My memory cards are like treasure to me. When I leave a wedding or a session, if I have to stop anywhere, I ALWAYS bring my memory cards in with me in case my car gets broken into. They’re on me at all times, because if anything were to happen to them I would be absolutely devastated! My gear can be replaced, but not those wedding photos!
I learned something a few years back about memory cards that I always tell people about. A lot of people will look through photos on their camera and delete photos on the camera that they don’t like. Harmless, right? I used to do it all the time!
Now I don’t. You shouldn’t either!
Photos are not created equal. Every single photo you take will have a different file size. When you go back through the camera and delete photos, you’re basically creating these little boxes that need to be filled. Well, what happens if the photo you take doesn’t fit in the box? It can actually lead to a corrupt card! Photos will fill in those old spaces, regardless of the file size!
Last year I thought I had a corrupt card, and I was SO stressed for 24 hours trying to figure out how to get my photos off the card. Turns out it was just the card reader, but still, I was panicked! Another time last year at a wedding, a photo on my SD card was accidentally deleted, and I immediately changed out the card, even though it wasn’t even half full!
So, that is today’s pro tip! Don’t delete individual photos off the card! It’s totally okay to format the card in the camera (after you’ve backed up the photos of course!), but I feel like you play with fire if you delete a few here and there!
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