Online photo sharing/storage sites - opinions & experiences??

Andrea, I've been using SmugMug for several years, and have been very pleased with both the "technical aspects" (ease-of-use, upload speeds, etc.) as well as the customer service. They have been very responsive anytime I had a problem, usually answering within a few hours. Unfortunately it's not "free", but I feel the cost of a basic membership (about $39 a year) is very reasonable for unlimited photo storage. One point to note is that while the storage is "unlimited", I believe there's a maximum file size per image (can't remember for sure, but I believe it's about 10 MB per image). I found that out last year when I upgraded to a 7D as the image sizes are huge! If you're shooting normal JPEG images, that won't be a concern. While the name is a bit unusual, the site is top-notch! If you decide to try it, I think you'll be pleased. One final point to mention - as someone else noted, you may find that upload speeds vary depending on the connection speeds of the sites you're using. I tried posting a Blog for the first time on my trip last year (which can include photos and videos), and even with a Netbook the speed to upload seemed to be fairly quick. Happy travels!

I would also recommend Flickr (so long as you can shell out the $25/year for a "pro" account). I've been using it for at least 3 years now, and it really is the easiest and best-organized photo sharing website for the price. It's where my European photos live :)

I'm another smugmug fan. I do find the upload speed a bit slow, but I think the results are worth it. Of course, the unlimited storage is a big plus, although you do have to pay an annual fee. I also like the format better than the free sites.

I have used Photobucket for years. I think upload speed will depend more on your wifi connection and host rather than the photo service you choose.

Thanks, Richard. Will go take a look at Photobucket.

I've used Flickr for several years, and I like it. It was better a few years ago, but then Yahoo bought them and the customer service went downhill quite a bit, but I really rarely ever need customer service.
Its easy to upload photos, make them available to friends or the public, and to search for photos. the free version limits how many Sets you can create (10), which really isn't sufficient for much organizing, but I get the "Professional" membership which I think is only $30 per year and allows unlimited Sets, and has some other usefull features.. There is a monthly upload limit, but I have never even come close to that limit, and I've uploaded 500-1000 pictures from a vacation, but that was a one time shot (or less than once per month). If you take a lot of pictures every single day, then you might hit the upload limit, but I doubt that would ever happen in "normal" use. I guess it sounds like I've mentioned a few negatives, but I never consider them negatives, and have really liked using Flickr.

Thanks! I will check out all of these sites. By the way, do they all have the option to keep your photos private other than for people you "invite" to view them?

Ken, I'd enjoy seeing some of your photography if you have any on Flickr or anything (or if you can share it through SmugMug, I'm not familiar with the site.) I love photography, work for my university's yearbook and enjoy doing it on my own too.

On smugmug you can certainly set privacy controls.

Flickr also allows you to set privacy controls to Public, Friends and/or Family, or only yourself. I think that's kind of a standard among photo storage websites.

It looks to me like Photobucket is free. Free is very good! If there weren't anything for free, I'd suggest you buy a URL for a year for $1.99 (.info) - almost free. I think Godaddy has a free webhosting if you let them put a banner at the top advertising Godaddy. Then learn some HTML, and you can post pictures on your own website. Plus you can add all the text you want about your trip. I've never tried putting a password on a site with HTML, but I'm sure you can do it.

Of course, if you want a blog rather than a photo site, wordpress.com will give you one completely free, with no ads.

I have used Flickr for about five years and have had good results with it. Some friends have recommended Shutterfly, but I have not had any reason to switch.

I've been using Smugmug for 9 years and have been very pleased with it overall. No limits to uploads, access to your original full-size files, and tons of controls over look and feel, etc. I don't think any other site comes close.

You might want to try Drop Box.

I experimented with a couple of the sites and am leaning towards Smugmug, which I'd never heard of before. I signed up for their 14 day free trial. Lots to like about their site, once I resigned myself to the idea of paying. ;-) Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

I see in the MacWorld magazine I am now reading that they like DropBox.

I highly recommend using Imgur.com. It's a super easy site and very reliable. Easy to share your albums too.

WordPress is just open source software that allows you to create a blog, you still need to purchase a domain and hosting for it to actually publish online.

@Anna - completely wrong. I have a wordpress blog (mytimetotravel.wordpress.com if anyone's interested) which is available online and for which I pay absolutely nothing. Now, if you want a site with a URL that doesn't include the wordpress name, you have to pay, but that is a free choice (pun intended).

Went to take a look at Dropbox but was put off by having to a)watch a video or b)download it just to access the site. Still liking Smugmug, partly because it seems so open and straightforward. (And I like the lack of ads, etc. plus the look of one's homepage.) Thanks for the additional suggestions -- this is a real learning experience for me.

Andrea, I didn't really bother with the "free 14-day trial" on SmugMug (my "trial" lasted about an hour). After formatting a small gallery, I was so impressed with the "user friendly" and appearance aspects of the site, that I registered right away. I enjoyed another example of their excellent customer service yesterday. I contacted them regarding a "technical issue" (which turned out to be my fault), but had a reply back within about 15-minutes! That probably wouldn't happen in the "wee hours of the morning", but I was still quite impressed.

Ken -
I suspect I'll sign up on Smugmug "for real" but am using the free trial period before my trip to double-check that the family members I'll be sharing my photos with can access them easily. So far, so good. I already sent Smugmug a question and received a reply -- so impressed with the site! In addition to the annual fee, they also have a $5 monthly fee, which is what I might sign up for since I really only need it for this trip. I can always change my mind later... Thanks again for your advice!

Andrea, You're very welcome! One final point to mention. I don't usually upload a lot of photos during my travels, as the net connections are not always ideal. I also don't like to spend too much of my valuable holiday time sitting in front of a computer. For a limited number of JPEG images with small files sizes, the upload time should be fairly manageable.