How I Protect My Clients’ Footage - as a Former Computer Technician

When couples think about wedding videography, they usually think about storytelling, emotion, and how cinematic their film will feel.

What they rarely think about is what happens behind the scenes, long before editing even begins, to make sure their memories are protected.

This is one area where my background before filmmaking plays a huge role in how I work.

Before I ever filmed weddings professionally, I worked as a computer technician. Data integrity, redundancy, and failure prevention were part of my everyday thinking. That mindset never left me. I simply applied it to something far more meaningful than office files or servers.

Your wedding footage is irreplaceable. There are no reshoots. That fact shapes every technical decision I make.

Protection Starts the Moment I Press Record

The first line of defense is at the camera level.

Every camera I use records simultaneously to multiple memory cards. This means that from the moment your wedding day is captured, there is already redundancy built into the process.

I also use high-integrity, professional-grade memory cards that are designed for sustained video recording, not consumer photography use. These cards are built to handle large data streams reliably over long periods of time.

Just as importantly, I intentionally use memory cards with significantly more capacity than I actually need.

As memory cards approach relative fullness, the risk of write errors and failure increases. By keeping cards well below their maximum capacity, I reduce stress on the media and lower the chance of corruption.

This is not accidental. It is preventative by design.

What Happens After the Wedding Day

Once your wedding is filmed, the real data protection work begins.

I do not rely on a single hard drive. I do not rely on a single location. I do not rely on hope.

Your unedited footage is stored in six separate places, across both physical and cloud-based systems.

Here is how that works.

Cloud Storage

One complete copy of your raw footage is stored securely in Dropbox. This provides off-site cloud redundancy and immediate access if needed.

Primary Server

I built a dedicated storage server specifically for video work. Inside that server are two redundant copies of your data, protected so that if one drive fails, the data remains intact.

Off-Site Mirror Server

That primary server is mirrored to a second server located in a completely different physical location. This protects your footage even in the unlikely event of a catastrophic issue such as theft, flooding, or a house fire.

Editing Computer Redundancy

In addition to the servers and cloud storage, your footage also exists on two separate internal drives inside my main editing computer.

In total, that is six copies of your data, stored across multiple devices, multiple locations, and multiple systems.

Local and cloud. On-site and off-site.

Why I Go This Far

Some videographers might consider this excessive.

I do not.

This level of redundancy is not just about risk management. It is part of how I honor the responsibility couples place in me.

I genuinely enjoy this side of the work.

Not just filming weddings.
Not just editing films.
Even the quiet, methodical, behind-the-scenes systems that make everything safe.

Building servers, designing backup workflows, and planning for worst-case scenarios might sound boring to some people. To me, it is part of the craft.

It is the same mindset that drives me to invest in cinema cameras and master advanced color grading. I care deeply about doing things the right way, even when no one is watching.

Especially when no one is watching.

Why This Matters for You

Your wedding film is not just content. It is history.

The vows.
The speeches.
The moments you did not even realize were happening.

Protecting that footage with intention, redundancy, and care is not optional. It is foundational.

When you trust me with your wedding day, you are trusting me with something that cannot be recreated. My systems are built to respect that reality.

That is not an add-on.
That is the standard.