Forums > Photography Talk > Photo hosting web sites.

Photographer

Eye of the World

Posts: 1396

Corvallis, Oregon, US

Back story - in the past, for TF shoots when I wanted to make images available for models to review and make selections I would use Lightroom to create a web gallery, zip the folder and upload to Dropbox. The would download the file, unzip and run the index.html file to view the gallery in their browser. That worked well when they had a desktop or laptop computer. I am finding that more and more models only use their phone or tablet, which makes that process problematic.

So, as a hobbyist I am looking for a reasonably priced place to temporarily upload password-protected galleries where I can just send them a link to view and delete after their selections are made. I have looked at Smugmug but am concerned about their terms of service which prohibit "User Content that is unlawful, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, indecent, lewd, sexually suggestive, hateful, harassing, threatening, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, abusive, inflammatory, fraudulent or otherwise objectionable or harmful, including without limitation: Photos, Videos or other User Content containing nudity that would be unacceptable in a public museum where minors visit;"  IOW, their prohibitions are more restrictive than what could be posted on MM.

Suggestions for alternative hosting sites (or non-web options) that are more liberal are appreciated.

May 20 19 04:31 pm Link

Photographer

Znude!

Posts: 3311

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, US

I use Flickr . It doesn't seem to screw up the images much. And you have total control over access. Models are able to download images in several different sizes without you having to do anything but upload the large size. If there isn't enough privacy or access settings in the account for you you can create a "group" and make it as private as you want even restricting access to only you and the model. You can create a group with the models name or online alias and only allow the model and whomever else you choose to access it. Flickr allows nudes.

Nudes on Flickr must be marked as "restricted" though and that means your model will not be able to see them unless they are signed into a Flickr account and have their preferences set to allow them to view "restricted" images.

I wrote out simple instructions for models to follow to create a Flickr account, set it up for viewing restricted images, and with a link to find me on Flickr. I just send them a link to the instructions and then when they find me I connect our accounts.

May 20 19 04:56 pm Link

Admin

Model Mayhem Edu

Posts: 1310

Los Angeles, California, US

If you use Lightroom CC you can do it without incurring any additional costs.
https://petapixel.com/2017/09/20/easily … troom-web/

May 20 19 05:53 pm Link

Photographer

Eye of the World

Posts: 1396

Corvallis, Oregon, US

Model Mayhem Edu wrote:
If you use Lightroom CC you can do it without incurring any additional costs.
https://petapixel.com/2017/09/20/easily … troom-web/

I refuse to pay the Adobe ransom. I have stayed with LR6.

May 20 19 07:19 pm Link

Photographer

Voy

Posts: 1594

Phoenix, Arizona, US

I use  PhotoShelter $29.99 a month

May 20 19 11:07 pm Link

Photographer

Pat Berrett

Posts: 275

Albuquerque, New Mexico, US

I use Shoot Proof  and am very happy with them. $10 per month for a basic plan.
https://www.shootproof.com

May 21 19 07:15 am Link

Admin

Model Mayhem Edu

Posts: 1310

Los Angeles, California, US

Eye of the World wrote:
I refuse to pay the Adobe ransom. I have stayed with LR6.

Fair enough, but if you're going to pay $10/month for Dropbox, Shootproof, etc, is $19.99/month to always have the latest version of Photoshop, Lightroom, Portfolio, and mobile apps (including proofing galleries) really a "ransom"?

May 21 19 09:35 am Link

Photographer

goofus

Posts: 808

Santa Barbara, California, US

Znude! wrote:
Nudes on Flickr must be marked as "restricted" though and that means your model will not be able to see them unless they are signed into a Flickr account and have their preferences set to allow them to view "restricted" images.

not if you make the album private - then send them the link... they can look and download all of their nudes.. however..if they are wanting to do that with a phone... then yes.. the need to be a member to be able to download

May 21 19 11:02 am Link

Photographer

Chuckarelei

Posts: 11271

Seattle, Washington, US

Eye of the World wrote:
I refuse to pay the Adobe ransom. I have stayed with LR6.

Model Mayhem Edu wrote:
Fair enough, but if you're going to pay $10/month for Dropbox, Shootproof, etc, is $19.99/month to always have the latest version of Photoshop, Lightroom, Portfolio, and mobile apps (including proofing galleries) really a "ransom"?

If that comes from Adobe, then it is a "ransom".

May 21 19 11:27 am Link

Admin

Model Mayhem Edu

Posts: 1310

Los Angeles, California, US

Chuckarelei wrote:
If that comes from Adobe, then it is a "ransom".

I posted the incorrect price earlier, it's actually only $9.99/month for the photography plan that includes Photoshop, Lightroom, etc.
https://adobe.ly/2Epl1z9

May 21 19 04:54 pm Link

Photographer

Roy Hubbard

Posts: 3199

East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, US

I developed and host my own website. Thinking about turning it into a turnkey service.

May 22 19 09:31 am Link

Photographer

SayCheeZ!

Posts: 20613

Las Vegas, Nevada, US

Model Mayhem Edu wrote:
I posted the incorrect price earlier, it's actually only $9.99/month for the photography plan that includes Photoshop, Lightroom, etc.
https://adobe.ly/2Epl1z9

...etc includes Portfolio and Behance (photo hosting with different purposes).
https://portfolio.adobe.com/
https://www.behance.net

May 22 19 11:27 am Link

Photographer

BCADULTART

Posts: 2151

Boston, Massachusetts, US

Been using zenfolio for several years.  I do a lot of commissioned work
for clients around the world and zenfolio works well for me for $250 a year.

Chuck

Jun 02 19 09:41 pm Link

Photographer

Pictures of Life

Posts: 792

Spokane, Washington, US

On Facebook you can post 'hi-resolution' pictures, decent enough for web images, and limit the album to specific people if they are your 'friend'.  For shoots with more than 1 model it works well if the models are friends and are OK sharing.  I've done family shoots, reunions, and post everything to 1 place.  I tell models to copy the pics they like to their own page since I will delete the album after X time period.  At the bottom of the pic window is Options - Download which lets you download the 'original' file.**  It also helps me see what the images will look like on the net.
**A common practice is to downsize the images to 2048 pixels on the longest axis, and downgrade quality a bit so the FB compression doesn't do much.  I'm confident that for any mobile device you will be fine with 1024 pixels on the longest axis, but if someone wants to view it on a good size desktop monitor there may be some tiny advantage to 2048.

Jun 02 19 11:12 pm Link