Storing a Shoot Archive: Losing Nothing and Leaking Nothing

A shoot archive is both an asset and a responsibility. Losing it is galling; leaking it harms not only you but the people who trusted you.

The rule of three copies

A classic that has not aged: three copies of the data, on two different media, one of them off-site. Fire, theft and drive failure happen less often than feared — but they happen.

The cloud, with a caveat

Automatic synchronisation of a shoot folder with a cloud by default is the simplest route to one day finding material where it should not be. If a cloud is used, files should arrive there already encrypted rather than in the clear under a service's assurances.

Separation

• Originals — separate, accessible only to you
• Selected and processed work — separate
• Published work — separate; this is the shop window
• Documents and releases — beside the originals, not in your email

This separation makes accidental publication of the wrong file — the commonest mistake of all — almost impossible.

Encryption

An external drive holding an archive is easy to lose. Encrypting the volume turns losing the drive into losing hardware rather than a leak. It is configured once and does not get in the way.

Retention

Agree it with the model in advance and honour it. If you agreed to delete unselected frames after a shoot, delete them rather than filing them in a «sort later» folder. That folder lives for years and eventually becomes a problem.

This material is intended for adults over 18 and is informational in nature.