The fragility of photo media
Today’s digital cameras use media cards to store images. There are various types of media cards, but the most common are Secure Digital or SD cards, which are about the size of a postage stamp, and Compact Flash or CF cards, which are larger and more sturdy. And I can’t forget the mini SD cards, which are very tiny.
I was looking at my set of cards the other day and realized even more the fragility of these cards, also known as memory cards. The means for these cards to be destroyed are about endless. I once had a card chewed up by a dog — luckily there were no photos on it. I have heard horror stories about how photographers lose these cards after an important event like a wedding, and there’s nothing that can be done to get those photos back without the card. Being as small as they are, it’s easy to understand how they can become lost.
Sometimes these cards just get corrupted for unexplained reasons. There have been a few occasions where photos I shot on one of these cards were not on the card when I went to retrieve them. Why? Because the card got corrupted. Thankfully, oftentimes the photos from a corrupted cards can be retrieved through special software, but sometimes they cannot.
This is all the more reason that photographers have to be extremely careful with these cards after a photo shoot. Care must be taken to store these cards in safe places. Here’s a few things I have learned about protecting my media cards:
- Many cameras have dual media card slots. I have learned for important shoots to have cards in both these slots and to record the images to both the cards. That way if one goes corrupt you have a backup.
- Have a suitable storage place for your cards. Typically I keep my cards in the camera until I’m done with a job. However if it’s a big job and you need to replace a card because the first one fills up with images, it’s essential to make sure that the card is put in a suitable spot for safekeeping.
- Transfer the images to a computer as soon as possible after an event. If possible, transfer them to two separate hard drives in case one hard drive goes bad — that has happened to me as well.
When you meet with a photographer, it isn’t a bad idea to ask him or her what they do with their media cards after a shoot. You just want to make sure they are as careful as they should be.
