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how to share your photos on the web

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ideas and examples for those who want to share photos on the web

This lens provides suggestions for those into photography : what to do with your photos, how to share them, how to monetize and sell them on the web. You can get inspiration from this page and decide how you want to make use of your work. You don't need to be a professional photographer nor a professional web designer.

Table of Contents

  1. Simply sharing
  2. What's your favorite photo sharing website ?
  3. Share and sell
  4. What's your favorite share and sell website
  5. Your own photo gallery
  6. What photo gallery software do you use / recommend ?
  7. Your own self-made website
  8. what hosting service do you use ?
  9. Selling specific art based on photos
  10. What products do you make from your photos ?
  11. share photos as e.cards
  12. How often do you send e.cards ?
  13. Examples of what you can do
  14. Reader Feedback

Simply sharing

Morocco : Sahara desertIt's very easy to post your photos to friends and relatives using free services like picasa for example. You can invite people to your album once you've finished uploading. This option is fine if you wish to share only with a limited number of contacts. You can also create public albums however, if you wish to have some control on the design and the referencing (keywords), then you may want to move on to the next topic. Blogs are another great option. Although not specifically designed to share many photos, the interface usually give quite a lot of flexibility and options to customize you page. It is also very easy for visitors to join or follow.

What's your favorite photo sharing website ?

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Share and sell

Other website allow you to create your own page and personalize the design, even assign keywords for search engines. Some of these websites are accessible to everyone and family/friend orientated. You can create albums and invite your contacts to visit and order some photos as prints, posters or even more fanciful items like t-shirts and mugs. Others websites are more professional (stock photography), targeting agencies or designer looking for a specific illustration and only accept high quality work, following reviews of submissions. These website sell your images in digital format, with a license, and typically keep a percentage of the profits but often let the photographer set his/her own parameters.

What's your favorite share and sell website

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Your own photo gallery

If you are a webmaster, your hosting service may propose a photo gallery software to install ( or even one that's ready-to-use). Usually, these will require a degree of customization regarding the design. Additional parameters allow to create groups of users with different access. These type of photo galleries are usually made in PHP but no knowledge of the code is needed as most of the work can be done from the administration console. Such galleries are often made in such a way that search engines easily crawl and reference the contents

What photo gallery software do you use / recommend ?

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Your own self-made website

Even with basic programming knowledge of HTML, CSS, PHP and Javascript, you can create your own website. It does take some work and time : a lot of thinking regarding the design, search engine optimization, content creating and referencing, but in the end, it is YOUR work, YOUR very own creation and you control everything. It gives you a feeling of pride, of creativity and ownership not just of the photos you share, but also of the whole website. Some hosting services are free, but offer some restriction in traffic, or storage space and some others display ads. However, for around 5 dollars a month, some hosting services will provide you with an endless amount of space, unlimited traffic and your own domain name. These paid services usually offer installations of PHP software (photo galleries, e-commerce, content management, ...) that can take you even further with a little bit of learning.

what hosting service do you use ?

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Selling specific art based on photos

As well as selling photos in digital format or as prints or posters, it is worth exploring a little further what you can do with your photos. Some websites have a very intuitive and user-friendly interface that will let you create greeting cards (see my lens "photo greeting cards" for more details), postcards, mugs, calendars, t-shirts and many more. Some of these websites let you create your own store (sometimes for a one-time fee) so you can sell your creations.

What products do you make from your photos ?

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share photos as e.cards

Here's another idea : make e.cards from your photos and let your visitors send them to friends or relatives. Not only a great photo is bound to please the recipient, but it's also a nice way to invite more people to visit your website and enjoy your photos. To make e.cards you can use ready made services or if you are a webmaster, you can install a software (open source or commercial). Some people like to have a paper card in their hands, other prefer electronic format for ecological reasons. Give your visitors the choice and offer both.

How often do you send e.cards ?

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Examples of what you can do

Below is a list of link that can inspire you to decide how you want to share your photos. Please feel free to contribute to this list by posting links to your photo galleries, sales website etc... Keep in mind that visitors coming from this page will not buy, as they will be looking for examples, comparing different options, and looking at the design.

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http://viaterra.net

Own photo website, self-designed. Paid hosting (sh more...0 points

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Paper Greeting Cards based on photos

example of photos sold as greeting cards0 points

Reader Feedback

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dlgbzh

I am a photographer who likes to share ideas, photos and travel stories. I also sell my photography as paper greeting cards, printed posters and licen... more »

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