Photo Sharing

[joshua1]

Hi all,

I'm currently looking into some premium (ad-free) photo sharing sites and writing a blog about my experiences. I'm pretty much looking for a sites that offer affordable plans, secure sharing, and slick interfaces. The ability to sell photos isn't really being considered, as I plan to sell my photos through ImageKind, and not through my personal site that I will share with friends and family. So far I've decided to review SmugMug, Phanfare, potentially Flickr Pro, and decided not to review pBase, Picasa, DropShots, and dotPhoto Pro (you can see the reasoning at my blog http://www.photosharing.ws/ ).

Have I missed any good services to look at, or does anyone have reviews they'd like to share about SmugMug, Phanfare, or Flickr Pro?

Thanks!

[bauerman]

Yes - you do not have the option on your list that really would most likely best meet the needs that you mention in your post - Zenfolio. www.zenfolio.com

Your blog would be very incomplete in my opinion without reviewing Zenfolio as well.

[arg245]

Bauerman and I are on the same page here ........ Don't waste your time or money with any other photosharing service. Zenfolio is the way to go.

Good Luck.

[adblink]

zenfolio seems pretty expensive, $25 a year only gets you 1GB of storage? Most free accounts other places give you more then that

[bauerman]

zenfolio seems pretty expensive, $25 a year only gets you 1GB of storage? Most free accounts other places give you more then that


I would have to disagree with you there. I would say that the 1GB that Zenfolio offers on its basic account is actually above average compared to what it out there. A lot of the places that offer more storage than that are going to force you to weed through a lot of ads to place and view your photos - that is for sure.

Plus - storage is only one small aspect of what Zenfolio offers - it really is the best overall bang for the buck for my money feature for feature.

[adblink]

I would have to disagree with you there. I would say that the 1GB that Zenfolio offers on its basic account is actually above average compared to what it out there. A lot of the places that offer more storage than that are going to force you to weed through a lot of ads to place and view your photos - that is for sure.

Plus - storage is only one small aspect of what Zenfolio offers - it really is the best overall bang for the buck for my money feature for feature.

lol and in turn I would have to disagree with you there as well. 1gb is far below the average compared to whats out there...well maybe for the free accounts, but not the "preimum" ones

Flickr = Unlimited for $24
Photobucket = 5GB for $25 (1GB with the free account)
dotphoto = unlimited for $23

theres a bunch more but I'm too lazy to keep going. Sure it looks like zenfolio has a better layout then some, but if you dont have the room to store the photos, it doesnt matter how nice the place looks. Plus for the price of the accounts, I'd hope they offered something unique others dont

[bauerman]

lol and in turn I would have to disagree with you there as well. 1gb is far below the average compared to whats out there...well maybe for the free accounts, but not the "preimum" ones

Flickr = Unlimited for $24
Photobucket = 5GB for $25 (1GB with the free account)
dotphoto = unlimited for $23

theres a bunch more but I'm too lazy to keep going. Sure it looks like zenfolio has a better layout then some, but if you dont have the room to store the photos, it doesnt matter how nice the place looks. Plus for the price of the accounts, I'd hope they offered something unique others dont

LOL - you have not looked into what Zenfolio offers real photographers as compared to the three other services that you mention...Zenfolio is not a place to store 300GB of photos of Britney Spears or a social site to "meet people".....its a serious photo site built around serious photographers.

To compare Zenfolio to the three services that you mention is a bit of an "apples to oranges" comparison I am afraid.

[adblink]

LOL real photographers....

lots of "real" photographers use other services instead of zenfolio just an fyi

if you cant store all the photos you want, doesnt matter how nice of a layout it is, u will be limited to what you can present. I even said it myself I am sure they offer more then other places do, but I am simply comparing storage space, and they are definitly not "above average" as you claimed in that category. Whats what those 3 examples were proving.


I was only comparing storage space, plain and simple.

[bauerman]

Well if you make your decision on storage space alone - you are have a very limited view of things - that is for sure. Plus - just pop up to the next level on Zenfolio and you have unlimited space PLUS all the great options those other services you mention could only hope to offer someday. It's not really even a fair fight at this point - Zenfolio vs. Photobucket or Dotphoto? Come on.......

If presentation of your photos and your work are paramount - then people will need to look beyond the McDonald's type sites that you mention for the 'masses' and look more towards a Zenfolio or a Smugmug type of service.

[adblink]

how is looking at storage space have anything to do with my view on things? that has nothing to do with it, I was just comparing. If you believe that zen is the be all to end all option on the internet for photo sharing, I believe that represents a fairly limited view. Why are you getting so defensive about this? its not like its your company or anything. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with zen or the services they offer, so im not sure what the whole argument is about here. We both agree they offer great tools for certain photographers, its perfect for some, and other things are perfect for others

//edit just out of curiosity, what methods does zen offer for uploading images? I like the slideshow tool viewers can take advantage off. But I like to have an easy method of upping pictures. I hate when you have to lick a "browse" link and locate each picture. I would prefer an FTP type of transfer, but something just as easy would be nice. how do you upload to zen

[blackshadow]

For a very impressive photoblog you might like to try flickr + WordPress

[tumana]

I'm an amateur photographer and I still picked Zenfolio. 1GB is more than enough for a gallery used to show your best photos (plus, bonus coupons are easy to find for Zenfolio). You can pay $40 for unlimited storage space.

I like it. It's fast. Very slick layout. And I like the ordering service they offer. I know other sites offer that too but you gotta test different ones and see which one you prefer. Not some loud mouth who always wants to get the last word. ;)

[Rudi]

ZenFolio all the way! :)

[elguapo]

just out of curiosity, what methods does zen offer for uploading images? I like the slideshow tool viewers can take advantage off. But I like to have an easy method of upping pictures. I hate when you have to lick a "browse" link and locate each picture. I would prefer an FTP type of transfer, but something just as easy would be nice. how do you upload to zen

IMO, Smugmug and Zenfolio are the best photo sharing websites. Smugmug currently offers more features, but I've found Zenfolio's interface and uploading much easier to use. I currently use Zenfolio, but I'm may switch at some point in the future if Zenfolio doesn't catch up on some features.

I've also been with Yahoo Photos. I was happy with them and would have stuck with them, but they are closing to concentrate on Flickr, which I dislike.

I wanted to find another free photosharing service, so I tried Kodak Easy Share (Formerly Ofoto and partnered with Target), Shutterfly, Snapfish, and Walmart. Should have tried Picassa, but didn't. In my opinion, of the free services I tried, Kodak Easy Share fit most of my needs better than the others. However, it had limitations, which is why I went with a paid site.

Check out CNET's Review of Photosharing websites:

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6451_7-6245099-1.html