Choosing an Online Photo Service

I shoot people. Two weeks ago, I shot three complete strangers protesting the current war in Iraq because they were blocking my way into my workplace. Yesterday, I shot my best friend because he was making funny faces at me. Tonight I plan to shoot my brother in front of a crowd of witnesses as he plays guitar with his newly formed band for the first time. Now before you decide to call the police and determine whether there is a reward for my arrest dead or alive, allow me to elaborate: I shoot people with my camera.

I remember the days of yesteryear when a bunch of my friends would go on a spontaneous day trip. I would always make a quick stop at the drug store to pick up a couple of disposable cameras to shoot the memories of the trip. The next day I would drop the cameras at the same drug store's photo lab and have them developed. Being a cheap person, I only managed to develop one set of photos for myself. This would be a problem as my friends asked for copies of the photos. Having to order reprints, locating mailing addresses, packaging the photos, and then shipping the photos grew to be trouble. And it was trouble I didn't want to do.

Luckily, the Internet has advanced where photo-sharing among friends is as easy as taking the photographs themselves. Additionally, I've upgraded my disposable cameras into a digital camera to go along with the technological advances. But along with the advances came the agony of choice thanks to the plethora of photo-sharing websites to choose. I've decided to review a few of them to see how they satisfy my urges to shoot and share my photographic work.

Photobucket (http://www.photobucket.com)
Photobucket is usually my first and only choice for an idiot-proof way of displaying my photographs online. The free basic account allows a maximum file size of one megabyte per photo, but at $3.95/month, photos can be as large as five megabytes. Photobucket allows me to edit the photos once uploaded. I can crop, resize, fix red eye, rotate, add captions, and adjust contrast photos to my liking. I can automatically resize my uploaded photos to fit different computer screens and website sizes (640x480, 320x240, and even 100x75 pixels) for quicker loading.

Print sizes range from 3.5x5 inches ($.15) to 30x40 inches ($39.99). They also enable printing photobooks, framed prints, calendars, posters, mugs, and other miscellaneous goods. Photobucket has a mass uploading service and unlimited storage. This is very convenient when I want to upload an entire memory card of photos. But the best thing about Photobucket in terms of sharing is the linking. When I upload a photo, Photobucket automatically generates links for website image codes, forum attachments, and direct links to send via email. So when I want to share my photos with my friends, I simply upload to Photobucket and send the links to my friends' email addresses. This has been the easiest method of sharing photos I've seen since the links are instantly created upon uploading and are visible beneath each photo.

Walmart (http://photos.walmart.com/storepage/storePageId=Prints)
Walmart offers the convenience of uploading photos online with the convenience of picking up digital prints at a nearby Walmart store. Prints are priced for as little as $.09 per 4x6 inch photo. Walmart can alert you when photos are ready for in-store pick up or deliver them to your house. Walmart also offers one-hour processing from the store front, which is a convenient way to get photo prints and do some shopping in one shot. As long as you make one order a year, Walmart grants you unlimited storage for your uploaded photos. The uploaded photos can be linked to an album and emailed. Walmart also has basic editing tools to spruce up uploaded photos. Walmart also features over 100 gift options to show off your photos such as stationery, calendars, and mouse pads.

Flickr (http://www.flickr.com)
Flickr is a photo service that is conveniently connected to your Yahoo! account if you have one (I don't have one). Like the rest of the photo sharing services, Flickr offer links, prints ($.20 for a 4x6), editing tools, and gifts. Upload limits are 100mb per calendar month and 5mb per photo for a basic account. At $24.95 for a yearly membership, unlimited upoloads are available as well as video uploads.

Snapfish (http://www.snapfish.com/)
Hewett-Packard's Snapfish boasts itself as the #1 online photo service. It offers new members 20 free 4x6 inch prints and $.09 each additional print in addition to the aforementioned photo gifts the other sites use. Snapfish recommends installing its Picture Mover software for faster and easier uploading. Snapfish also promotes its slideshow feature akin to the other programs' slide shows. From what I've ordered, the photos from Snapfish are high quality with bright colors.

Shutterfly (http://www.shutterfly.com)
Shutterfly offers 4x6 prints at $.15 each and offers the same gifts of calendars, coffee mugs, and post cards of other photo sites. The site allows photos to maintain their original dimensions to keep the best resolution. This translates to unlimited file sizes and storage. Shutterfly also boasts its online community to share photos and photography tips. Shutterfly is partnered with the retail chain store Target for on-site pick-up.

Kodak Gallery (http://www.kodakgallery.com)
Kodak Gallery is also partnered with Target for on-site pick-up and has the same $.15 per 4x6 print deal. It also has a partnership with CVS drug stores. Naturally, Kodak digital cameras will have the easiest time using Kodak gallery since the cameras and programs work together. Kodak requires at least one purchase during every 12-month period to prevent deletion of any stored photos online. Kodak offers its Easy Share software to facilitate uploading photos and organizing them into galleries. I've never been a fan of downloading additional software to work with a web site. I'd rather have the online work remain online and I'm also mildly paranoid about these programs accidentally finding files I'd rather not have uploaded.

Out of all the photo services I tried, I still prefer Photobucket for its simplicity in sharing. If I just want friends to see the photos I shot, I just have to link them to the galleries. I don't need to maintain an order per year membership. I don't need to download extra software. And the basic membership already allows me unlimited space. If my friends want to order prints, they can do it from there so I don't have to spend my own money to do so.