As a photographer I know about the importance of keeping my photos safe. I have spent hours trying to get the perfect shot and wouldn’t want to lose the image through theft or a computer malfunction.
After joining Livedrive and using the company’s cloud software I have found a series of great benefits for photographers. I have listed the specific features I use below;
Backup
We all save files on our computers but what happens if the hard drive breaks? I have had two hard drive failures in the past few years. Luckily I haven’t lost too much data but it has made me cautious of losing my best work. I now do everything possible to Backup my images – I keep them on my camera, I download them to my computers and I place them on the cloud.
The
Livedrive Backup cloud product has one very key function which I love – automatically Backup. When I upload the photos from my camera to the computer they are automatically sent to the cloud and backed up. If I edit a photo on Photoshop the image is then resent to the cloud and saves over the original. I know I would forget to keep backing things up manually and so this features is extremely useful to me and gives me piece of mind that the files won’t be lost.
Share your photos
If you’re anything like me you will want to share your photos with your friends and family. I love getting opinions on my work and use feedback to me help improve my photography skills. However I don’t like uploading my best work to Facebook because I feel as if anybody can take the photos and edit or use them in any way.
Instead I use the
Livedrive Briefcase product which allows me to place files on the cloud and then access them from anywhere at any time. This means that I can show people my photos on my phone or tablet (using the
Livedrive app), or I can show them the images on their computer by simply logging into my Livedrive account.
Some of my friends don’t live locally although they take part in my photo shoots and are interested in my work. Livedrive Briefcase has a feature called Web sharing, which allows me to place my photos in a special folder and then email the link to my close friends. This keeps my files safe while still giving specific people access to them.
Upload files on your travels
Many people take pictures while they’re abroad. I usually take shots of my friends, landscapes and tourist attractions. I don’t like taking a laptop with me but I like backing up my files each night. Using Livedrive I have found a novel solution to my problem. I have a WiFi memory card in my camera which allows me to upload my photos to the cloud through Livedrive’s FTP (this is only available on
Livedrive ProSuite and
Business Standard accounts). I simply connect to the hotels WiFi on my camera and upload my latest images. This allows me to make sure my photos aren’t lost even if my camera is misplaced.
Photo Editing
Livedrive.com has an app called FotoFlexer which allows you to make some quick edits to your images. It isn’t Photoshop but it has a surprising amount of options including the ability to adjust contrast, hue, saturation, and crop, rotate or add some basic effects. This is a good option if you need to make a few tweaks to a shot but you don’t have access to your personal computer.
Facebook and Flickr uploads
I mentioned previously that I don’t like uploading all of my photos to Facebook however I do like uploading images of my family and friends. Livedrive has the ability to upload files to Facebook or Flickr without having to leave Livedrive.com. Simply click on the image in your Briefcase and click the Facebook or Flickr button and it will be placed on the site in seconds. This can save a lot of time and effort and will be something I use moving forward.
Which Livedrive product do I use?
I have found the Livedrive ProSuite account to be the best solution for me because it offers Backup, Briefcase and FTP support in one program. The product also gives me 5TB of storage which allows me to store an almost unthinkable amount of pictures. If you were just interested in backing up your images I would suggest Livedrive Backup, and if you only wanted the ability to share files I would suggest Livedrive Briefcase. The FTP function is only available on the Livedrive ProSuite or Business accounts.
How does Livedrive help you with your photography? Let me know in the comments below;
