online photo storage and sharing

[d3mckinl]

I'm a bit overwhelmed with the online photo sharing options. What do you all use and what are their pros and cons. I'm looking for backing up my collection as well as sharing with my friends and family but not necessarily the whole world.

Thanks,
Dustin

 

[MICKEY88]

I use Zenfolio, when I was looking for a hosting site that also allowed me to sell photos and password protect folders if I wanted, I narrowed it down to Zenfolio and smugmug, in the end I chose zenfolio, because the lab they use for printing is MPIX, which just happens to be the lab I have used for years, so I knew I would be happy with the quality of any prints I ordered or sold

 

[alloyd1170]

I've used Smug Mug for the last year and a half and like it. I had the Pro version in hopes of possibly selling some of my shots, but when that didn't happen, I dropped to the mid level. I can bump up at any time. At the pro level, you can add your own watermark, and set your own prices should you want to sell. They used to offer a discount for first year membership. Google it.

 

[photo_chick]

I use smugmug for hosting. I use carbonite to keep my current months files backed up (photos and everything else) and then I keep a full backup of everything off site (right now it's a combination of DVD's and hard drives) along with a full backup on a second hard drive in the house.

You can never have too many backups.

 

[DisDiva2]

I'm also a big fan of smugmug. It's nice to always know you have a good backup and I think their galleries look really nice. They also have stats so you can check who has looked at your galleries.

 

[jmskinner]

I use Smugmug also. Been really happy with it!

 

[Shutterbug]

Out of Zenfolio and SmugMug which has the bigger help base?

 

[MICKEY88]

Out of Zenfolio and SmugMug which has the bigger help base?

I don't have the answer to your question, but from what I've observed they both have great customer service

when I was in Orlando last year I was moving some pics around to make them available for a band I shot, I accidentally deleted the entire folder..
I emailed zenfolio customer service, they replied within 30 minutes, told me they could restore the folder but it might take up to 24 hours.. I was happy with that answer...
an hour later I was even happier when I noticed they had already recovered the photos and restored the folder for me..

 

[alloyd1170]

I have contacted Smugmug a few times for small issues. I got a response within a few hours at most. Plus there is a place you can go to in order to attempt to solve the issue on your own. I have also found solutions by Googling.

 

[klmall]

Another SmugMugger who spent alot of time researching before choosing it. I wanted to be able to have different levels of privacy for different galleries and SmugMug gives us this easily. I also have contacted them for a couple of problems and they were very helpful with quick response time.

I had tried Photobucket (ugh!) no privacy level control for different albums and no pizazz!

 

[Snurk71]

Another satisfied Smugmugger for a few years now. And I don't use near all of the services they offer/that I'm paying for.

Service response to questions has always been quick and good.

 

[littlekidagain]

I have used both but now I only use Zenfolio. I find Zen to be cleaner looking and cheeper.

 

[alloyd1170]

I don't know about Zenfolio, but with Smugmug, you can use their layout templates, or if you know CSS you can put your own twist on your site. You can also pay someone to design a layout for you (they even suggest a few). Through Google I was able to get a few basic codes to do my own thing. I would love to have someone design it for me.

Like the other poster said too, you can lock all, or as many galleries as you like with a password. I plan to do that with the soccer team photos I will be taking. I just send a link and the password to the team and they view the photos, even order prints or download them if I choose to allow it.

 

[spinetnglr]

Another SmugMug user here. I originally won a one year subscription from a little online contest I entered. I liked the site and ease of use, along with the customer service response I received when I needed it, so I decided to continue with them when my free year was up. I have since upgraded to the Pro account because I do occasionally get requests to take pictures for people and I can put them in password protected galleries and set my own prices.

 

[GrumpyGoat]

I have been using SmugMug for quite a while and am very happy with it. As a place to display my pictures so others can view them...

I don't use it as a "backup" or place to store my images. On-line backups are good as an alternative, but it's always a good idea not to place all your eggs in one basket. If all your images are online, what happens when the internet goes down and you need something right away? It's always best to have your pictures stored in two different places.

Storage media is very inexpensive these days and external hard drives are getting larger and larger. My wife recently bought me a 2 TB Western Digital HD for less that $100...

I now have over 4 TB of storage, less than a quarter of which is in use, and that doesn't include the internal drives on my two computers...