Trying again - photo sharing sites

For some reason, my original question (requesting suggestions for photo
sharing sites) and the responses do not show up on my system. I have had
this happen before, and it seems to occur if I inadvertently use the same
name as was used previously. In such cases, I have found the question
attached to a very old thread. So, I had to go through google
(unfortunate!) to find the question and your answers. Once I found it, the
feedback was very helpful. Thank you! I really like the looks of SmugMug
and am going to try it. My only purpose is to show pictures for friends to
see. It's possible that friends may want to print a few of them that show
some of them in some locations, but I don't expect many to want to do that.
Most of the photo sharing sites I looked at clearly are intended so that
people can buy prints, and they arbitrarily crop photos to fit their format.

I have had several people who want to "see my pictures." Well, there are so
many of them that that just isn't practical. I thought online albums would
solve the problem and allow people to browse as many or as few as they want.
Incidentally, I did not even take what I consider my "good" camera (Nikon
D80) because I realized that I just could not handle that extra bulk and
weight with our limited space and incredible number of steps and rocks to
navigate. I'm not that agile any more! Instead, I took my Nikon P80. The
images are not what I could have achieved with the D80, but it allowed me to
enjoy my vacation instead of struggling.

Tony, I looked up your photos. I'm glad you made that "error" because your
galleries are just what I was hoping for. I also enjoyed simply looking at
your pictures. They are beautiful--mine will be nowhere near that good.
The problem you mentioned with Picasa is exactly what has caused my delay in
getting started. I do not like the idea of giving any service the type of
control Picasa seems to require.

I already have other photos on PictureTrail, but I have been very
dissatisfied with them. They have grown very "junky" over the past few
years with all their ads, and they also have a limit on size--so much so
that I don't have any space left. For an extra $10.00 per year, I can
eliminate that account and put everything in SmugMug.

I have only minimal knowledge of html. I did create a page several years
ago for classes I teach, but I haven't done anything with it for some time.
I didn't want to have to go through the learning process all over again, so
I wanted something where I could simply upload and let "someone else" do
most of the other work. It looks like SmugMug will do that, will permit
attractive results, and it has a 14-day free trial period.

So, Tony and GregS, thanks very much for your help. I think you have sent
me to just the right location.

MaryL

On Thu, 28 May 2009 10:42:38 -0500, "MaryL"
-OUT-THE-LITTER wrote:

For some reason, my original question (requesting suggestions for photo
sharing sites) and the responses do not show up on my system. I have had
this happen before, and it seems to occur if I inadvertently use the same
name as was used previously. In such cases, I have found the question
attached to a very old thread. So, I had to go through google
(unfortunate!) to find the question and your answers. Once I found it, the
feedback was very helpful. Thank you! I really like the looks of SmugMug
and am going to try it. My only purpose is to show pictures for friends to
see. It's possible that friends may want to print a few of them that show
some of them in some locations, but I don't expect many to want to do that.
Most of the photo sharing sites I looked at clearly are intended so that
people can buy prints, and they arbitrarily crop photos to fit their format.

I have had several people who want to "see my pictures." Well, there are so
many of them that that just isn't practical. I thought online albums would
solve the problem and allow people to browse as many or as few as they want.
Incidentally, I did not even take what I consider my "good" camera (Nikon
D80) because I realized that I just could not handle that extra bulk and
weight with our limited space and incredible number of steps and rocks to
navigate. I'm not that agile any more! Instead, I took my Nikon P80. The
images are not what I could have achieved with the D80, but it allowed me to
enjoy my vacation instead of struggling.

Tony, I looked up your photos. I'm glad you made that "error" because your
galleries are just what I was hoping for. I also enjoyed simply looking at
your pictures. They are beautiful--mine will be nowhere near that good.
The problem you mentioned with Picasa is exactly what has caused my delay in
getting started. I do not like the idea of giving any service the type of
control Picasa seems to require.

Thank you. If you do a SmugMug gallery, when you set the specs you
have a choice to set PrintingNo and this disables the Shopping Cart.
If it's Yes, viewers can order prints from SmugMug. I don't like this
because I feel viewers think I'm trying to sell my pictures. I'm an
amateur who likes to take photographs and not someone trying to make
money on my hobby. (You don't get a piece of the action unless you
have a Professional account, though)

With the Shopping Cart disabled, the viewer can still right click on
an image, download it, and print it for their own use. I don't
watermark because I really don't care if someone uses one of my
images. I'd be flattered.

You might also check into the Digital Grin website:
http://www.dgrin.com/ That's a photography forum sponsored by
SmugMug, but you don't have to have a SmugMug site to register or use
it. Moderated discussions on various photographic interests, and
completely without the noise you see in newsgroups.

The only problem with Digital Grin is that it is very humbling. You
think you've done some good shots, and then you see what others have
done that is far better.


--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida