Opinions of Flickr vs Other photo hosting sites...

[cayenne]

What's everyone's opinion of flickr, especially with regard to latest changes, offering 1TB of space...versus other photo hosting/sharing sites.

How are the TOS (Terms Of Service) there? Do you risk any rights to your images posted there?
What do you think about other sites...pro/con vs what Flickr offers?

I'm thinking of starting to put some online to share now with friends, but possibly in the future (until I get my own servers going at home again) hosting for possible revenue generation in the future.

Thanks in advance,

cayenne

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Images are frequently lifted from Flickr, so if they are valuable, a watermark is required.  You can specify a copyright, but that does not stop people from grabbing them.
 
A plus is the price, but if the images disappear, you are out of luck.   You will need to read the new TOS, its been recently revised and I'm not a attorney or qualified to interpret it for you.
 
I use Smugmug, after dropping Flickr a few years ago.  I'm very happy with it, and its much more configurable and can take on your own web URL.

[neuroanatomist]

I use Flickr, debating between extending my Pro membership there or moving to 500px.

[Random Orbits]

+1 for smugmug.  Was never a fan of Yahoo. 

[bvukich]

Smugmug is good, I'm currently using ZenFolio.

I don't think you could go wrong with either, whichever one suits your needs better.

[distant.star]

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First, I have to wonder why you would want to be in the server business. There are so many technical issues to keep up with and so many companies do it so much better than you can for so much less.

Anyway, I've posted a few pictures at Flickr over the years, but I never much cared for them as a host. With their recent "redesign," I pulled all my pictures because I think it's abominably inept. They apparently designed it for portable devices, and on a conventional computer, it's just a jumble. I used to be able to see pictures posted by my contacts at a glance; now I can't even find them. I liken it to somebody just taking a thousand snapshots and tossing them in a shoebox -- good luck finding anything. I still go to Flickr, but only for the groups. I think their groups are a strong point, and they have a group specific to anything you can imagine. Want a group to see pictures of snakes making love with bicycle tires? They probably have one. It's good if you have a particular interest, ferries, abandoned buildings, boxcar graffiti, etc. Also good if you're evaluating a possible purchase as you can look at groups for that item and see images and discuss performance with users of that product.

For several years now, I've used Smugmug to host all my pictures. It provides another backup as well as having a variety of display options. You can customize it any way you like -- and I'd have to think there would be nothing you could do with your own server that you can't make happen at Smugmug. They are also set up for sales and printing. Last I heard they were using Bay Photo for a print producer. My only niggle with them is they sometimes seem a bit childish, but that's reflective of an overall cultural deficiency I suppose.

I briefly tried Ipernity. They are structured a lot like the old Flickr, but I found a dearth of groups and overall it just had a creepy feeling to it.

Lately I've posted some to 500px, but there seem to be no groups. They have a "story" feature I would like -- you can use your images to illustrate a story you want to tell, but it is almost impossible to find the stories section (no link I can find) so I can't imagine you'd have many people reading your stuff. People seem to comment on photos there more as a way of getting you to look at theirs than anything. Their display is good, and if you just want to share with friends through links, that's probably a good way to go. I don't know about sales or printing through them.

As for security, I think if someone wants an image and has the capability it can be stolen. You do what you can, but there are no real assurances of safety in that regard.

[shutterwideshut]

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I still go to Flickr, but only for the groups. I think their groups are a strong point, and they have a group specific to anything you can imagine.

+1. The only factor that keeps me staying in Flickr are the nice people, friends and contacts that I've known through the years. Other than that, the recent facelift is disgusting and disappointing.

[LetTheRightLensIn]

What's everyone's opinion of flickr, especially with regard to latest changes, offering 1TB of space...versus other photo hosting/sharing sites.

How are the TOS (Terms Of Service) there? Do you risk any rights to your images posted there?
What do you think about other sites...pro/con vs what Flickr offers?

I'm thinking of starting to put some online to share now with friends, but possibly in the future (until I get my own servers going at home again) hosting for possible revenue generation in the future.

Thanks in advance,

cayenne

Flickr is nice in that it is one of the few sites that allows you to upload optional wide gamut galleries and doesn't decide it knows better and force every single gallery into sRGB. And your stuff tends to get noticed and liked and commented on a bit and there are tons of active groups, while on the more pro sites that doesn't happen too much and few people use groups, etc.

But it doesn't really let you configure much and the new site seems to have even removed any easy way to view by galleries which is pretty weird. I don't know that it would be so easy to sell images off it since there are sooooo many amazing images out there that you need to make your site look so-called serious pro otherwise people seem to feel why even think of paying for photos.

I used to love smugmug, but I think Zenfolio has become much better these days so I switched to Zenfolio some time back. Even not caring about selling, it's nice to be able to set up a nicely organized site.

I still have my Flickr account. I use it mostly to post to groups, for wide easy sharing and notice, contacts and especially for wide gamut galleries these days since sadly the other main sites lock wide gamut out , ridiculous in this day and age to decide that they know better than the photographer and they see to it to remap and ruin your color, forcibly, with no way to turn that auto-conversion to sRGB off.

Setting up your own server is rough if you get much traffic, it's hard to have the connection and equipment to handle that unless you go wayyy serious which seems like a losing proposition to me considering that photos don't bring in huge streams of cash in most cases, and there are some dangerous potential gotchas. You can get a server going easily enough, but to drive huge traffic.... and if you decided to directly handle payment and secure storage you need to be darn careful otherwise you can get yourself in a heck of a pickle to put it gently.

[vargyropoulos]

At the end of the day it really depends on what you want out of each photo sharing site: views from strangers, showing a group of images to friends? photo of the day among a group? below are my observations for the sites that I use:

500px: currently this site will give you the most views on your images but quite  a lot of these views will be from people seeking exchange votes. the voting system is in the process of being changed and the site is a bit off its peak of "quality" users

Flickr: I have very little experience with the groups, but currently this is the site if you want to put up a lot of photos, group them and share them with friends. I agree with others about TOS and you original High res files can be exposed to the world. I'm currently considering cleaning up my presence there

facebook groups.... not mentioned previously but lately I have noticed a trend where photographers build up a following on the major photosharing sites then draw you to their FB page and then to their own domain

your own personal domain... you have complete freedom of what to post and why... however it is also up to you to handle all the marketing and promotion behind it... having something under your own domain though is possibly one of the best "business cards" if you will

[cayenne]

I use Flickr, debating between extending my Pro membership there or moving to 500px.

Can you give some plusses and minuses for 500px that you are basing your decision upon?

Thank you,

cayenne

[Chewy734]

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Want a group to see pictures of snakes making love with bicycle tires? They probably have one.

hahaha...  sorry, but I had to. 

[rpt]

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First, I have to wonder why you would want to be in the server business. There are so many technical issues to keep up with and so many companies do it so much better than you can for so much less.

+1,000,000,000

Don't host unless you want to get into the hosting business.

[cayenne]

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First, I have to wonder why you would want to be in the server business. There are so many technical issues to keep up with and so many companies do it so much better than you can for so much less.

+1,000,000,000

Don't host unless you want to get into the hosting business.

I do IT for my day job...and I have server class boxes in my office I'm wanting to get back up and running. I had my own servers Pre-Katrina, and have just NOW settled down really rather than moving so often. I want to get them back up and going again.

I run my own email server, and I have boxes that are more than enough for hosting my own web server(s). I have the equipment and I do it also for fun and interest. I have a business acct from Cox cable, and am free to host and run whatever servers I want, so, why not?

I'm looking to maybe learn wordpress or some other blogging software and do that.

Photography and videography, aren't my only hobbies, and when I do them for business needs, I get to write them all off as business expenses for tax purposes.

So, I don't see it as that much of a detriment, and I like being in full control of my stuff rather than paying someone else when I don't really need to.

If I got to some level where I was growing bigger and my time became more valuable shooting editing than geeking out, then sure, I'd look at outsourcing, but this really isn't that much of a burden you all seem to keep thinking it is...?

cayenne

[rpt]

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First, I have to wonder why you would want to be in the server business. There are so many technical issues to keep up with and so many companies do it so much better than you can for so much less.

+1,000,000,000

Don't host unless you want to get into the hosting business.

I do IT for my day job...and I have server class boxes in my office I'm wanting to get back up and running. I had my own servers Pre-Katrina, and have just NOW settled down really rather than moving so often. I want to get them back up and going again.

I run my own email server, and I have boxes that are more than enough for hosting my own web server(s). I have the equipment and I do it also for fun and interest. I have a business acct from Cox cable, and am free to host and run whatever servers I want, so, why not?

I'm looking to maybe learn wordpress or some other blogging software and do that.

Photography and videography, aren't my only hobbies, and when I do them for business needs, I get to write them all off as business expenses for tax purposes.

So, I don't see it as that much of a detriment, and I like being in full control of my stuff rather than paying someone else when I don't really need to.

If I got to some level where I was growing bigger and my time became more valuable shooting editing than geeking out, then sure, I'd look at outsourcing, but this really isn't that much of a burden you all seem to keep thinking it is...?

cayenne

Wow! Let us know when it is up and running.

[ckwaller]

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I've posted a few pictures at Flickr over the years, but I never much cared for them as a host. With their recent "redesign," I pulled all my pictures because I think it's abominably inept.

QFT. I was primarily a (huge) fan of Flickr, holding a Pro account since 2011. However, as mentioned by Mt. Spokane, photos are extremely easy to lift from the site. I did a random Google search on some images I posted on Flickr and found one on several mobile device "wallpaper" sites, and another was actually being used by a British Vinyl Decal Company!!!!! I had to file a DMCA notice to have that image brought down. Still, who knows how many folks have my image(s) plastered on their race cars *shrugs*. Lesson learned: watermark, watermark, watermark-- right in the middle of the image, if need be. That seems to be the only thing that deters the Flickr Bandits.

After that burn, I was almost completely turned off from Flickr, and locked down my account so only I and a select few friends could view my photos. I then focused my attention to SmugMug (pro account holder. I agree, the flexibility, configuration, and print options offered by SmugMug is sublime). I also find SmugMug's security settings (as well as those implemented by the folks from whom I purchased a custom site template) is far better than what was offered by Flickr *knocks heavily on wood*.

For kicks and giggles, I recently revisited my Flickr account, after they had (unknowingly to me) "upgraded" their site. As was mentioned earlier on in the thread, the new Flickr is horrific and seems to be geared toward a mobile experience. I have no idea where anything is anymore, and it's too much of a sensory overload. I think that was the final straw, and I'll soon be pulling my images from the site and cancelling my account, altogether.

Still, different strokes for different folks.