Can you recommend a social photo sharing site?

I am looking for a way to share my photos. I go to clubs and events a lot and take photos of the venue, the people, the action, performers, new friends, and so on. Facebook has mostly been working out for me, but I want to start a site separately from my personal identity. How do I do this? Which photo sharing/viewing service will be best for me?

I basically download my photos, go through them, pick out the shots I like, then slightly edit some of them, such as mostly cropping, then fit them to 1200px and dump them on Facebook. There I can also tag people and make comments on the photo itself, and other people may comment on the photos. I can also select "Album Cover" photo that will be displayed more prominently for the album. One thing implicitly goes on Facebook is that you can friend a person or also now follow them, without friending if they so allow. I want something that is not too far away from this. I have not recently used any of the photo sharing sites and looking for a short list to evaluate with maybe some pros and cons.

Some immediate options that come to mind are .... Picasa or Flickr or Instagram. Well, Instagram won't work for me because I really want albums rather than snapshots. Flickr interface seemed a bit awkward when I used it 2 years go, and no one commented on the photos (aka not many people have a FlickR account I guess). So my next step is to look into Picasa and others that I don't yet know about. What would you recommend?

I've been happy with Zenfolio. There may be a free, limited membership, but my account has an annual fee (~$25 IIRC).

Dennis2 said:

I am looking for a way to share my photos. I go to clubs and events a lot and take photos of the venue, the people, the action, performers, new friends, and so on. Facebook has mostly been working out for me, but I want to start a site separately from my personal identity. How do I do this? Which photo sharing/viewing service will be best for me?

I basically download my photos, go through them, pick out the shots I like, then slightly edit some of them, such as mostly cropping, then fit them to 1200px and dump them on Facebook. There I can also tag people and make comments on the photo itself, and other people may comment on the photos. I can also select "Album Cover" photo that will be displayed more prominently for the album. One thing implicitly goes on Facebook is that you can friend a person or also now follow them, without friending if they so allow. I want something that is not too far away from this. I have not recently used any of the photo sharing sites and looking for a short list to evaluate with maybe some pros and cons.

Some immediate options that come to mind are .... Picasa or Flickr or Instagram. Well, Instagram won't work for me because I really want albums rather than snapshots. Flickr interface seemed a bit awkward when I used it 2 years go, and no one commented on the photos (aka not many people have a FlickR account I guess). So my next step is to look into Picasa and others that I don't yet know about. What would you recommend?

Click to expand...

You can create a separate page on Facebook for your photography.

Click on the 'Gear' symbol on the upper right, and choose 'Create Page'.

This page will be completely separate from your normal Facebook identity.

Dennis2 said:

I am looking for a way to share my photos. I go to clubs and events a lot and take photos of the venue, the people, the action, performers, new friends, and so on. Facebook has mostly been working out for me, but I want to start a site separately from my personal identity. How do I do this? Which photo sharing/viewing service will be best for me?

I basically download my photos, go through them, pick out the shots I like, then slightly edit some of them, such as mostly cropping, then fit them to 1200px and dump them on Facebook. There I can also tag people and make comments on the photo itself, and other people may comment on the photos. I can also select "Album Cover" photo that will be displayed more prominently for the album. One thing implicitly goes on Facebook is that you can friend a person or also now follow them, without friending if they so allow. I want something that is not too far away from this. I have not recently used any of the photo sharing sites and looking for a short list to evaluate with maybe some pros and cons.

Some immediate options that come to mind are .... Picasa or Flickr or Instagram. Well, Instagram won't work for me because I really want albums rather than snapshots. Flickr interface seemed a bit awkward when I used it 2 years go, and no one commented on the photos (aka not many people have a FlickR account I guess). So my next step is to look into Picasa and others that I don't yet know about. What would you recommend?

Click to expand...

Nothing particularly wrong with Flickr, you can set up albums and the like. There are a lot of pictures on the site so the chance of someone randomly coming across yours is pretty small. You would need to use good subject search terms in your descriptions and tags.

Dennis2 said:

I am looking for a way to share my photos. I go to clubs and events a lot and take photos of the venue, the people, the action, performers, new friends, and so on. Facebook has mostly been working out for me, but I want to start a site separately from my personal identity. How do I do this? Which photo sharing/viewing service will be best for me?

I basically download my photos, go through them, pick out the shots I like, then slightly edit some of them, such as mostly cropping, then fit them to 1200px and dump them on Facebook. There I can also tag people and make comments on the photo itself, and other people may comment on the photos. I can also select "Album Cover" photo that will be displayed more prominently for the album. One thing implicitly goes on Facebook is that you can friend a person or also now follow them, without friending if they so allow. I want something that is not too far away from this. I have not recently used any of the photo sharing sites and looking for a short list to evaluate with maybe some pros and cons.

Some immediate options that come to mind are .... Picasa or Flickr or Instagram. Well, Instagram won't work for me because I really want albums rather than snapshots. Flickr interface seemed a bit awkward when I used it 2 years go, and no one commented on the photos (aka not many people have a FlickR account I guess). So my next step is to look into Picasa and others that I don't yet know about. What would you recommend?

Click to expand...

The Flicker interface is excellent and it is not difficult to cultivate like minded "friends" , but you have to make an effort and be willing to reciprocate.

I have used Flickr and 500px. Both have the same problem, already pointed out, that it is difficult to get your images noticed without making the effort to "like" or "favorite" and/or comment on OP's photos. This means that any communication between individuals is very limited. The way the photos are displayed is excellent, but there is very little of the "social" aspect such as you find here on DP Review. Here people talk to each other, help each other, as well as enjoy each others photography when they want to.

Unfortunately, I have not found a site that has a good balance between talk and image display.

jackdan said:

Dennis2 said:

I am looking for a way to share my photos. I go to clubs and events a lot and take photos of the venue, the people, the action, performers, new friends, and so on. Facebook has mostly been working out for me, but I want to start a site separately from my personal identity. How do I do this? Which photo sharing/viewing service will be best for me?

I basically download my photos, go through them, pick out the shots I like, then slightly edit some of them, such as mostly cropping, then fit them to 1200px and dump them on Facebook. There I can also tag people and make comments on the photo itself, and other people may comment on the photos. I can also select "Album Cover" photo that will be displayed more prominently for the album. One thing implicitly goes on Facebook is that you can friend a person or also now follow them, without friending if they so allow. I want something that is not too far away from this. I have not recently used any of the photo sharing sites and looking for a short list to evaluate with maybe some pros and cons.

Some immediate options that come to mind are .... Picasa or Flickr or Instagram. Well, Instagram won't work for me because I really want albums rather than snapshots. Flickr interface seemed a bit awkward when I used it 2 years go, and no one commented on the photos (aka not many people have a FlickR account I guess). So my next step is to look into Picasa and others that I don't yet know about. What would you recommend?

Click to expand...

The Flicker interface is excellent and it is not difficult to cultivate like minded "friends" , but you have to make an effort and be willing to reciprocate.

Click to expand...

On Flickr you might want to seek out people with common interests. Groups can be helpful, but not all groups. For example you could go to a group for members that have the same camera as you do and see which ones just are socially active and then eliminate the ones who simply throw out generic meaningless comments in order to get comments for their photos. If you establish a rapport with someone you can make them a contact.You will find that friends of friends are also a good source for making new contacts and that can lead to a friendly group.

There are many ways to make friends, but it does not just happen.

There are groups where members critique each other's photos. They may require you to critique a certain number of other photos for every photo you post in the group.

Have you considered Google+? I think it reproduces photos much better than Facebook, and offers more of a 'social' environment than Flickr.

That being said, I've never had a problem getting people to comment on my photos on Flickr. But I do the following things:

1. I join groups that interest me, and I share my photos with those groups.
2. I comment on photos that interest, and they are MORE than those idiotic "good job!!!!" or "AWSOME" comments. I try to leave intelligent and insightful comments. If individual comments take less than 3 minutes to write, they aren't comments, and they sure as hell not insightful.
3. I "follow" other posters who have produced more than 3 photos that interest me.

With social sites, you only get out of them what you put into them. If you aren't 13, and haven't connected with all the 'kids at school', you've kind of got to 'market' yourself on them I'm still learning Google+, but I'm pretty happy with Flickr overall.



--

I still like soup. . .

TTMartin said:

Dennis2 said:

I am looking for a way to share my photos. I go to clubs and events a lot and take photos of the venue, the people, the action, performers, new friends, and so on. Facebook has mostly been working out for me, but I want to start a site separately from my personal identity. How do I do this? Which photo sharing/viewing service will be best for me?

I basically download my photos, go through them, pick out the shots I like, then slightly edit some of them, such as mostly cropping, then fit them to 1200px and dump them on Facebook. There I can also tag people and make comments on the photo itself, and other people may comment on the photos. I can also select "Album Cover" photo that will be displayed more prominently for the album. One thing implicitly goes on Facebook is that you can friend a person or also now follow them, without friending if they so allow. I want something that is not too far away from this. I have not recently used any of the photo sharing sites and looking for a short list to evaluate with maybe some pros and cons.

Some immediate options that come to mind are .... Picasa or Flickr or Instagram. Well, Instagram won't work for me because I really want albums rather than snapshots. Flickr interface seemed a bit awkward when I used it 2 years go, and no one commented on the photos (aka not many people have a FlickR account I guess). So my next step is to look into Picasa and others that I don't yet know about. What would you recommend?

Click to expand...

You can create a separate page on Facebook for your photography.

Click on the 'Gear' symbol on the upper right, and choose 'Create Page'.

This page will be completely separate from your normal Facebook identity.

Click to expand...

I'll second create a Facebook Page. Once it's set up you just login to Facebook normally and click the gear icon in the upper right corner of your timeline and choose use facebook as your page. That way you can keep your personal side of Facebook out of it.

I manage several businesses Facebook pages from my own personal account. No way of knowing it's me doing the posting on the business pages.

That is cool, thanks!
I didn't know it was separated like this. That may be just what I need.

Thanks!
Dennis

tcg550 said:

tcg550 said:

You can create a separate page on Facebook for your photography.

Click on the 'Gear' symbol on the upper right, and choose 'Create Page'.

This page will be completely separate from your normal Facebook identity.

Click to expand...

I'll second create a Facebook Page. Once it's set up you just login to Facebook normally and click the gear icon in the upper right corner of your timeline and choose use facebook as your page. That way you can keep your personal side of Facebook out of it.

I manage several businesses Facebook pages from my own personal account. No way of knowing it's me doing the posting on the business pages.

Click to expand...

I just checked out this way to create a new page. Does Facebook charge for business pages such as you describe?

Also, how do you promote your site as a business? My regular page is open to my Friends network. So without a pre-set list of Friends, how do OP end up visiting your pages? Once you get people viewing your page, I guess you communicate the same as on any regular page.

Susan

GreenMountainGirl said:

tcg550 said:

TTMartin said:

You can create a separate page on Facebook for your photography.

Click on the 'Gear' symbol on the upper right, and choose 'Create Page'.

This page will be completely separate from your normal Facebook identity.

Click to expand...

I'll second create a Facebook Page. Once it's set up you just login to Facebook normally and click the gear icon in the upper right corner of your timeline and choose use facebook as your page. That way you can keep your personal side of Facebook out of it.

I manage several businesses Facebook pages from my own personal account. No way of knowing it's me doing the posting on the business pages.

Click to expand...

I just checked out this way to create a new page. Does Facebook charge for business pages such as you describe?

Also, how do you promote your site as a business?

Click to expand...

It is my understanding that Facebook does not charge for the page.

GreenMountainGirl said:

My regular page is open to my Friends network. So without a pre-set list of Friends, how do OP end up visiting your pages?

Click to expand...

They 'Like' your page. But, only a percentage of those who 'Like' your page will see your posts. But, if you want more people who 'Like' your page to see a post, you would pay to 'promote' the post.

People who really like your page can subscribe to notifications, so they receive all of your posts without you having to pay to promote them.

GreenMountainGirl said:

Once you get people viewing your page, I guess you communicate the same as on any regular page.

Susan

Click to expand...

Totally confused yet?

TTMartin said:

TTMartin said:

I just checked out this way to create a new page. Does Facebook charge for business pages such as you describe?

Also, how do you promote your site as a business?

Click to expand...

It is my understanding that Facebook does not charge for the page.

TTMartin said:

My regular page is open to my Friends network. So without a pre-set list of Friends, how do OP end up visiting your pages?

Click to expand...

They 'Like' your page. But, only a percentage of those who 'Like' your page will see your posts. But, if you want more people who 'Like' your page to see a post, you would pay to 'promote' the post.

People who really like your page can subscribe to notifications, so they receive all of your posts without you having to pay to promote them.

TTMartin said:

Once you get people viewing your page, I guess you communicate the same as on any regular page.

Susan

Click to expand...

Totally confused yet?

Click to expand...

Only somewhat! I suppose the best way to find answers is just to do it...

Thanks.

Susan

Google search "cloud photo service"