Yesterday we were at the bank. It happens more often than you’d think, when the teller seen our business name, he started asking questions about our photography. What we do, how our photos look, just some normal small talk…usually… BUT YALL! Today this guy dropped a bomb on us. He brought out one of our biggest fears as a wedding photographer.

After informing Ben the Teller that we were wedding photographers he, like most, when they find out what we do, began recounting his wedding day. Mostly normal things–how long ago it was, the name of the venue, how his photographer lost most of the images of their wedding, and how th……WAIT WHAT???? You can’t just skip over that!! Back up! The photographer lost your photos? How? Why? OMG! I’m sweating just standing here with all the dread imagining myself in that photographer’s shoes. 

So as he elaborated, his photographer, a family friend, photographed their whole day. During the reception the photographer came up to Ben and his bride, to let him know that she had lost all of the photos she had already taken. Somehow her memory card was corrupted. Ugh! I can’t imagine what they were feeling when she told them…I can’t imagine having to be the one to deliver that news.

I know each bride-to-be reading this is freaking out! Fearing that this may happen to her! Right? This is the reason; this situation is my and Kala’s B I G G E S T   F E A R! For obvious reasons.

You’re probably thinking how does this happen? What caused this to happen? How do you keep this from happening? Anyone that is planning a wedding right now. Stop reading. Go get a glass of water, walk outside for some fresh air, and come back when your nerves have calmed (I just did).

While Kala and I understand that we can’t prevent every situation in the world from happening. We have placed quite a few steps into our process for each of our brides and grooms. There are multiple reasons photos could be lost, card corruption, hard drive crash, photography gear stolen (we know a photographer this happened to—at a wedding!). So now we are going to put your mind at ease, telling you guys our secrets to protecting your photos that we have never told any of our couples before.

We start protecting your photos before we even take the first shot. While researching our gear Kala and I only consider top quality cameras that have 2 memory card slots. This is extremely important and our first line of defense against memory card corruption. Both cards save the exact same file information, so if something happens to one, our second card will be safe.

Before leaving your reception while we pack our camera bags, we remove the memory cards with your entire days precious photos, and they go into a case which goes in my pocket. Yes, literally from the time we leave your reception hall, your photos are always on my person until we get home. Why? Kala and I try to learn from the wisdom of others, and if other photographers can have gear stolen at weddings, we never want to risk losing your photos along with the gear. We can replace the cameras and lenses, not the photos.

Once we are home or back at the hotel if we are traveling, we are still not done protecting your wedding photos. Card corruption and hard drive crashes are a real thing! Before we go to bed (sometimes we are up really late) we backup each of the cards onto 2 additional and different external hard drives. Just for good measure once more into our editing software, where an additional copy is saved. We are very particular and serious about this. When we say we take all the necessary steps to protect the one memory from your wedding day that will hang on your walls, we mean it.

If all else fails, one backup that is easy to overlook is there are two of us. Kala and I never shoot weddings alone. We are your team, we know that we cannot get your day back, there are no do overs, no second chances. So, as your photographers we both photograph your day as if there were only one of us. While we are at different angles, we are physically cutting in half the chance for you to leave your day with no wedding photos.

This may have given you some unnecessary anxiety, or brought out fears you didn’t know you had. Hopefully though now that we are at the end, you have breathed a breath of relief knowing, at least with Kala and I, we will do everything you can think of and maybe a little more to protect some of the most precious memories of your lifetime.