Photo Hosting Sites: lots of questions

[linm]

A while back, lots of people were having problems with PBase and rapidly running to SmugMug. I counted myself lucky because I didn't seem to have any problems with PBase, but now, things are happening. Direct links stop working, thumbnails are gone until you click on them, etc. I hesitate to switch over to SmugMug. Why is this happening with PBase? Has it just grown too large and unwieldy? If so, will the same thing happen eventually with SmugMug?

So, what's the answer? Should I just host the photos on my own site? That seems like a lot more work than I am ready for!

And finally, what is the best setup to post my photos? Size? Resolution?

 

[dagored]

Smugmug

I looked at pbase and frankly, it confused me. I then tried smugmug and figured it out in about 30 minutes. I have never been happier with a sight, sign up, or function. More intuitive to me and I like the layouts.

I can not answer your questions about pbase, but I have not had a problem with smugmug for the past month I have been a member.

If you decide to sign up for smugmug, here is my personal sign up code nX6LB48cG5Zrw - you will get $5 off a years purchase.

 

[beaucamera]

Personally I like PBase, which seems to be running pretty smoothly now, but the choice really depends on what you want to do. PBase is a very friendly place. The PAD galleries give you a chance to post an image and get virtually instantaneous feedback. If you interested in primarily sharing photos on the web, Pbase is a great solution. There is no limit on bandwidth, just storage, so you need to decide how you want your images to be used or you can quickly eat up your space. Their standard image compression, I think, is about 100kb or something about 600 x 800 pixels at a medium jpeg compression usually works really well for the web.

If you don't want feedback, smugmug might work for you. It's a good choice too, especially if you want friends and family to be able to buy copies of your photos instead of your having to make them and send them. Smugmug has bandwidth limitation, but no storage limits. Image size can eat up bandwidth, so I'm sure those who are more familiar with Smugmug's limits will have to give you feedback on their experiences.

Virginia
aka beaucamera

 

[F15Todd]

Lin, sorry to hear about your problems with PBase. That site did have problems a few months back and PBase seemed to fix them and did some upgrades to their equipment. They also didn't charge for two months because of the problems people had. As of late I have had zero problems with PBase.

 

[David Fink]

Lin, sorry to hear about your problems with PBase. That site did have problems a few months back and PBase seemed to fix them and did some upgrades to their equipment. They also didn't charge for two months because of the problems people had. As of late I have had zero problems with PBase.

Hi Lin,

I agree completely with Todd and others. Pbase seems to have sorted out its problems, and is generally an excellent and flexible site.

Best wishes,

David

 

[Ken-L]

Have you looked at http://rootminus1.com/pics/ ?

 

[beaucamera]

So, Ken, what's the scoop here. Who owns and manages this site and how are they paid? I didn't see any information on the website.

Virginia
aka beaucamera

 

[Gale]

Virginia,

You might find your answer here :>))

http://rootminus1.com/pics/faq.php

I have no suggestions. I use pbase and have for a long time now. Yes layouts and doing different things on there takes the time to read and learn. I have not done that. I have see some beautiful layouts and galleries on pbase.

Guess it all depends on what one is willing to learn and how much time one wishes to put into a gallery.

 

[linm]

PBase problem solved!

Well, my PBase problems seemed to have righted themselves. I had upgraded to Netscape 8 and it has an option to display sites as if it was IE. Once I switched that off, my photos were all visible and all links worked again. I've been with PBase since 1991 and wasn't looking forward to a change!

So, what size and dpi do people post? When I put a link here to a PBase photo, it looks soft but on my machine it was clear as a bell. I'm not concerned about having my stuff stolen -- I figure if someone wants it bad enough, they'll find a way.

And, finally, have you seen this site?

http://www.altphotos.com/

It is run by a friend of mine. Most of the people on it seem to shoot film but some of the images are really amazing. Way out of my league!