Back It Up Before You Pack It Up

Backing up your files is boring. Nobody gets excited about verifying cloud syncs or testing external drives. But you know what's less fun? Coming back from the holidays to find out your main drive died, your backup didn't actually work, and six months of client work is just... gone.

So before you close your laptop and disappear into eggnog and family chaos, spend 30 minutes making sure your files are actually safe. Future you will thank you. Panicked, sweating, you will really thank yourself.

Here's the unglamorous but essential checklist.

Test Your Drives (Yes, Actually Test Them)

You have backups. Great. But when was the last time you checked whether they actually work?

External drives fail. Quietly. Without warning. And you won't know until you need them and they're already dead. So before you leave for the holidays, plug in your backup drives and make sure they're still showing up, still readable, and not making any weird clicking sounds.

If a drive feels hot, sounds strange, or takes forever to mount, that's your sign. Replace it now, not after it bricks itself over Christmas.

How to test your drives:

On Mac:
Open Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility). Select your external drive and click "First Aid." It'll scan for errors and tell you if something's wrong. If it says "This disk needs to be repaired," don't ignore it.

On Windows:
Right-click your external drive in File Explorer, then select Properties > Tools > Check. Windows will scan the drive and flag any issues.

Aftershoot tip: If you're using Time Machine or any automated backup system, open it and check the last backup date. If it says "Last backup: 47 days ago," your system stopped working, and you didn't notice. Fix it before you leave.

Consider rotating your drives annually:
Here's something many photographers swear by: order a new set of backup drives every year and rotate the old ones out. Only fill them to about 75% capacity (never go over 90%). Drives that are too full run slower, become less stable, and fail sooner. Fresh drives that aren't maxed out work faster, which is especially important if you're using Aftershoot and need reliable, speedy drives for culling and editing large batches of images.

Recommended drives for photographers:

• Samsung T7 or T9 SSD (fast, portable, reliable for active projects)

• WD My Passport (solid, affordable external HDD for long-term storage)

• LaCie Rugged (if you travel or need something that can take a beating)

Double-Check Your Cloud Syncs

Cloud storage is great until it's not. Maybe you hit your storage limit three weeks ago, and uploads quietly stopped. Maybe a folder isn't syncing because of a random permissions issue. Maybe everything looks fine, but half your files are still sitting in a queue that'll never finish.

Before you log off, open your cloud service (Google Drive, Dropbox, whatever you use) and actually verify that your most important files are there. Not just on your computer. Actually uploaded and accessible from another device.

Pull up a random folder from your phone or a browser. Can you see recent work? If not, your sync isn't working. Fix it now.

What to check:

• Recent projects are fully uploaded

• You're not over your storage limit

• There are no "sync paused" or "waiting to upload" errors hiding in the background

• Shared client galleries are still accessible (you'd be surprised how many links expire or break)

How to verify:

Google Drive:
Open drive.google.com in a browser (not the desktop app). Navigate to your most recent project folder. Can you see all the files? If not, check the Google Drive desktop app for sync errors.

Dropbox:
Open the Dropbox app, click the icon in your taskbar/menu bar, and check for any sync issues or paused uploads. You can also go to dropbox.com to verify files are actually there.

Backblaze users, pay attention:
If you're using Backblaze, open Preferences and make sure all your external hard drives are still checked to sync. Sometimes drives get unchecked after updates or disconnects, and you won't know until you need them. Also, consider the 1-year version history upgrade; it's cheap and gives you access to older versions of your files if you ever need to recover something you accidentally overwrote.

Popular cloud storage options for photographers:

• Google Drive (affordable, integrates with Google Workspace)

• Dropbox (reliable syncing, good for collaboration)

• Backblaze (unlimited backup for one flat rate, great for peace of mind)

• Sync.com (privacy-focused, end-to-end encrypted)

Clean Up Your Folders (And Know Where Your Files Actually Live)

You don't need to Marie Kondo your entire hard drive, but take 10 minutes to organize the chaos before you leave.

Move finished client work into proper folders. Delete the 47 versions of "final_FINAL_v3_actualfinal.jpg" clogging up your desktop. Get rid of random test exports you'll never use. Clear out your downloads folder (it's a mess, we both know it).

Why does this matter for backups? Because when your drive is full of junk, your backups take longer, eat up more space, and make it harder to find what you actually need if something goes wrong.

A clean system backs up faster and restores cleanly. It's not exciting, but it works.

Here's the thing a lot of photographers don't realize: If you don't know where your files are saved, you can't back them up properly. And if your backup system doesn't know where to look, you're not actually protected.

Before you leave for the holidays, take a moment to confirm:

• Where are your RAW files stored? (Main drive? External?)

• Where do your edited exports go?

• Are your Lightroom catalogs backed up?

• Do you know which folders your backup system is actually watching?

If the answer to any of these is "uh... not sure," now's the time to figure it out. Open your backup software and check what's included. If critical folders are missing, add them now.

Keep it simple. Year, project type, client name, date. That's it. You don't need 15 subfolders. Just enough structure so you can find things without hunting.

Tools that help:

• PostHaste (Mac): Automates folder creation with templates. Set it up once, and every new project gets the same clean structure automatically.

• Hazel (Mac): Automates file organization. Set rules like "move files older than 30 days to Archives," and it handles it.

• File Juggler (Windows): Similar to Hazel. Automates sorting based on rules you set.

Automate Your Backups So You Don't Have to Think About It

If you're manually dragging files to an external drive every week, you're going to forget. It's not a character flaw, it's just reality. Manual backups don't happen consistently because life gets busy and you have better things to do.

Set up automated backups so your system does it for you. Time Machine on Mac. File History on Windows. Backblaze or Carbonite for cloud backups. Whatever works, just make it automatic.

The best backup system is the one that runs without you having to remember it exists.

How to set up automated backups:

Mac (Time Machine):
Plug in an external drive. Go to System Settings > General > Time Machine. Click "Select Backup Disk" and choose your external drive. Time Machine will back up automatically every hour.

Windows (File History):
Plug in an external drive. Go to Settings > Update & Security > Backup. Click "Add a drive" and select your external drive. Windows will back up automatically.

Cloud backup:
Sign up at backblaze.com, download the app, and let it run in the background. It'll continuously back up your entire computer to the cloud. Set it and forget it.

What a solid backup system looks like:

• Local backup (external drive, NAS, whatever)

• Cloud backup (offsite, in case your house burns down or your laptop gets stolen)

• Automated, so it happens whether you remember or not

If you've got all three, you're in good shape. If you're relying on one external drive, you back up to "whenever you remember," you're one coffee spill away from disaster.

Backup tools photographers actually use:

• Time Machine (Mac): Built-in, free, works great with external drives

• Backblaze: $99/year for unlimited cloud backup of one computer (add the 1-year version history upgrade for extra protection)

• Crashplan: Good for backing up multiple computers

• Synology NAS: Local network storage that auto-backs up multiple devices (more expensive upfront, but solid long-term)

Check Your Client Delivery Links Before You Leave

This isn't technically a backup thing, but it'll save you from a very annoying email while you're trying to enjoy the holidays.

Before you log off, make sure the galleries you've already delivered to clients are still accessible. Check expiration dates on download links. Make sure shared folders didn't randomly lose permissions. Verify that the files are actually there and not just empty folders you forgot to upload.

Nothing ruins a holiday like a frantic "I can't access my photos!" email from a client whose link expired while you were offline.

Quick check:

• Are recent client galleries still accessible?

• Do download links still work?

• Are shared folders still active?

• Have any file-sharing subscriptions expired?

How to check:
Log in to your account, go to Galleries, and check the expiration dates on your recent deliveries. If anything's expiring soon, extend it now. The same goes for CloudSpot, Pic-Time, ShootProof, or whatever platform you use.

If you use Google Drive or Dropbox for delivery:
Open the shared link in an incognito/private browser window to make sure it's still accessible to people without a login.

Takes five minutes. Saves you a headache.

The 3-2-1 Rule (In Case You Forgot)

If backup strategies make your eyes glaze over, just remember this: 3-2-1.

• 3 copies of your files (original + 2 backups)

• 2 different types of storage (external drive + cloud, NAS + external, etc.)

• 1 offsite backup (cloud, or a drive you keep somewhere else)

Follow that, and you're covered for almost any disaster scenario. Your computer dies? You've got backups. Your house floods? Your cloud backup is safe. A drive fails? You've got another one.

It's not paranoid. It's just smart.

Real-world example of 3-2-1 in action:

1. Original: Photos on your laptop

2. Backup 1: Time Machine backup to an external SSD

3. Backup 2: Backblaze continuous cloud backup

If your laptop crashes, you restore from the external drive. If your house burns down with both your laptop and external drive, Backblaze has everything in the cloud. You're covered.

Set a Reminder for January

Once you're back from the holidays and life returns to normal, set a recurring reminder to check your backups every month. First of the month, whatever. Just pick a day and stick to it.

Most people set up backups once and never check them again. Then two years later, they need them and find out nothing's been working since 2023.

Don't be that person.

How to set this up:

iPhone:
Open Reminders > Create a new reminder > Set it to repeat monthly on the 1st. Title it "Check backup drives and cloud sync."

Google Calendar:
Create a new event > Set it to repeat monthly > Add a notification. Done.

Todoist, Notion, whichever task app you use:
Same concept. Recurring task. First of the month. Takes 30 seconds to set up.

Now Go Enjoy Your Break (For Real This Time)

Backing up your files isn't glamorous. It's not creative. It won't win you any clients. But it's the boring, unglamorous thing that keeps your business from imploding when something goes wrong.

You've spent 30 minutes making sure everything's safe. Your files are backed up. Your drives are working. Your cloud sync is solid. You're covered.

So now? Close your laptop. Step away from the desk. Go enjoy the holidays without that nagging voice in the back of your head, wondering if your hard drive is about to die.

Spend time with family. Sleep in. Eat too much. Watch bad holiday movies. Do absolutely nothing productive for a few days. You've earned it.

And when you come back in January, you'll start 2026 without the fear of lost files, crashed drives, or panicked client emails. You'll hit the ground running because you took 30 minutes to do the boring stuff now.

That's the gift you just gave yourself. Not stress. Not worry. Just peace of mind.

Happy holidays. See you in 2026.

Team Aftershoot