Sharing your photos online - where to start?

[Ghostbuggy]

While I enjoy taking pictures, printing them on my rather basic Canon MX725, have them printed on aluminium- or foam-sheets or simply let them be printed at the local drugstore, I so far haven't really looked into putting any of my photos online in all those years. Since I've registered a short while ago, I keep sharing some images here and uploading them to this site, however I kind of feel a bit mixed about constantly taking up webspace while not giving anything back. Then I noticed a lot of the shared images here weren't uploaded on this forums but linked from other services like Flickr.

Where should I start if I want to share or at least upload photos online? The most common or "hip" choice today seems to be Instagram, however I'm not a fan of Facebook (I don't even have an account there) and the limitation of using 1:1 format seems kind of odd. Flickr looks pretty decent too, it still seems to have a community feature, while not being as limited in terms of formats like Instagram. A few years back I actually tried Tumblr, a microblogging service, for a while and thought it wasn't too bad, but the service really isn't focused for photos. Another option could be starting my own project using something like Wordpress.

What are the fellow Mu-43 members using to upload and maybe sharing their pictures, what are the pros and cons of the services and what let you choosing the service you are using now? I wouldn't mind paying for a service, however at the same time I wouldn't be willing paying more than EUR ~60 a year, I'm just a hobbyist after all. I'd really appreciate some insight.

 

[Aushiker]

Flickr for me.

 

[Keeth101]

I use Flickr but they seem to do so much messing around without understanding the consequences it can sometimes be a pain to use depending on how you use it (Groups, Awarding groups, etc.) and how much you use it, of course.

You could also look at 'ipernity', it's a quiet site (and pretty much trouble free) but they are trying to get it moving again. They have groups but do not seem to like or want awarding groups (which has been a factor in their slow progress in finding members)

 

[BosseBe]

Using Flickr, the free version which gives you space for 1000 pictures.
Flicker Pro costs:
Monthly Retail price: €7.49, VAT inclusive
Annual Retail price: €65.88, VAT inclusive

 

[Replytoken]

My recommendation would be based on what you plan to do with the images. Uploading images is a starting point and not really a purpose in and of itself. Do you want to be active in social media? Are you looking to share them with family and friends? Do you want feedback from other people? Is social interaction and dialog with other people important to you? There are literally hundreds of choices for photo hosting. I would try to determine what your intent is and then find the product or service that best meets that need.

--Ken

 

[PakkyT]

I use Flickr. It has its issues and has kind of gone downhill over the years due to multiple owners passing it around, but it is still the king of photography-centric web sites. Free account get to upload up to 1000 photos so plenty for many people, especially if you want to showcase selected photos from your collection. "Pro" level pricing is getting expensive at something like $60 now per year, but you do get unlimited storage so if you want to upload 30,000 photos go for it. I have kept PRO (for now) because I actually sold a few photos over the past few years due to being on Flickr that made up for the subscription price. Flickr is now owned by Smugmug and not all that long ago they basically said they need more money to keep it running, so there is that fear they might close down at any time or be flipped yet again to another owner.

 

[doady]

Instagram is the social network, use marketing skills for finding an audience and sharing with an audience. Instagram has no limit on horizontally-oriented photos, as far as I know, and vertical photos have 4:5 limit. There is no 1:1 limit anywhere.

Places like Smugmug and Zenfolio are for creating a portfolio website, which is about hosting, storage, presentation. I always avoided Smugmug because I hate the name and couldn't bother with registering and creating my own domain name. Zenfolio significantly raised their prices to new customers in recent years though so maybe they are out of the question now. Pbase is still around but they haven't updated in many years.

Flickr is kind of a hybrid, a social network with followers and faves/likes and all that, but it has some features of portfolio website too such as albums. The 1000 photo limit is good, prevent people from dumping all their photos, forcing people to be more selective, increasing the quality of the photography in the community. It's not as strict as a old 200 photo limit, and you can get around it by having multiple accounts. I have multiple accounts on both Instagram and Flickr just so that my photos are more organized and the presentation is more consistent, to make it easier for people to follow.

 

[Keeth101]

Using Flickr, the free version which gives you space for 1000 pictures.
Flicker Pro costs:
Monthly Retail price: €7.49, VAT inclusive
Annual Retail price: €65.88, VAT inclusive

In all fairness, that depends on your rate of VAT

Flickr costs (at present since the last rise in January 2020) (in US$)-

• 1 year: $59.99, plus tax
• 2 year: $117.99, plus tax

You can work out your conversion rate and VAT rate from there to find what it will cost you personally.

 

[BosseBe]

In all fairness, that depends on your rate of VAT

Flickr costs (at present since the last rise in January 2020) (in US$)-

• 1 year: $59.99, plus tax
• 2 year: $117.99, plus tax

You can work out your conversion rate and VAT rate from there to find what it will cost you personally.

The OP is in Europe, so I answered with European prices from the Flickr home page.
Prices in the US and different VAT in places there is irrelevant to the OP.

 

[Keeth101]

The OP is in Europe, so I answered with European prices from the Flickr home page.
Prices in the US and different VAT in places there is irrelevant to the OP.

I didn't think my reply was worth a funny smilie but whatever, I just thought that, as this is a world wide forum, the prices should be given and people could work out the price for their given country under their VAT rate.

 

[Lupin 3rd]

I like Flickr (Pro), maybe because it's the first image sharing service I signed up for. I also use Amazon (free with Prime) but mainly for backups.

When I had Android phones I used google photos (picasa) before it became too involved, plus I'm no longer a fan of google/android.

I'm somewhat tempted to try out Instagram, but I'm still undecided about them, not a Facebook fan anymore. There's alos 500px and it's more tempting, might even try to sell some photos there.

 

[BosseBe]

I didn't think my reply was worth a funny smilie but whatever, I just thought that, as this is a world wide forum, the prices should be given and people could work out the price for their given country under their VAT rate.

I just think you forgot something:


Pricing FAQ
How much is a Flickr PRO subscription?

Monthly Retail price: USD $6.99, plus tax
Annual Retail price: USD $59.99, plus tax (USD $4.99 a month)

GBP
Monthly Retail price:￡6.49, VAT inclusive
Annual Retail price: ￡55.88, VAT inclusive

Euro
Monthly Retail price: €7.49, VAT inclusive
Annual Retail price: €65.88, VAT inclusive

CAD
Monthly Retail price: CAD $8.99, GST inclusive
Annual Retail price: CAD $77.88, GST inclusive

International USD
Monthly Retail price: USD $7.99, tax inclusive
Annual Retail price: USD $71.88, tax inclusive

Do these prices include tax?

For domestic USD (not international), members may see an added tax in addition to $59.99 list price depending on the state in which they reside.

For CAD, GBP, Euro, and International USD, the list price includes tax.

Can I choose the currency I pay in?

No. Members will be charged in their local currency. Members in a country whose currency is not yet supported will be charged the International USD price.

 

[Macroramphosis]

Facebook a decade ago was a good way to share photos with friends and family. It's awful now. The images are so small, so compressed and navigating a page is a mind-numbing experience. When you post a photo that you're suitably proud of it's available to almost anyone and immediately some idiot will tell you that "EEK!" they don't like insects, or "BLIMEY, why are you still using black and white film?"

Other people may mention that their brother's best friend's girlfriend has a better pic of the same subject. Sometimes someone will post an image in a comment right underneath your own, and say, "I got this one yesterday.".....it never helps when their photograph, typically taken with a phone, is better than yours.

Instagram is okay, provided your recipient has a phone, uses Instagram and doesn't mind looking at an image that's just three inches on the diagonal, while waiting for a bus or something. If you don't have many followers it can be a long time between 'likes', and Instagram can become a lonely place, best viewed late at night with a glass of something close to hand to numb the void of realisation that your photos are, just, rubbish.

Flickr displays a decent sized image, which is expandable, and the display algorithm is okay. Unfortunately none of my friends or family have a Flickr account. And they never will. Typically only other photographers have a Flickr account and they don't really want to see YOUR photos - they actually want you to go and look at THEIRs. And 'fav' them. Occasionally a stranger from Latvia or Peru might 'fav' your photo, but to accept the 'fav' you have to go and 'fav' someone else's and bow three times to a photo of a kitten that is the photo before yours in a queue of photos waiting to be awarded an award. Or something like that. It is rare to talk with normal words to another person nowadays, on Flickr.

Wordpress is a lonely desert. I once had an account where I started a blog with the occasional photo - I used to receive one visitor a month and the occasional message saying that Atom (or some other subscription service) was not sending them links to recent posts, and could I do something about it. My affair with Wordpress came to an end one day when I went to post something and I was told my account was no longer available. I became that strangest of animals, a man looking at his own photos on a blog he could never access.

 

[RichardC]

Facebook a decade ago was a good way to share photos with friends and family. It's awful now. The images are so small, so compressed and navigating a page is a mind-numbing experience. When you post a photo that you're suitably proud of it's available to almost anyone and immediately some idiot will tell you that "EEK!" they don't like insects, or "BLIMEY, why are you still using black and white film?"

Other people may mention that their brother's best friend's girlfriend has a better pic of the same subject. Sometimes someone will post an image in a comment right underneath your own, and say, "I got this one yesterday.".....it never helps when their photograph, typically taken with a phone, is better than yours.

Instagram is okay, provided your recipient has a phone, uses Instagram and doesn't mind looking at an image that's just three inches on the diagonal, while waiting for a bus or something. If you don't have many followers it can be a long time between 'likes', and Instagram can become a lonely place, best viewed late at night with a glass of something close to hand to numb the void of realisation that your photos are, just, rubbish.

Flickr displays a decent sized image, which is expandable, and the display algorithm is okay. Unfortunately none of my friends or family have a Flickr account. And they never will. Typically only other photographers have a Flickr account and they don't really want to see YOUR photo - they actually want you to go and look at THEIR photos. And 'fav' them. Occasionally a stranger from Latvia or Peru might 'fav' your photo, but to accept the 'fav' you have to go and 'fav' someone else's and bow three times to a photo of a kitten that is the photo before yours in a queue of photos waiting to be awarded an award. Or something like that. It is rare to talk with normal words to another person nowadays, on Flickr.

Wordpress is a lonely desert. I once had an account where I started a blog with the occasional photo - I used to receive one visitor a month and the occasional message saying that Atom (or some other subscription service) was not sending them links to recent posts, and could I do something about it. My affair with Wordpress came to an end one day when I went to post something and I was told my account was no longer available. I became that strangest of animals, a man looking at his own photos on a blog he could never access.

Pretty good summary of social media platforms

 

[PakkyT]

Typically only other photographers have a Flickr account and they don't really want to see YOUR photo - they actually want you to go and look at THEIR photos.

I think this same thing can be said about any social platform or photo sharing site.

 

[John King]

It costs me around AUD$700 every 3 years to run my own professional level web site.

However, a domain name and decent web hosting can be had for about 1/5th of that. BEWARE of very basic, entry level plans from all hosting providers. They are usually crippled in unobvious but important ways!

I then run Zenfolio on my web site.

I have unlimited storage, bandwidth, etc. No one but me can shut it down ...

NB: Becoming a subscribing member here gives you album access on this site. The site allows direct upload and storage.

This is your cheapest and simplest option.

 

[Ghostbuggy]

First off, thanks for the many replies which are both informative and funny, yet mirror the actual situation perfectly. Especially with Macroramphosis' breakdown of the popular platforms, your description pretty much nails my initial thoughts when doing some research about different services and what I hear from others. For example a good friend of mine is pretty active on Instagram and she pretty much seconds what you said.

Replytoken was right, I should've been more specific when it comes to my actual goal of just "uploading" the pictures. The primary goal is in fact having my own kind of online gallery which I can link and share with others. The most important requirement would be direct-linking the images for forums like this one here and messengers like Discord or Telegram. As I said I am just a hobbyist and I doubt any of my "work" is good enough to make a single cent, so I am not looking to earn any money. I've also had a look at 500px a few years ago, but it seemed to be a very professional site with quite some impressive work and I simply felt out of place with my snaps there.

A community feature with additional feedback, comments and so on would be interesting, yet not an actual requirement. As John King suggested, taking matters into your own hands has been something I've been thinking about. Many years ago I've been hosting my own online forum on my rented webspace, that was actually what I meant with Wordpress: Not their (.com) blogging service on their own servers, but their (.org) software running on my rented webspace. Just quickly checking prices of my former provider, I could get my own domain, 25gigs of webspace and optimizations for running Wordpress for 48,-€ annually. Downside of course is: It is more work and I am on my own to create the whole setup.


Edit: I enjoy this community here and am more or less simply looking for a solution to not upload all my stuff on the Mu-43 servers, but rather "outsourcing" them to post direct-links in the specific topics on this forum.

 

[RichardC]

I use Fasthosts in the UK for my websites, and have done for years.

The main reason I use them is that if I have a problem I can phone them and a bloke in their Gloucester office picks up the phone and sorts it out.

 

[Brownie]

One point that many seem to be missing:

@Ghostbuggy said:

I keep sharing some images here and uploading them to this site, however I kind of feel a bit mixed about constantly taking up webspace while not giving anything back.

So, the first step is to become a subscribing member. There are many levels to choose from, you don't need to spend a fortune and you will be supporting a forum that you clearly enjoy.

Then for a sharing site, I too recommend Flickr. I have two accounts, a personal freebie that I use for stuff, and a pro account I use for racing, auto, and air shows. Since I don't leave most of my photos up forever, I find the 1000 photo limit to be adequate so far. @Macroramphosis is correct about followers, the few followers I do have came from this site and a couple of other photogs I know.

 

[Replytoken]

First off, thanks for the many replies which are both informative and funny, yet mirror the actual situation perfectly. Especially with Macroramphosis' breakdown of the popular platforms, your description pretty much nails my initial thoughts when doing some research about different services and what I hear from others. For example a good friend of mine is pretty active on Instagram and she pretty much seconds what you said.

Replytoken was right, I should've been more specific when it comes to my actual goal of just "uploading" the pictures. The primary goal is in fact having my own kind of online gallery which I can link and share with others. The most important requirement would be direct-linking the images for forums like this one here and messengers like Discord or Telegram. As I said I am just a hobbyist and I doubt any of my "work" is good enough to make a single cent, so I am not looking to earn any money. I've also had a look at 500px a few years ago, but it seemed to be a very professional site with quite some impressive work and I simply felt out of place with my snaps there.

A community feature with additional feedback, comments and so on would be interesting, yet not an actual requirement. As John King suggested, taking matters into your own hands has been something I've been thinking about. Many years ago I've been hosting my own online forum on my rented webspace, that was actually what I meant with Wordpress: Not their (.com) blogging service on their own servers, but their (.org) software running on my rented webspace. Just quickly checking prices of my former provider, I could get my own domain, 25gigs of webspace and optimizations for running Wordpress for 48,-€ annually. Downside of course is: It is more work and I am on my own to create the whole setup.


Edit: I enjoy this community here and am more or less simply looking for a solution to not upload all my stuff on the Mu-43 servers, but rather "outsourcing" them to post direct-links in the specific topics on this forum.

Given all that you have described, I think that Flickr's free account is a good place to start. They do offer a lot of control over the image, and they do not crunch the daylights out of what you upload. Best of all, if you do not like it, you are not any funds.

--Ken