I’m sure every blogger (or keen photographer) can relate to the fact that photographs are very precious. We spend hours (sometimes days) preparing, perfecting and prepping the perfect shot – before then meticulously editing them to add vibrance to the colours. Many of them are precious because they represent memories we love – capturing the moment in time, for us to fondly look back upon. And many of them document moments in our lives which tell stories to our readers. Even in everyday life, the photograph captures the moments we want to treasure forever.
In essence, they’re not something we can afford to lose.
So, in reflection of this, today’s post will be a little insight into how I keep my pictures safe (after a rather disastrous laptop-drop a few years ago which left a black hole of about a year’s worth of memories) and what recent travel moments I have loved the most. I thought it would be a good opportunity to share a few little anecdotes from the last few months – while also highlighting the importance of backing up.
Because as much as it probably sounds trivial, we are living in the digital age – rather than the print generation we grew up in. We won’t have the same printed privilege as our parents, who can whip out rather hefty albums, bursting with polaroids and fuzzy images of themselves aged 20 on the beach, enjoying the freedom of their youth. Ours may be plastered over Facebook and Instagram – but who knows where those platforms will be in 20 years. The beauty of photographs is that they capture a moment in time for eternity (as cliche as that probably sounds) so we’ve got to make sure we uphold this bit of the bargain by protecting them!
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Of course, we can print them off ourselves in one of the ridiculously expensive Boots photo pods (I had such a saga with this before and ended up paying £15 for 100 + of the same picture – whoops) but really, my point of call now for protection is an external hard drive. These can be expensive but it’s very reassuring to know that everything is safely stored out of harm’s way. Plus you can update them as regularly as you see fit – and store bits your computer doesn’t have space for.
I have a couple, as I’ve changed laptops several times over the past few years – but by far the most reliable I’ve found has been Western Digital (WD) who are the leaders in their field at these kind of products. If you’ve been keeping a close eye on my recent adventures, you’ll know that they actually sponsored my #BloggersBall in June and so I got to see their products in action first hand, and be let in on a few tips and tricks.
The WD Passport is my current hard drive of choice for my iMac and has a whopping 2TB of storage (I’m rubbish at techy stuff but unless you’re some jet-setting filmmaker with tonnes of HD footage, I doubt you’ll get even close to using this much). Its automatic backup software allows you to backup directly to your My Passport drive, or to the Cloud, giving you peace of mind that everything you own is stored safely – an essential for bloggers whose images are everything. Plus it has hardware encryption and allows you to add a password, keeping your files private. And thankfully, it’s really simple to set up, meaning you don’t have to fiddle around too much for it to get to work!
And talking of foolproof, you don’t need to remember to carry a separate power cable with you, as you can charge your My Passport from the USB port on your PC, which is compatible with both USB 3.0 and USB 2.0. Plus, with a three-year limited warranty, they really have thought of everything!
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The best thing in terms of travelling is that it’s lightweight and super easy to take with you when you’re on the go. Take my recent trip to Thailand for example – we were taking SO many pictures every day that it wasn’t safe to carry everything round on the camera without being backed up. Again with the GoPro, it was great to know that everything was safe and sound on something locked away in the room rather than out with us in water, sand and sun. This almost came in VERY handy when we got off the kayak and I forgetfully left the GoPro in it! I had such a mad panic but raced back to the beach and by some sort of miracle, found it underneath a tree! Phew!
The My Passport range retails from £65 on Amazon but you only ever need to buy one and in terms of market competitors, this is very good value for money. My previous devices have cost a lot more and don’t offer half the number of features – so I suppose it’s about weighing up what you need it for and what value you assign to protecting your photos and documents. It’s certainly an essential in any bloggers tool kit in my opinion!
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So as promised, I’ve added a few of my favourite travel moments below:
- Strolling through the streets of Mykonos with my mum before stopping for a glass of wine and a pizza at the least expensive place in town. But loving every minute! The island is an expensive place, especially when it comes to eating out – and everywhere is super prestigious and fancy. But as much as it’s lovely to enjoy those things, sometimes the best moments aren’t in the fanciest of surroundings. We had just as lovely a time with our 8 euro pizzas and 3 euro glass of rose!
- Stepping onto Maya Beach – the renowned place where Leonardo DiCaprio’s ‘The Beach’ was filmed many moons ago. It’s such a stunning place, encased by mountains on three sides – with shimmering turquoise water. It was a little busy when we went, as tourist season was in full swing – so instead of bustling for space on the sand, we headed into the trees and explored the National Park on the host island. It honestly looked like something from a Hollywood movie – and I felt like someone was going to whip down the film set at any moment and say it was all a set up!
- Spending the entire evening lying on the beach with my boyfriend, looking up into the stars and holding hands with my favourite person – with a Chang beer in hand. Again, it was such a simple, inexpensive moment but so special. I’ve never seen beaches so beautiful and the fact it was so secluded made it feel all the more exclusive to us.
Western Digital | link
Do you backup all of your pictures? Do you think there are any other essentials in a blogger’s toolkit’? And what are your favourite travel moments?
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Post written in collaboration with WD
