10 things I as a photographer do to prevent losing all wedding photos 

The biggest photography related fear of any couple getting married is that they end up with no photos of their wedding day.

And unfortunately, it is not an irrational fear. It does happen, but there is plenty we photographers can and, in my opinion, should do to mitigate the risk and prevent losing all wedding photos.

The most important thing you can do, is hiring a photographer who takes all reasonable precautions.

But what questions should you ask your photographer about how they keep your photos safe? And what eventualities should your photographer prepare for?

The 4 most common reasons a photographer loses all wedding photos are:

1. Camera failure
2. Memory card failure
3. Equipment theft/loss
4. Accidental deletion

I believe your photos are too precious to risk losing them, so I am taking a host of precautions to make sure you will get your photos.

Camera Error or failure

Happens a lot. Happened to me – once. Luckily, it I was in a camera shop trying on some lenses at the time. I managed to fix it myself in under a minute.

But if you are just walking down the aisle or exchanging rings, a minute can be too long.

So apart from all my cameras are being regularly serviced and cleaned to make sure they are in good working order, I also carry at least two cameras at weddings and handfastings. This way, I always have the equipment to continue recording your day, even if one of them dies on me.

Additionally, I alternate between two cameras while shooting. I do this mostly for artistic reason (different lenses capture images differently) but it has the added benefit that if one camera goes wrong, there are still photos of that part of your day on the other one.

You will see me checking the back screen of the camera regularly. That’s to make sure your photos are recorded and recorded correctly. Because if they are not, there might be a problem with the camera, or the memory card, which brings us to the next point.

Memory Card Failure

I take several precautions to mitigate this risk.

I always shoot to two memory cards simultaneously, usually writing duplicate rather than recording at a different quality.

This means, should one card fail, your photos are still safely stored on the other one.

Of course, that means I had to invest into more expensive cameras, but I believe your memories deserve this attention.

I test both cards in each camera throughout your day to make sure they all work fine and to prevent losing all your wedding photos.

If they don’t, then I swap them out. I carry plenty of spare cards.

Equipment Theft or Loss

But all the extra cameras and cards in the world are no use if they go walkies.

That’s why I like to keep my gear with me, much to the amusement of some, like a father of the bride: “are you our photographer or a lost hiker?”

As soon as I finished photographing, I will take one card out of each camera and keep them on my person and the other in my kit bag until I get home. So should someone steal my bag, we still got the other cards with your photos.

As soon as I get home, one set of cards goes straight into a fire proof safe box, and I use the other to copy your photos onto my computer and into cloud storage.

So by this point, there is not much chance of losing all the data carriers that your photos are stored on, but let’s talk about losing just the photos, ie: accidental deletion.

Accidental Deletion

First of all, let me reassure you, it’s really hard to accidentally delete anything in my cameras. As I mentioned before, I write to two cards simultaneously in each camera.

For deletion however, my cameras are set to delete from the primary card only, meaning the other card will still have your photo.

As soon as I am finished photographing, I move the slider on all cards to make them read only.

Just Saying It Again: Ask Your Photographer About How They Prevent Losing All Wedding Photos

Don’t hesitate to ask your chosen photographer what precautions they are taking. If they value your photos, they will be more than happy to reassure you.
And “I’m insured” isn’t reassurance. That only gets you your money back, it doesn’t get you your photos.

I am of course insured, but I understand that your wedding photos are very precious, and I do my best to keep them safe.

If you have any other questions or want to see if I’m available on your date, get in touch via the Contact Form or give me a call.

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Bright blessings,

Handfasting Photographer UK and EU