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Jan 15, 2022

What is the Best Cloud Storage for Photography? Unlimited Photo Storage.

If you're like me and just want the straightforward answer without the explanation and sales pitch; Here you go - The Quick answer to Unlimited Photography Cloud Storage.


Introduction

The last thing a photographer wants is to finish a photo shoot and lose your photographs because you didn't take the time to back them up. So what is the best cloud storage for photographers?


There are many solutions to backing up your photographs, such as external storage. But what happens when you lose that storage device, drop it, break it, or it corrupts. I mean, you can back your photographs to multiple storage devices, but do you want to manually back up your files to multiple storage devices?


If you’re anything like me then you will copy your files onto a hard drive and copy them onto the second hard drive “later”. And we all know that “later” means it’s not going to happen.


So what's the solution? Well, with technology these days you'd be silly not to take advantage of cloud storage. Luckily protecting your photographs has become extremely easy with cloud storage, especially for us photographers. But with so many options out there it can be hard to choose what cloud storage is best for you.


But most importantly, we photographers want a solution that isn't going to break the bank.


Backing up your photographs not only removes the hassle of having to back up manually, but cloud storage also means that you can access your photographs from anywhere, on any device. All you need to do is log into your account, and you're good to go.


Let’s throw in an example, just the other month my laptop's motherboard was worn out and to put it simply, my laptop was a write-off. Luckily I use cloud storage for all of my files, photos, and docs. So all I needed to do was log into my account. So with that, I lost no work and could continue with my work as soon as I had my replacement device.


These accidents may seem unlikely to happen, but trust me it happens. So if you are to take anything away from this blog, it is to BACK UP EVERYTHING. The best part about cloud storage is that you only need to back up your work in one place. As long as you know the login to your account, you won't lose any files or photographs using cloud storage. Cloud storage has been a lifesaver for me, more times than I liked it to be.


What is cloud photography storage?

If you’re reading this and thinking “can I trust cloud storage to save and protect all of my photographs” then we are very alike. As great as technology is, we all know it is not perfect and can include some errors along the way. But with cloud storage, the likelihood of any errors or problems occurring is minimal. Let me run you through how cloud storage works and what it is.


The name cloud storage is very misleading. Cloud storage isn’t stored in the cloud. It is a physical location… on earth. Cloud storage uses data centres with massive computer servers that physically store the data and make it available online to users via the internet.


Think of it as uploading a photograph to social media. Let’s say we upload a photograph to Facebook. That photograph is not stored on your phone, your laptop, or your hard drive, it is stored on a facebooks server. Therefore, as long as you can access your account you will have that image. Cloud storage is the same, it is a huge storage centre that keeps hold of your files for you, to which you and only you can access using your username and login.


Now, data centres with massive computer servers are not just any old servers. They are protected with Military-grade encryption making it unhackable unless someone has your login details. This service also comes at just a fraction of the cost compared to using physical storage such as hard drives.


So with that in mind, what is the best cloud storage for photographers?


Best Cloud Storage for Photography

So the best cloud storage for photographers? Well for me it is Amazon Photos partnered with odrive. Using this setup gives you unlimited photo storage.


To put it simply, purchase Amazon prime at either £7.99 a month/£79 a year, or if you’re a student, £3.99 a month/£39 a year. Purchasing this gives you unlimited photo storage without compressing any files, and yes, that includes RAW files. 


Not only do you get unlimited photo storage, but you also receive free one day delivery on Amazon, Prime Video, Amazon Music, Twitch Prime, Prime Reading and so much more. The benefits outweigh the price.


For most cloud storage platforms, I hate the user interface. However, with odrive, you can have all of your cloud storage accounts in your file explorer, making file management a lot easier. Amazon Photos user interface is usable and good, but not quite how I like it. That’s where Odrive comes in. Odrive allows you to access all your cloud storage within your computer's filing system. Odrive Premium (£6.57 a month/£72.39 a year) lets you sync your files so that it takes up no storage on your computer whatsoever, you simply download what you need when you need it. This is an absolute lifesaver, as a photographer, I have terabytes worth of photographs and there is no chance that my computer can handle that, but with odrive, all I have to do is go into my Odrive folder and download the file I need.


The Quick answer to Unlimited Photography Cloud Storage

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