Photo Sharing

Photo sharing is the online publishing of one's digital photos, usually through a website or using an application. These photos can be shared either publicly or privately on photo gallery sites and also includes photoblogs, where people record aspects of their life through pictures and commentary and share it.

Photo sharing is not limited to just computers. Many camera phones now come with applications that allow one to share pictures as soon as they are taken. But what are the different options for sharing photos currently available? Nearly everyone has that virtual box of photos on their hard drive, or stored on their cameras or cell phones. What better way to clean it all out and share them with friends, family, or even strangers that might appreciate your creativity?

Sharing Options

There are many choices each with their own pros and cons. By far the most used method is email sharing. It is the easiest method since almost everyone has an email address and it's easy to send quick attachments to friends and family.
Unfortunately, one can only send so much at a time, and if the recipient doesn't have enough room in their account it just bounces back.
Large or high resolution pictures take time to upload and download and again may result in a bounce back, so this is not the ideal way to really share a large collection. Not to mention the fact that such a mass sending is usually unorganized, much like just throwing a box of pictures at someone.

If someone wanted to share a lot of photos with only a few people, there is the option of burning the photos to a disc and mailing it. This allows for a lot of pictures to be shared, organized in neat folders, but of course it takes a lot more time than online sharing. And if the recipient doesn't have the right software to view the pictures...

Social networking sites

Social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook allow for photo sharing but there is the risk of not knowing just who may be looking. Sometimes if a person only wants to share with friends or family, a party at your home for instance, it isn't desirable to share it so publicly. Also since these sites don't specialize in photo sharing, there may be limits to how much can be uploaded on an account. it's an option for those that want to use the social option, but perhaps not if you have a ton of pictures to share.

One of the better options is using one of the many online services that specialize in photo sharing. Of course these also have their pros and cons to be considered when making a choice. Many of them are free, of course, and easy to use for the very beginner, some even allowing for some degree of customization. Usually in these sites there is also a community to share with and get help if needed.

Some sites even allow a you to sell your images. Of course when using such a site, people are at the mercy of whatever terms of use there may be and this may affect what can be uploaded or even result in images being declined. Advertising banners as well as small storage often accompany the free trials of such sites unless a membership fee is paid and if they do allow selling, they tend to take a percentage of the sale as a fee. Some sites may even alter the size of pictures to make them easier to store, which affects their quality.

But there is a solution that can make photo sharing more creative and more personal for the hobbyist or freelancer looking to share what they have.

Photo website software allows people to create websites for themselves, without needing to know HTML. The idea is that you download the software then creates the pages needed, organizes photos and keeps complete control of your work. Typically there is also technical support, and numerous options. Similar to the sites that allow you to make your own websites, these services specialize in photo sharing and may be a preferred option for the creative and independent photographer.