Don't lose those photos!

We have some expert tips about the best ways to store and back up your precious pictures.

In the present digital era, we often take hundreds of pictures from our trips or family functions, not to mention our countless selfies. Yearly, an average mobile phone user takes anything between 1,500 and 3,000 pictures. There is always a dearth of storage space on the mobile phone. So how to safely store those memories?

One of the most common mistakes people make is not having a ‘backup plan’ for their pictures. If and when the mobile phone or the primary laptop crashes, data gets accidentally deleted, or the device is stolen, they end up losing all their valuable pictures. Therefore, it’s necessary to find a way to get unlimited photo backup or a system in place, which keeps your pictures safe.

The chances of recovering are slim. If you value your pictures and are not sure about how to store or back them up, here are some tips that will definitely help you, whether you are a beginner or a pro. This is also a good habit to add to your new year’s to-do list.

nCopy, don’t move: The first step when moving photos from a mobile phone or memory card to a laptop or any device is to copy the images first. The risk in moving pictures is first, it takes more time, and second, if by mistake, the device disconnects or an error pops up, the data is at risk. While copying, the primary data remains safe. You can opt to delete once the pictures are copied successfully.

nExternal hard disk: Invest in a good external hard disk. Having a SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) hard disk and moving your pictures is simple and easy. The downside of external hard disks is they can fail.

They are prone to viruses or can get corrupted. SSD (Solid State Drives) are more reliable. Even USB flash drives are an option. The advantage of external hard drives is that they offer a lot of storage space, now commonly over 1 TB for a cheaper price than most other options. Hence, you can have a backup of the backup on the hard disk!

nCloud storage: Many tech giants such as Amazon, Apple, Google, and OneDrive offer cloud storage on a monthly or a yearly subscription with generous storage space, where all your pictures can be saved. The advantage of cloud storage is you can access your pictures from any place with an internet connection. You can set up the function on a mobile or a laptop and the photos will sync automatically. Some offer free services too.

nBurn DVDs: Good old DVDs are also reliable options, but with limited storage capacity. You can use a DVD for each project and store it in a safe place. But, DVDs should be your second option.

nNAS storage: Network Attached Storage (NAS) is a somewhat complicated. However, NAS is one of the most reliable, secure and private storage options out there. It stores the photos in an array of external hard disks and transfers the photos via network cables or wireless. You can access the files remotely too and it can store large amounts of files, going up to 16 TB.

nBackup, backup and repeat: There is no single foolproof way. To preserve your precious, memorable pictures, you have to have a combination of two or three of the above methods. Some photographers keep a backup hard disk or DVDs in a bank locker or a storage utility in case of any untoward incidents at home or at the office, like floods or fires. Ideally, store pictures online and have a backup on an external hard disk. Be sure to periodically check the backed-up data and make sure your photos are correctly stored.

Lenscraft is a monthly column on all things photography — tips, tricks and everything in between. The writer is a photojournalist who tells stories with his pictures. Find his pictures on Twitter and Instagram @pushkarv