Creative & technical
Backup for photographers and video makers who cannot reshoot
Mindtime backs up the laptops, editing workstations and NAS where your originals, catalogues and projects live, and stores immutable copies in its own data centres in the Netherlands and Germany. A copy stays air-gapped, so theft, a dead drive or ransomware does not cost you a shoot.
In Dutch, German or English.
- NL · DEStored only in our own Tier III data centres in the Netherlands and Germany
- ImmutableObject Lock storage plus an air-gapped copy; every backup job is checked
- ISO 27001 · NEN 7510Audited security, with a data processing agreement in every contract
- NL · DE · ENSupport from people, no offshore call centres or chatbots
In short
Photographers and video producers need an off-site backup because a wedding, an event or an interview happens once and the originals are the only copy. Cards, laptops and NAS devices fail or get stolen. Mindtime stores unchangeable copies of laptops, workstations and NAS storage in its own Tier III data centres in the Netherlands and Germany, plus an air-gapped copy.
What's at stake
The data photographers and video production companies can't afford to lose
RAW originals and camera footage
The untouched RAW files and camera originals are what you return to for a reprint, a new crop or a recut. An exported JPEG or a compressed delivery file cannot replace them.
Catalogues and edit projects
A Lightroom catalogue or an edit project holds hours of selection, grading and cutting. Lose it while the media survives, and you still start the edit again.
Client deliveries and agreements
Delivered galleries, quotes, model releases and invoices show what you agreed with each client. They matter again when a client asks for extra prints years later or disputes how an image was used.
Rules and obligations
What the rules ask of photographers and video production companies
Summarised from the sources listed at the bottom of this page. This is general information, not legal advice.
Recognisable people are personal data
The Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens counts any information about an identifiable person as personal data, and gives camera images in which someone can be recognised as an example. Portraits, wedding photos and interview footage fall under the GDPR, including in your backups. [1]
Your photos and films are protected works
Article 10 of the Auteurswet names photographic works and film works among the works protected by copyright. Keeping the originals safe is also how you keep the evidence of what you made. [2]
Seven years for bookkeeping
The Belastingdienst requires you to keep your basic business records, such as the sales and purchase administration and debtors and creditors, for seven years. Invoices for shoots and productions are part of that. [3]
NIS2 does not cover photo and video studios
Photography and video production are not sectors in the Cyberbeveiligingswet, the Dutch NIS2 law. Freelancers and small studios are also well below its size criteria of 50 employees, or more than €10 million turnover and balance sheet. [4]
When it goes wrong
A stolen bag two days before delivery
Illustrative example: a wedding photographer's car is broken into and the bag with her laptop and card reader is taken, two days before the edited gallery is due. The memory cards had already been formatted after import, so the laptop held the only working copy of the RAW files and the catalogue. Because Mindtime had backed up the laptop to its own data centres, she restores the RAW files and catalogue onto a borrowed machine and finishes the edit. She also checks with her privacy adviser whether the stolen laptop counts as a reportable data breach.
How Mindtime protects it
Backup for photographers and video production companies, workload by workload
- Laptop and endpoint backupOn a shoot, the laptop is often the first and only copy once the cards are reused.
- NAS backupMost studios keep their archive and project media on a Synology or QNAP NAS.
- Microsoft 365 backupClient mail, quotes and signed releases often sit in Outlook and OneDrive.
- Google Workspace backupStudios on Gmail and Drive need a copy outside Google's trash and recovery windows.
The software you use, and what we protect around it
| Adobe Lightroom Classic | Adobe states that Lightroom Classic's own backup covers only the catalogue file, not your photos. Mindtime backs up the laptop, workstation or NAS where both the photos and the catalogue are stored. |
|---|---|
| DaVinci Resolve (Blackmagic Design) | Projects sit in local or shared project libraries, with the media on separate drives. Mindtime protects the workstations and NAS behind them; projects in Blackmagic Cloud follow Blackmagic's own retention terms. |
| Adobe Premiere Pro | Premiere projects, proxies and source media on edit machines or shared storage fall under Mindtime's endpoint and NAS backup. |
| Synology or QNAP NAS | The usual home of the archive. Mindtime copies the NAS off-site to immutable storage, so a failed array or ransomware does not take the archive with it. |
| Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace | Quotes, client mail and model releases. Mindtime backs up the mailboxes and online files outside Microsoft's or Google's environment. |
Before you switch
What photographers and video production companies ask us first
I already copy everything to two external drives.
That covers a failed disk, but both drives usually sit in the same studio or bag, exposed to theft, fire and ransomware. Mindtime adds an off-site, immutable copy and an air-gapped copy, in line with the 3-2-1-1-0 rule.
I'm a freelancer. Is a business backup service meant for me?
If your income depends on files you cannot recreate, yes. Book a free 15-minute demo and Mindtime's own staff will look at your laptop and NAS set-up with you, in Dutch, German or English.
Do my clients' images leave the EU?
No. Your backups go only to Mindtime's own Tier III data centres in the Netherlands and Germany. You get a data processing agreement, and data is encrypted in transit with AES-256.
FAQ
Questions about backup for photographers and video production companies
Is a NAS with RAID a backup?
No. RAID keeps a NAS running when one disk fails, but deleted files, ransomware, theft or a failed controller affect every disk at once. You need a separate copy elsewhere. Mindtime backs up Synology and QNAP NAS devices to its own data centres, immutable and with an air-gapped copy.
How do I protect photos of clients under the GDPR?
Treat portraits and event photos as personal data: know where they are stored, who can access them and how long you keep them. For backups, use a provider with a data processing agreement and storage in the EU. Mindtime stores data only in the Netherlands and Germany and requires MFA for admin actions.
What happens if ransomware encrypts my archive?
You go back to copies that sat beyond the ransomware's reach. Mindtime's backups are locked against changes with Object Lock, one copy is air-gapped and backups are checked for malware. Files are restored into an isolated environment first, so the infection does not come back with them.
Will I notice if a backup fails?
Mindtime checks every backup job and monitors around the clock, so a failed or missing backup is picked up by people whose job it is, not discovered by you on the day you need a file. Support comes from Mindtime's own staff, not an offshore call centre or a chatbot.
See it with your own data
Book a 15-minute demo
We show you a backup and a restore, and answer your questions in Dutch, German or English. No offshore call centres, no chatbots.