Image hosting options

[gogreen]

I'm looking for some feedback on image hosting options. Any pros and/or cons of the service you're using that you'd like to share? I see a lot of people here use Flickr (I'm assuming with a Pro subscription). If you were starting from scratch today would you still choose it, or would you go with a different option?

Background:
My wife and I have had a part-time photography business for the last 6-7 years, but will be closing it down in the near future and only doing photography as a hobby going forward. We were using Smugmug for about 5 years, primarily for uploading password-protected galleries for clients and ordering prints from Bay Photo. I had it pretty locked down for client privacy reasons so didn't do much sharing from it, but I did like the customization it offered. We cancelled our subscription rather than renew, but a lower-priced plan from them might be an option for personal use.

At the moment I have stuff spread across multiple platforms, including FB, a free blog (for posting low-res images only), and an old Photobucket account for general forum use (which I hate because of the ads, popups and clunky interface). Basically I'm looking to streamline things and do some more sharing, but I’m not sure how widespread that sharing should be (in the past I’ve been hyper-protective of my work, but obviously that’s not the best for getting constructive feedback). If it helps I use PS for editing, not Lightroom, and have recently started using my iPhone 6 a lot more with the native editing app. So something that plays nice with that would be helpful.

I know there's lots of discussion on this elsewhere but I'd appreciate the Beyond perspective. :)

[msommers]

I guess at the end of the day, what did SmugMug not offer you as that seems to be the foundation to your business?

[Mitsu3000gt]

I've been using Smugmug for the better part of a decade and I've been really happy with it.

Things I like:

- Unlimited storage of photo & video
- Large file size limits, so I can always upload my originals
- Phenomenal customer service & support - I've never waited more than about 10-20 minutes for a real support person (and not farmed out to India or elsewhere) to respond with a thorough answer to any question I have had
- Tons of site customization options, free templates, watermarking, site design, full commercial print sales, right click protection, etc. depending on the level of account you buy
- One click linking to a custom domain if you have one
- It's super easy to share or download entire galleries. I send my clients one-click download links for their photo galleries and they seem to like the simplicity
- Tons of options for private galleries, semi-private galleries, passworded galleries, etc. and you can use any variety of combinations of those within your website
- Cheap enough that I never worry about the cost at all
- Easy sharing, extremely polished, multiple handy uploading options, easy photo replacement & organization, etc.

I have no experience with 500PX but I hate everything about Flickr, especially the interface.

[gogreen]

Originally posted by msommers
I guess at the end of the day, what did SmugMug not offer you as that seems to be the foundation to your business?

Sorry, I edited my original post to clarify. We're going to be closing the business so this will be more for personal use. I hadn't uploaded anything in a while, so when the renewal time came I simply cancelled in order to avoid paying the yearly fee which would have been $150 US.

I was really happy with it from a business perspective, but just wondering if something else might be more appropriate for personal use.

[gogreen]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
I've been using Smugmug for the better part of a decade and I've been really happy with it.

Things I like:

- Unlimited storage of photo & video
- Large file size limits, so I can always upload my originals
- Phenomenal customer service & support - I've never waited more than about 10-20 minutes for a real support person (and not farmed out to India or elsewhere) to respond with a thorough answer to any question I have had
- Tons of site customization options, free templates, watermarking, site design, full commercial print sales, right click protection, etc. depending on the level of account you buy
- One click linking to a custom domain if you have one
- It's super easy to share or download entire galleries. I send my clients one-click download links for their photo galleries and they seem to like the simplicity
- Tons of options for private galleries, semi-private galleries, passworded galleries, etc. and you can use any variety of combinations of those within your website
- Cheap enough that I never worry about the cost at all
- Easy sharing, extremely polished, multiple handy uploading options, easy photo replacement & organization, etc.

I have no experience with 500PX but I hate everything about Flickr, especially the interface.

Customer service is excellent for sure. I did like the interface too.

[msommers]

That's good to know as I've been thinking about what to do for setting up a "store" more or less for people to order prints there than through me. Problem is I'm very anal about how the print turns out and I like to make sure it looks just so before expecting anyone to pay for it. I trust you've had good success with Bay Photo?

With SmugMug, could you choose the printer?

For just general photo sharing, I've found Flickr to be great. I used to pay for it but now I don't. I think I was initially paying for increased online storage but now it's something like 1TB? For the reduced sizes that I end up putting on there I'm not even close.

[D'z Nutz]

I like Flickr because I use it for research, like when I'm trying to see what sort of results people are getting with certain lenses, cameras, and/or combinations of both when I'm shopping for new gear. Sometimes I also use it when I have an upcoming shoot and I don't have the opportunity to pre-scout the location.

So I choose to use it for hosting because it's my way of contributing back into the pool in the event someone else uses it the same way I do. That's why I keep my EXIF intact, tag it with useful keywords, and add the location where appropriate.

But I definitely agree the interface has gotten more worse than better over the years.

[gogreen]

Originally posted by msommers
That's good to know as I've been thinking about what to do for setting up a "store" more or less for people to order prints there than through me. Problem is I'm very anal about how the print turns out and I like to make sure it looks just so before expecting anyone to pay for it. I trust you've had good success with Bay Photo?

With SmugMug, could you choose the printer?

For just general photo sharing, I've found Flickr to be great. I used to pay for it but now I don't. I think I was initially paying for increased online storage but now it's something like 1TB? For the reduced sizes that I end up putting on there I'm not even close.

I'm the exact same way, lol. We were initially set up with the option for people to buy direct through the gallery, but it was a bit of a hassle since they take a cut of your sales and you need to price things accordingly. I also wanted to see the finished print before delivery to the client, and make sure the size they wanted was going to work with the product they ordered. So we would just put up a gallery and clients would choose which prints they wanted, then we would put in the order ourselves and inspect everything once it arrived.

Bay Photo has been awesome, but you need the Portfolio plan or higher in order to use them. There were a few other options for print labs as well but the cheaper plans all go through EZ Prints, which I don't have any experience with. The only issue I remember was occasionally they would send stuff via UPS when we requested they be sent via the US Postal Service. Everything was always well-packaged and we never had to send anything back.

[blitz]

Originally posted by D'z Nutz
I like Flickr because I use it for research, like when I'm trying to see what sort of results people are getting with certain lenses, cameras, and/or combinations of both when I'm shopping for new gear. Sometimes I also use it when I have an upcoming shoot and I don't have the opportunity to pre-scout the location.

So I choose to use it for hosting because it's my way of contributing back into the pool in the event someone else uses it the same way I do. That's why I keep my EXIF intact, tag it with useful keywords, and add the location where appropriate.

But I definitely agree the interface has gotten more worse than better over the years.

I use Flickr for the same reasons and I have been getting pissed off at the interface lately as well. But I've been using it for years and all the people I want to follow are active on it.

[Mitsu3000gt]

I tried to use BayPhoto for some prints (not through Smugmug) because they were the only company I was aware of that would print on coated aluminium sheets. Now that I know 44wide does it, thankfully I never went though with a big purchase from them.

I HATED BayPhoto's upload software. At the time I was using it, nowhere could I just upload the file I wanted to their website and proceed with a purchase with no alterations. You need to install some terrible software on your computer, and use that to order even basic prints. I hope they have somehow changed that, but that's how it used to work. Also it was all USD and with FX and shipping from the states, I can't imagine it's worth it to do any printing with them for Canadian customers. They also make you pay for a giant shipping crate if your mounted print is above a certain size. I tried to order samples from them, and they wouldn't let me use the same image for all the samples so it was very difficult to make an accurate comparison between print mediums. The one and only order I ever did make from them, they screwed up as well.

The only two Canadian printers I've used (Posterjack and 44Wide) seem to be very well matched to my monitor calibration. High quality, cheap, and consistent - pretty well checks all the boxes for me and I am extremely picky. I get them to reprint it if there is the slightest imperfection but I've only had to do that a few times and they have been very good about it, even on 48" prints. They let you keep the old ones too, so you can gift them to someone who will never notice. I wouldn't hesitate to give a client a print from either place.

[gogreen]

^True, it was nice when the dollar was close to par, but less so now.


Originally posted by D'z Nutz
I like Flickr because I use it for research, like when I'm trying to see what sort of results people are getting with certain lenses, cameras, and/or combinations of both when I'm shopping for new gear. Sometimes I also use it when I have an upcoming shoot and I don't have the opportunity to pre-scout the location.

So I choose to use it for hosting because it's my way of contributing back into the pool in the event someone else uses it the same way I do. That's why I keep my EXIF intact, tag it with useful keywords, and add the location where appropriate.

But I definitely agree the interface has gotten more worse than better over the years.

Makes sense. :thumbsup:

[gogreen]

Thanks for the input everyone. I signed up for a Flickr account to try it out, thinking at the very least it would be better than Photobucket for general use (which it definitely is). The interface did take some getting used to but so far so good. If I get serious about photography again I might go back to Smugmug but for the time being I expect this will fill my needs.

[D'z Nutz]

Do you guys ever find random people or groups showing up in your Flickr activities page? I mean like photos from people who you would not have followed or groups you would not have joined?

Every once in a while I'll see a stupid photo pop up like a terrible snapshot of some kid's birthday party and I see who posted it and their entire stream is like that and there's nothing that would have made me follow them or groups I have no idea what the topic is about or not one I would have joined. And when I check, sure enough I'm following them or I'm a member of the group and I have to unfollow/leave.