Smugmug and Photoshelter
July 21, 2010 2:48 PM Subscribe
Between Smugmug and Photoshelter, which have you found is the best site?
2nd SmugMug. I've been a pro there for years. Very pleased with service, uptime, customization options, prints, and IP matters.
posted by seanmpuckett at 3:04 PM on July 21, 2010
posted by seanmpuckett at 3:04 PM on July 21, 2010
I've never heard of Photoshelter, but I love my Smugmug service and recommend it at every chance I get (I use it with the Aperture to Smugmug plugin). Flickr, with their terrible UI and all sorts of issues, isn't even in the same league.
posted by halogen at 3:28 PM on July 21, 2010
posted by halogen at 3:28 PM on July 21, 2010
Probably smugmug, but you should really consider why you're posting photos in the first place because that'll help you choose the best place to post them. If you want to share your photos on your own blog, flickr's API is awesome.
If you want to share your photos with people in general, flickr is phenomenal. Between the photostream and the sets, flickr is easy for sharing photos (but you can also limitwho can see them and who can download them)
Here's an example of building flickr into a blog via custom code (you can also use their standard badges to post your stuff on a blog, but I wanted more control over the look and feel of the photos on my site). And here's a how-to for setting that up.
The other huge benefit of flickr is their groups and message boards.
posted by 2oh1 at 3:37 PM on July 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
If you want to share your photos with people in general, flickr is phenomenal. Between the photostream and the sets, flickr is easy for sharing photos (but you can also limitwho can see them and who can download them)
Here's an example of building flickr into a blog via custom code (you can also use their standard badges to post your stuff on a blog, but I wanted more control over the look and feel of the photos on my site). And here's a how-to for setting that up.
The other huge benefit of flickr is their groups and message boards.
posted by 2oh1 at 3:37 PM on July 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
I've used both and really prefer Photoshelter. While I don't take full advantage of all it has to offer, I do use it to host the galleries for my website and find it much better than Smugmug.
It really depends on what you'd like to do and how you want to do it. You could probably get a more useful answer if you outline how you intend to use whatever service you go with. If its simply storage and display, that's one thing. If you want to license your images, that's a whole other and so on...
posted by blaneyphoto at 4:30 PM on July 21, 2010
It really depends on what you'd like to do and how you want to do it. You could probably get a more useful answer if you outline how you intend to use whatever service you go with. If its simply storage and display, that's one thing. If you want to license your images, that's a whole other and so on...
posted by blaneyphoto at 4:30 PM on July 21, 2010
Hi Tziv, I don't want to comment too much about smugmug or flickr (i think they're both good services), but i work at PhotoShelter, and think it's the best option of the three if you're serious about protecting and managing your images. PhotoShelter is a bit different as we started with the pro audience wheras smugmug has been more focused on the consumer audience. We have some great website hosting/customization options and excellent blog integration. I'd say the learning curve for PhotoShelter is a bit steeper, but it's much more powerful once you get used to it (and we're adding new features all the time).
Feel free to email/memail me if you have any questions or comments (though our customer service department is awesome too) - would be happy to help.
posted by jba at 4:44 PM on July 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
Feel free to email/memail me if you have any questions or comments (though our customer service department is awesome too) - would be happy to help.
posted by jba at 4:44 PM on July 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
Another vote for Smugmug. They just added 1080p video support. Yay!
posted by shew at 9:23 PM on July 21, 2010
posted by shew at 9:23 PM on July 21, 2010
I use SmugMug and like it in most ways, but I think PhotoShelter's galleries and slideshows look better and more professional by an order of magnitude. Unfortunately, it is much more expensive, which is why I don't (read: can't) switch.
posted by cloudburst at 12:12 AM on July 22, 2010
posted by cloudburst at 12:12 AM on July 22, 2010
I think it's unfair to characterise one for consumers and the other for professionals. Smugmug is run by professional photographers and is a quality service at a lower price point than Photobucket. Although, SM is definitely US-centric in it's e-commerce setup, so if you're planning on using them for event photo sales outside of the US you'd be better to look elsewhere.
Otherwise, while I can't speak to Photobucket's service I can say that the Smugmug team are energetic in supporting the community and it's always possible to offset the cost of subscription through challenges at their affiliated but independent community forum at DGrin. In fact, I've won enough through comps at DGrin to try to give away some accounts at SM. The offer is still open for what it's worth.
posted by michswiss at 8:24 AM on July 22, 2010
Otherwise, while I can't speak to Photobucket's service I can say that the Smugmug team are energetic in supporting the community and it's always possible to offset the cost of subscription through challenges at their affiliated but independent community forum at DGrin. In fact, I've won enough through comps at DGrin to try to give away some accounts at SM. The offer is still open for what it's worth.
posted by michswiss at 8:24 AM on July 22, 2010
michswiss - photobucket is a very different thing than Photoshelter, which is what I assume you meant.
posted by blaneyphoto at 9:54 AM on July 22, 2010
posted by blaneyphoto at 9:54 AM on July 22, 2010
Yes, I meant photoshelter but for some reason my fingers typed bucket. Apologies for the confusion.
posted by michswiss at 6:03 PM on July 22, 2010
posted by michswiss at 6:03 PM on July 22, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Metheglen at 2:58 PM on July 21, 2010