to get to know your photographer better.

Lifting her up silhouette

Trust Your Photographer

You didn’t choose your wedding photographer for nothing, right? So, trust them. When you trust your photographer, you will feel more at ease behind the lens. Let their creativity flow and go with it. By doing so, you will have stunning photos, and you will feel more relaxed while you and your spouse pose in front of the camera on your wedding day.

Ekhidna Winery Mclaren Vale vineyard

Communicate Clearly

There will be certain events you need your photographer to pay closer attention to on your wedding day. For example, if you have a fireworks display after the reception, or releasing butterflys – then you would want your photographer to be prepared and ready to capture the moment.

It’s crucial you maintain clear communication. This way, you will feel more at ease that your photographer will be there at the right times on your wedding day. In turn, you will feel more relaxed in front of the camera; plus, you already expect them to be there, which will give some time to prepare and get yourself together.

remember – your photographer should have experience at weddings, but there is only so much they know about you and your personal familiarity with your own family politics. A shot list may help here when it comes to group photos.

Seppeltsfield winery wedding photography

Cheers to Beautiful Wedding Photos

Posing in front of the camera for almost the whole day can be nerve-wracking for some. Unless you don’t want photos on your wedding day, then you just need to work your way through this. The tips we mentioned above can help you be more comfortable in front of the camera and have amazing photos you can look back on.

For the best wedding photography in Adelaide and around Australia, Sven Studios is here for you. You don’t need to be camera shy with us because our professional photographers will help you be comfortable behind the lens. Let us take the best wedding photos for you. Contact us today!

 

Wedding nerves and overcoming them

/in , ,

Just imagine your wedding day, about to walk down the aisle to the arms of the man of your dreams, or you’re standing there at the altar waiting 20mins after your ceremony was supposed to start, and wondering if your fiancée is going to show up at all…

View from behind bride

A lot of planning has gone in to today. A lot of work. A lot of energy and emotion. You’ve had a great morning getting ready and you know this will be the best day of your life… then why are you about to choomp your nails off from the knuckle? You stomach feels as though it’s down by the beach and you’d love to join it.

If the world ran on logic, you know this day will run well, you’ll be partying about at your reception in about 3 hours time after having had your wedding photography taken by the best wedding photographer in Adelaide, so what is there to worry about?

Overcoming wedding nerves

All of this is a good thing and is completely natural. Being nervous keeps us alive and wedding nerves just show us that your senses are on overdrive! you notice that little bird singing that annoying song, your heartbeat, the tick of the giant grandfather clock in the entrance way to the church. You notice things you wouldn’t normally.

Your nerves are what have enabled you to get everything the way it is, the way you’ve dreamt it should be and the way it’s going down today. You’re not nervous you are EXCITED. Tell yourself that. Your body has no way of telling the difference between “I am nervous!” and “I am excited!” So instead of getting anxious, try to train yourself to tell yourself how excited you are instead, as it’s all the same thing neurologically speaking.

You have nothing to be nervous about, your wedding nerves are just you being excited about all your hard work coming into fruition. Get out there and marry your life partner!

Bride and Groom