Photos: Tips For Sharing, Storing & Avoiding Data Loss On The Go

I often get lots of interesting questions when it comes to cameras and travel. Should one bring an expensive camera or a smaller one that can be treated with a little less care (and fit in your backpack with ease). What about video and iPhones?

What about sharing photos on the go, or having a back up of your photos – there’s nothing worse then losing a month’s worth of travel pics, I hear about it on the road and people are always devastated when that happens.

There are a number of discussion points I want to run through (succintly of course), because there are some easy tips to ensure your trip is free of photo stress.
 

What Camera Should You Bring Backpacking?

What Camera To Bring Travelling

Do you bring a small point and click, or how about a DSLR beast of a Canon/Nikon instead? Your iPhone could work as well. What a choice conundrum!

We used to backpack with a Panasonic Lumix (the waterproof durable one) and a Canon 450D. The Panasonic acted as the point & click and the Canon SLR was for the money shots. I say “used to” because the Panasonic broke when I was snorkelling in Thailand (oops!).

We carry both because we’re travel bloggers and Trudy is an amateur photographer – we also love having lots of beautiful photos from different spots around the world. It may not be a priority for you, a point and click may be just what you’re after. Something simple to fire your backpacking memory neurons, to help remember places and stories without having to lug around the body and lenses of a digital SLR.

For some, their iPhone is just what they need. Not only does it do a whole bunch of other stuff, it takes great photos that can be edited and shared on the go straight from the device itself.
 

Sharing On The Road (+ Cloud Storage Options)

There’s a ton of ways you can share photos with family & friends on the go. So many in fact, that unless you’re travel blogging my advice would be to simply pick one method and tell everyone that’s how you’ll be doing it.

Facebook, Instagram & Pinterest work well for those happy to share their snaps with everyone quickly & with ease.

Those looking to double up on both storage, in-built photo editing software and share ability should check out the following and see what resonates:

  • Flickr
  • Photobucket
  • Snapfish
  • Shutterfly
  • Picasa Web Albums (can tie in with Google Drive, see next paragraph)

If you’re after a straight out photo/video dumping spot just to ensure you’ve got backups, check out:

  • Google Drive (15GB Free)
  • DropBox (5GB Free)
  • Amazon Cloud Drive (5GB Free)
  • SkyDrive (Microsoft – 7GB Free)

The key problem Trudy and I often came across was that uploading lots of photos and videos was often difficult when trying to travel and having to use slow/free WIFI. Utilising cloud storage for photo backups just doesn’t work in Myanmar.

How To Not Lose Photos When You Travel
 

Avoiding Data Loss; Don’t Lose Your Photos!

If regularly uploading your snaps and raw data to cloud storage isn’t a great option based on where/how you’re travelling, Trudy has some top tips on avoiding data loss:

  • Always carry multiple SD cards.
  • Swap them around when you have some shots on one that you would be heartbroken to lose.
  • Keep your spare SD cards in your main backpack or with your passport instead of with your camera.
  • Move photos to a portable external hard drive or laptop whenever possible.
  • Always ensure you have photos in TWO locations at once, for example, SD card & external HD or computer & external HD (they can then be removed from SD card so it can be reused).

SD cards are getting cheaper all the time, so we would definitely recommend having 4 or 5 of them to help “split your eggs” so to speak. Losing the photos from one location (as frustrating as it is) is still better then losing photos from your entire trip.

 

Travel Memories

As I write this, Trudy is playing & printing out travel photos. It’s always fun to look and get creative with your travel photos – especially if you have a lot of them!

One cool idea is to create a photobook where you choose your best & favourite photos from your travels to make a fun coffee table read.

You could also make a folder on your computer to create a screen saver of fun travel snaps (stream it to your TV for maximum effect!), this will keep you eager to hit the road again.

How do you share snaps, avoid losing them & create your own visual travel memories?

Fun Camera Travel Memories

This post was brought to you in partnership with Carly & Photobox.

7 Responses to “Photos: Tips For Sharing, Storing & Avoiding Data Loss On The Go”

  1. The Guy says:

    Many thanks for the tips. I now carry a compact camera with me as I travel. Years ago I used to carry a compact and a SLR camera but it was always bulky and far from travelling light!

    With the development of modern cameras you can get a good picture. Even so I’m always impressed with the quality of pictures my wife takes with her iPhone.

    I try to back up my pictures to my next day each day if I can.

  2. Hi Tom,

    Great post on an overlooked issue. I always use Iphone+dropbox for cloud storage but I guess its not possible when in a remote place without a good wirless connection.

    Thanks
    Victor Björklund

  3. Wade says:

    I was just wondering about how my girlfriend and I are going to backup our photos for our trip. As of right now, we have multiple SD cards, but I worry we will lose them…So I’m planning on uploading them onto our facebook page as soon as its possible. Great post…keep up the good work!

    • Tom says:

      Thanks Wade! Just make sure you segregate where you store your SD cards to minimise the damage if you do happen to lose or have something stolen.

  4. Nico says:

    Yeah, the feeling when you accidentally press the Format button. Haha been there, done that. I use Iphone 5 and always activate the iCloud app so all the photos will be automatically saved. And sometimes it makes the job even easier cause you can directly upload the photos to any social medias like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram without having to transfer it to your laptop first.

  5. Stephen S. says:

    As always Tom, you write the best info. Can’t wait to see you guys in Brisbane!

  6. Kate says:

    I’m thinking about taking one of the waterproof cameras backpacking around Europe this winter. Since I have never been overseas, I have no idea what to expect and thought this was the best option for all weather. Since you have used one did you find they were suitable or would you recommend something with more zoom?
    Great tips about storage and segregating memory cards!
    Your page should be on everyones ‘to read’ list!

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