the importance of backing up photos

Do it, people.

I have heard a few accounts in the last week or so of people either losing all their pictures or thinking they did.  They always include lines like, "I feel sick to my stomach," "I've been planning on backing them up but just hadn't gotten around to it yet," "I have cried over this several times," and "To lose my photos would be an absolute tragedy."

Burn your pictures onto CD's.  Put them onto flash drives.  Store them online (on shutterfly.com, picasa.com, we use smugmug.com.... there are many options).  Don't delete them off your camera immediately.  Send them to someone else. Putting them on Facebook is better than nothing.

Always keep a couple different forms of your pictures - print and on your computer; on your computer and online; on your camera and computer; print and online; scan your print pictures onto your computer; etc.  My personal routine?  Immediately after I put pictures on my computer from my camera, I upload them to an account on smugmug.com.  If I edit a picture later and want to upload the new version and delete the original, I'll do that.  But I always upload the originals immediately.

I'm serious.  Do it today.  Don't put it off another day.  It honestly doesn't take too long.  If you don't know how, call your son or mom or husband or granddaughter or neighbor who does IT.  Imagine how you would feel if you lost the pictures you currently have.  If you imagine yourself as sad, then back them up.

P.S.  Documents are important, too.