Photo sharing websites
It was common practice in the past for people to take pictures, have countless copies of a certain pose made and follow that step with mailing them to family and friends. This entire process has been made easier by the number of people currently using digital cameras. They can take pictures, upload them to a photo sharing website, and pass the link to their pictures on to any number of people in mere moments.
Pick the Right One for You
Photo sharing websites are making themselves known all over the internet. Photobucket, Flickr, and others allow you to share photos with anyone you choose, all at the same time. These people can then choose their favorites, ordering photographs for themselves.
Let’s take a look at the top 5 rated photo sharing sites.
5) MyPhotoAlbum – To start with, this site gives you your own web address (something along the lines of yournamehere.myphotoalbum.com), as well as offering unlimited space for your cherished photos and videos. You also have access to tagging, RSS feeds and IM directly from your photo album. It provides you with the ability to embed photos or videos on your blog or other profiles, as well as giving you the option to create gifts for loved ones with your photos on them.
4) Picasa – Google’s photo sharing option. With your Google account it allows for free and seamless integration with Picasa Web Albums. This comes with a whopping 1GB of free storage space, but also gives you the option to buy extra space if needed. The space purchased can be used solo for Picasa, or shared with your Gmail account. For a meager $20 per year you can add 10GB of space, $75 will get you 40GB, $250 gets you 150GB and $500 gets you 400GB of storage space. There’s definitely an option out there for your needs.
3) SmugMug – The ideal site for professional photographers. This site offers a multitude of features from Flash slideshows of your photos to unlimited storage. The Standard edition will cost you $39.95 a year, Power edition costs $59.95 a year, and a Pro account goes for $149.95 per year. There are many additional options available if you go with the Pro account, and for professionals it’s worth the extra expense.
2) PhotoBucket – With the ability to sign up for free, plus the 10,000 photographs and many hours of video you are able to upload, PhotoBucket definitely deserves its rank near the top of this list. With options like sharing photos and videos via email, IM or mobile it’s easy to keep friends and family up to date with new pictures. You can add captions and special effects, all while turning your pics into a slideshow. Turn your favorite snapshot into your new desktop background or print wallpaper! You have the flexibility to link to profiles, blogs and websites as well.
1) Flickr – This site rates our #1 spot, after being named the best photo management and sharing application in the world. Offering both photo and video sharing facilities, Flickr is a professional photo sharing site owned by Yahoo. Free accounts grant you 200 recent photograph displays. The available Pro account, available for $24.95 per year grants you unlimited photo and video uploads (20MB per photo, 90 seconds & 500MB per video), unlimited storage, unlimited bandwidth, ad-free browsing, archiving of high-resolution original images and even more interesting options.
As you can see, depending on your personal needs, there’s a photo sharing website out there for you. Start with the free ones, and take it further if need be later on.
