Bigger and more to Store
I would like to raise the question of backing up RAW files. As our digital backs are increasingly getting bigger and agencies and art-directors are expecting more pixels equating to more crop-ability for art-directors and providing options for both layout and clients long term value, I would ask how long are we expected to store these digital files.
Having recently invested in a server to back-up my files, and needing to find a more financially viable option than external hard-drives. I was made aware of the costs involved with backing-up and this led me to ask the question, how long is reasonable for photographers to back-up a commissioned body of work.
For those photographers who remember shooting jobs with film we would shoot the job and mostly hand the unused work over to agency for safekeeping. If the work was misplaced or damaged that would generally mean a reshoot. Somehow in the transition from film to digital we the photographers have now become responsible for storage and safekeeping RAW files indefinitely. Recently I was asked to supply an agency with a product shot that I had done well over a year and a half ago?
In the past that would mean a reshoot and generate income.
If we owned the copyright this might not be a point to discuss but not having the ability to generate usage from stored files, I believe we are practicing bad business principles by carrying dead weight which are increasingly becoming heavier and heavier to carry.
