Like all parents, I have a ton of pictures of my kid. All digital of course, and most taken with my Digital Rebel, which I bought from Dell (suprisingly Dell has good deals on tech products, especially if you buy a coupon off of Ebay).
These pictures are probably the most important thing on my computer. They capture a moment in time I could never recover if I were to lose them. Obviously, back-ups are crucial.
I have thought about getting an external hard drive to serve as a back-up drive. Then it dawned on me. The best way to back up photos is to just put them on a DVD. Cheap and easily stored. No worries about viruses or power spikes. I can store the DVDs outside of my house (like at my office) with minimal effort.
The main downside about using DVDs is that it is not automated and you have to be disciplined. Easier said then done. I use Google’s Picasa to organize my photos and it offers a back-up function to help streamline the process. Overall, it is pretty painless.
Also, you can decorate the DVDs however you see fit with custom-made labels. I always hate using proprietary label software though and have started using free label templates on the web (via Wordlabel.com, a sponsor of this site). These template help you make attractive labels, which are very important when the DVDs start to pile up.
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