Posted by Carol Nichols on October 29, 2015 at 11:31 AM
I want to start putting my photos on a photo hosting website so that I can share them with friends and family. There are so many hosting websites out there (i.e. pbase, flickr, smugmug, photobucket, google+, etc) that I can't figure out which photo host to use. I would love to know your opinions on any hosting websites that you may use or know about. Here is what I want to use it for:
1) I am a hobby photographer. I do not want to sell my photos, but I spend a lot of time, energy and money to make nice photos so I would like them to present well on the website.
2) I don't mind paying an annual fee if the hosting site is worth it.
3) I want to be able to set up a gallery for each of my trips and post all the photos within that gallery. I want to be able to write a description of the photo/location underneath the photo. I don't want to be limited to just a few words.
4) Most of all I want a host that will be around for a long time. This is probably hard to know, but I don't want to get all of my photos loaded onto a website only to find out in 6 months that they are defunct.
Thanks in advance for any advice/information/opinions you can provide on this subject.
Posted by Lance Warley on October 29, 2015 at 12:21 PM
Photoshelter for sure.
Posted by Max Waugh on October 29, 2015 at 1:16 PM
I'll disagree with Lance. I use PhotoShelter as well, but I'm not sure it's the best option for you, Carol. It's expensive compared to some of the more casual photo sharing sites, and has a lot of features built into that cost which you will never use (I'm basing these assumptions on item #1 on your list).
I believe a Flickr Pro account is only $50/year. I normally wouldn't recommend Flickr as someone's main hosting site, but for a "hobby photographer" with no commercial intent I don't see why it wouldn't work for you. It fits all of your other criteria.
I know some folks that have been happy with their Smugmug and Photobucket experiences, but I'm not sure what the cost is. Those sites will have some additional features Flickr will not have as well, one main difference being that I believe you can tie them into your own website (whereas with Flickr, people have to go to Flickr to see your photos, so it's not personalized). I'd check out all three for starters, especially if presentation and/or having your own URL is key, and go from there.
Max
Posted by Keith Bauer on October 29, 2015 at 1:42 PM
Carol:
I'm a big fan of Smugmug. My website has been hosted there for a number of years. I have the "Power" users account which is $60 / year. Their basic account is $40 / year. You can find the details of the additional options at smugmug if you are interested.
I've found their customer service to be top notch, reliability at the top and flexibility which has met my needs.
Posted by Carol Nichols on October 29, 2015 at 1:48 PM
Max, thanks for your comments. I don't need all the bells and whistles of a site that professionals would use, nor for that matter the complexities of those sites. I have enough complexities in my life!
BTW, I referred a couple to your Winter in Yellowstone workshop. I think they are shooting for early 2017.
Posted by Mark Seaver on October 29, 2015 at 2:49 PM
Carol, my website is on Zenfolio. From what I've seen, it seems like smugmug and zenfolio are pretty similar in capabilities and price. Both offer several pricing options and all of the capabilities that you're looking for. I can't speak for smugmug, but on zenfolio, you can write both a title and an extensive description. When looking at thumbs, you only see the title, but when you go to the larger image, you get both the title and the description.
Posted by Carol Nichols on October 29, 2015 at 3:22 PM
Keith & Mark - Thanks for your suggestions. I will definitely check out Smugmug and Zenfolio.
Whichever venue you choose, be sure it offers room for growth. You may not be marketing and attempting to sell products now, but you may in the future. So, having those options available may prove useful and will prevent you having to seek another site later on.
--P
Posted by Jim DeWitt on October 29, 2015 at 7:09 PM
Another vote for Zenfolio. Fee-based, but lots of options and very reliable.
Jim DeWitt
Posted by Carol Nichols on October 30, 2015 at 11:42 AM
Preston - That is really an important consideration. Thanks for mentioning it.
Jim - Thanks for your recommendation of Zenfolio.
Posted by Eva McDermott on October 30, 2015 at 6:31 PM
I use Zenfolio also. They have various levels of service. https://secure.zenfolio.com/zf/signup/plans.aspx?_ga=1.84794975.737071117.1393982245
Posted by Richard Wong on November 12, 2015 at 6:26 PM
I would probably go with SmugMug if I weren't selling my work. A lot of photographers use them so most users would be familiar with the layout. The templates are also optimized for modern browsers as well which is an important thing that some photographers overlook.
Discussion
11 replies1) I am a hobby photographer. I do not want to sell my photos, but I spend a lot of time, energy and money to make nice photos so I would like them to present well on the website.
2) I don't mind paying an annual fee if the hosting site is worth it.
3) I want to be able to set up a gallery for each of my trips and post all the photos within that gallery. I want to be able to write a description of the photo/location underneath the photo. I don't want to be limited to just a few words.
4) Most of all I want a host that will be around for a long time. This is probably hard to know, but I don't want to get all of my photos loaded onto a website only to find out in 6 months that they are defunct.
Thanks in advance for any advice/information/opinions you can provide on this subject.
I believe a Flickr Pro account is only $50/year. I normally wouldn't recommend Flickr as someone's main hosting site, but for a "hobby photographer" with no commercial intent I don't see why it wouldn't work for you. It fits all of your other criteria.
I know some folks that have been happy with their Smugmug and Photobucket experiences, but I'm not sure what the cost is. Those sites will have some additional features Flickr will not have as well, one main difference being that I believe you can tie them into your own website (whereas with Flickr, people have to go to Flickr to see your photos, so it's not personalized). I'd check out all three for starters, especially if presentation and/or having your own URL is key, and go from there.
Max
I'm a big fan of Smugmug. My website has been hosted there for a number of years. I have the "Power" users account which is $60 / year. Their basic account is $40 / year. You can find the details of the additional options at smugmug if you are interested.
I've found their customer service to be top notch, reliability at the top and flexibility which has met my needs.
BTW, I referred a couple to your Winter in Yellowstone workshop. I think they are shooting for early 2017.
Whichever venue you choose, be sure it offers room for growth. You may not be marketing and attempting to sell products now, but you may in the future. So, having those options available may prove useful and will prevent you having to seek another site later on.
--P
Jim DeWitt
Jim - Thanks for your recommendation of Zenfolio.