a Question about photo hosting web sites

[Bolo_Grubb]

Which one do you like best and why?

Since many of us like to take pictures to share with others, what sites do you use to host your pictures? I know of a few but have only tried the free version of Photobucket. Pretty new to this sort of thing.

What about the other photo hosting web sites?
smugmug.com/
picasaweb.google.com
flickr.com

and I am sure there are others. How do they compare? It is worth it to pay for the upgraded services some of them offer? Do you have to have an account to view pictures hosted there? etc, etc


ps this is my first post here and I tried a search for this information but either I don't know what I am doing with "search" or there is not much information out there on this topic. I suspect that I don't know what I am doing.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I use Smugmug. I have the basic package. They offer a pro package, but the extra features aren't worth the extra money to me (yet).

Things I like about smugmug:

1) Unlimited uploads. I have several gigabytes of pictures stored there.

2) They allow you to upload the original sized picture but display it in several different sizes. Each visitor can pick whatever size they want to see a picture. They can also (at your discretion), download the original photos.

3) I like their user interface for both loading and viewing photos.

4) People can buy prints from the site at a reasonable rate, but the site doesn't see hucksterish trying to convince people to buy pictures.

5) They allow for the display of EXIF data and people can search on keyword metadata.

6) They have reasonably good options for organizing your photos

If you get interested in Smugmug, both you and a Smugmug subscriber can get a discount with a referral. Just ask any Smugmug user here for their referral code.

If you want to see a ton of Disney photos at Smugmug, go to their virtual Disney community at http://barbieri.smugmug.com/community/Disney. Any user can set up a virtual community around any topic they want.

 

[Master Mason]

another big vote for smugmug. I do have the pro account, the extra features were worth it to me.

 

[gruZ]

Yet another vote for Smugmug - very good sharing solutions, and outstanding customer support.

 

[DueyDooDah]

I use Photobucket. I use it to link sites like the DIS to pictures I wish to share. I do not use the site to its full advantage, such as organizing and sharing photo albums, etc. I am so busy with so many other interests that I have never had the time to really do justice to my images. Someday though...

 

[wkrider]

I have the basic account with SmugMug.....all the same rasons as above...I got SmugMug based on the recommendations from this forum and am very happy...http://wkrider.smugmug.com/