OK, "Shelley the Bookkeeper" here....
If you put your stuff on an external hard drive, or thumb drive, and don't put it into a fire proof/water proof safe EACH AND EVERY TIME, you are still at risk.
I started using an online automatic backup. It backs up everything, not just pictures. It's cheap, around $50.00 per year, and worth every penny. I don't have to think about backing things up, it happens without any effort from me.
For those of you in areas prone to tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, house fires, theft, stupid-spouses-who-crash-your-hard-drive - I think you get the picture - it can happen to anyone!!!
There are several out there, I've been using Carbonite. Not related, just a very happy customer, and I do recommend it to my bookkeeping clients. If you use another company, make sure there are no limits to the amount of space you use. Some charge for amount over 1 gig, and we all know that can be used up in no time at all.
FWIW!!!