As a wedding photographer I spend so much time backing up my clients pictures to ensure that they end up in my clients possession. Once they are in your possession, you should be doing the same thing. Our memories are so so precious and your pictures deserve to be reserved and saved. Plus, you have paid good money for your pictures, you should back them up and make sure you have them. You don’t buy a car, post about it on Facebook and then never look at it again, you maintain it, keep it safe, and potentially put it into a garage. Ok, so pictures aren’t a car - but it’s kinda similar. It goes beyond social media!

Here are a few tips for what to do with your pictures after you receive them from your photographer.

Download the full gallery.

I know I tend to pick out my favorites and post them to social media right away - because that it how we share with your friends and family. You can still do that, but it’s a good practice to download the full gallery right away. Save it to your computer so you are not reliant on the photographers gallery. A lot of online galleries expire. To save yourself the hassle of asking your photographer to open up your gallery again, save your gallery when you receive it.

Back up your pictures to an external hard drive.

Downloading your pictures is the first step, but backing them up is the next step. You want to have easy access to them on your computer, but you also need to have them in a secondary location. Technology is evolving and growing. You may upgrade to a new computer or laptop, and might not remember to transfer everything over. Having your pictures backed up in a secondary location allows you to keep them as you go. If you have a fireproof safe in your home, I would add this external hard drive to that box. I have the Lacie 2 TB as my backup for my personal projects.

Back Up Your Pictures Online

I posted my pictures on Facebook, is this online? Ok yes, but I would recommend saving them to a source that you own or have access to. Dropbox and Google Drive are amazing resources for an online source to save your pictures. Both of these options are free! They do have fees once you reach a certain amount of space, but free options are always nice!

Order Prints

While you are still on the high of looking through your pictures and obsessing over them - order your prints. We always find an excuse and never have enough time. Take the time when you are backing up your pictures to order your favorite prints. This way your prints can live in your home, hanging up on your walls, and not just on your screens/social media.

If I am your photographer - there is a print shop linked directly to your online gallery. This makes it super easy to order your prints from your gallery. I have already selected a print lab that prints with the best professional quality and you just have to select the sizes you want and it will ship to you!

If you have received your wedding photos, I highly recommend creating and ordering a wedding album. This is a tangible way of passing down your story for generations to come. You can keep this on your coffee table or in your bedroom. It’s a great way to look back at such an amazing day.

If I am not your photographer (first make sure you have a print release from your photographer) I would recommend MPix. Mpix is a child lab of a professional lab. It has a variety of options for you to print your pictures.

That’s pretty much it! Your photographer does everything they can to get your pictures to you, we want you to do everything you can to keep your pictures and memories too. Save, backup and print your pictures!

This blog is inspired by Leanna of Sage and Fern Photo. She wrote a very similar blog post and I wanted to share this information with my clients.