Photography and online storage: Advice sought

morstar
morstar Posts: 6,190
edited July 2013 in The cake stop
Seeking some opinions on photography sites and ease of use / picture transfer from the broad range of expertise existing with BR Forumgoers please.

My 10 year old daughter is getting a new bridge camera this week as she is showing a keen interest and a hint of ability in photography. This is clearly not gained from her father (me) so I am seeking opinions from more experienced users regarding photo sites (not really hardware beyond peripherals).

I currently use Flickr for my phone camera snaps which upload automatically, thus avoiding all the faff of sitting at a computer for endless hours transferring files. This works perfectly for my needs but isn't going to work for my daughter for the following reasons.

Firstly, Flickr won't give her an account with her being under 13 and the site considering itself to be social media rather than photography. Secondly because her camera won't have in built wi-fi.

Question 1, What do people believe to be the best online photo storage site and briefly, why. Also, is age an issue (that you are aware of!)?

Question 2, Do people have any experience of the wi-fi enabled SD cards that are available? Do they work and are they better with specific photo sites?

Thanks in advance. Always feel a bit cheeky asking but I know there are many who love sharing their knowledge.

Guy

Comments

  • ktaylor
    ktaylor Posts: 58
    I can recommend Smugmug. It has various different levels of subscription. Even to the point of using the site to sell photos. Photos are kept at their native resolution. The storage is unlimited and it will even allow you to upload 20 minutes HD videos. You can customise your page into a website which can look professional.
  • daviesee
    daviesee Posts: 6,386
    If she is showing an interest in photography rather than snaps then she will want to get into post processing.
    To do this with ease using files of any large size you are going to want it on the computer, or peripheral IMHO.
    I just can't bring myself to store everything in the Cloud (or whatever) as I am a bit wary and my broadband speed is far from the best. Plus getting a signal can be near impossible in some locations.
    I use my computer and peripherals for processing and backing up.
    I use the Cloud for sharing processed, smaller files.

    Maybe not the answer to your question :oops: but that's my method.
    None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.
  • Robert72
    Robert72 Posts: 84
    Dont rely on any internet storage. Any of the online printing sites will give you storage, like smugmug. The problem is the internet, it's just not reliable. Much better to use external drives to back everything up that way you will always have the original files. Also you could write all the files onto good quality dvd's and keep them in a safe place. I'm a photographer and thats the way I do it. Dvd's will degrade over time so keep them safe.
  • clickrumble
    clickrumble Posts: 304
    If you are into serious photography then you will need to be handling large files for post processing and these are best kept on a PC (buy some additional HD storage). Once finished on working the photo you can upload to on line storage or display but the quality won't be good enough for large prints, unless you don't mind waiting for large files to upload and download.
  • morstar
    morstar Posts: 6,190
    Hmmm, thanks guys. Why are you all suggesting local storage? I suspect you're probably right but you're not giving me the answer I want to hear.

    Going with that advice however, most certainly not buying a new system any time soon, but is a Mac better for primarily image work or is a PC perfectly acceptable?
  • daviesee
    daviesee Posts: 6,386
    morstar wrote:
    Hmmm, thanks guys. Why are you all suggesting local storage? I suspect you're probably right but you're not giving me the answer I want to hear.

    Going with that advice however, most certainly not buying a new system any time soon, but is a Mac better for primarily image work or is a PC perfectly acceptable?
    The answer you want to hear is maybe not the correct one. :wink:

    Moving on.....

    A PC is perfectly acceptable (although I prefer Mac) but you have just opened a huge can of worms......

    I'd advise donning a hard hat. :wink:
    None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.
  • morstar
    morstar Posts: 6,190
    daviesee wrote:
    morstar wrote:
    Hmmm, thanks guys. Why are you all suggesting local storage? I suspect you're probably right but you're not giving me the answer I want to hear.

    Going with that advice however, most certainly not buying a new system any time soon, but is a Mac better for primarily image work or is a PC perfectly acceptable?
    The answer you want to hear is maybe not the correct one. :wink:

    Moving on.....

    A PC is perfectly acceptable (although I prefer Mac) but you have just opened a huge can of worms......

    I'd advise donning a hard hat. :wink:

    Don't I know it! It's the computing worlds doping thread. I was hoping the significance of that comment would fly under the radar and be taken at face value specifcally in context of photography. Yay me, I sound like a naive and optimistic teenager!

    I don't have a hard hat, will a foil one suffice??

    Will ahve a look at this smugmug though with it having two mentions. Thanks for that suggestion to those above.
  • Doctor House
    Doctor House Posts: 78
    morstar wrote:
    Going with that advice however, most certainly not buying a new system any time soon, but is a Mac better for primarily image work or is a PC perfectly acceptable?

    Oooh, contentious - I think a lot depends on what you need it to be compatible with. If you currently use microsoft software and have a lot of files based around windows, or if you use a pc at work and sometimes do a bit of home work, then stick with a pc. Loads of very accomplished photographers use a pc - they are more than adequate for image manipulation.
  • chrisaonabike
    chrisaonabike Posts: 1,914
    morstar wrote:
    is a Mac better for primarily image work or is a PC perfectly acceptable?
    Gawd, now you've done it...
    Is the gorilla tired yet?
  • Hoopdriver
    Hoopdriver Posts: 2,023
    I agree with the others that cloud storage is a bad idea. Keep the images on your computer (and back them up to external drives as well if they are important to you) your daughter, if she gets into photography will want to get into post processing as well (I recommend Lightroom)

    I use Mac myself, as do most pros, but for what you are doing you will find PC perfectly acceptable
    http://www.My-Bicycle-and-I.com
  • Snuddi
    Snuddi Posts: 2
    Well my first post here as I am fairly new to cycling....but I have been photographying for years.

    I don't agree to most of the comments here to keep your backup local and that online backup is a bed idea. What if ther is a break in, fire or something like that, all your data is lost.

    I have triple system that I use, I have all my photos localy on 8x1TB Raid10 array and then I have all photos (and more) backed up to Crashplan.com and that happens automaticly in the background when photos are added, then I put the photos I want to sell on SmugMug. I can upload orginal size to SmugMug and ther is no compressin when custumers buy photos there in orginal size. SmugMug also offers professional printing and much more.

    www.crashplan.com is unlimited storage for around 50$ a year.

    Local storage, no matter if it is on multi HDD or DVD is allways a risk in my honest opinion.

    just my 2cent.
  • daviesee
    daviesee Posts: 6,386
    Snuddi wrote:
    I don't agree to most of the comments here to keep your backup local and that online backup is a bed idea. What if ther is a break in, fire or something like that, all your data is lost.
    Simple answer - dual back up. One set at home for convenience. One set at the office just in case.
    As I said earlier, Cloud access isn't 100% available for all the people all the time. For example, I was trying to download a movie to watch at the weekend. As it was taking forever I checked my available speed - 1.5Mb/sec. And that is the fastest option in my area. :( Although it is traffic dependent, up to a whopping 4.5Mb! :shock:
    None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.
  • pinkteapot
    pinkteapot Posts: 367
    We have a PC and run Photoshop Elements for post-processing and it works just fine. Never felt the need to go Mac. Full Photoshop is brutally expensive - Elements does everything that the amateur photographer could want and I've hugely improved some shots with it. Photoshop also brought out software called Lightbox - not sure whether that or Elements is meant to be better these days.

    All Photoshop products will run on PC or Mac.

    All of our photos are on our PC at home, backed up periodically to both an external hard drive and DVDs. Never thought to keep the DVDs at work - I should do that! Some of our most precious shots are in our Dropbox for a further backup.

    I would never store anything solely in the cloud. I'd use cloud for a backup of local, but never as my only means of storage. What if the cloud company goes bust?

    If she moves up from a bridge to a full DSLR the file sizes for the images will be huge, and uploading them to the cloud would take AGES!
  • TCR4x4
    TCR4x4 Posts: 38
    Semi pro phototog for 10 years here.

    I still use flickr as a bulk dump ground for almost all my images. It really doesn't take that long to upload large files.

    I use a Nikon d700 which can pump out some pretty hefty file sizes, once converted to full size jpgs, you are talking maybe 10mb maximum though.

    I also have my own website with storage which holds all my "best" images and then for local backups I have a mix of 5 internal and external hard disks which auto backup everyday, a dual drive NAS system and also I use a cloud service called carbonite which uploads continuously. I also make a backup every month or so which i then take offsite.

    Carbonite Saved my bacon when my main drive went a few months ago.. Just bought a new drive then redownloaded an exact copy image of the old drive and back to normal within a few hours.

    If you want a more upmarket flickr, then look into 500px, but tbh, flickr is absolutely fine... And free!
  • Hoopdriver
    Hoopdriver Posts: 2,023
    pinkteapot wrote:
    We have a PC and run Photoshop Elements for post-processing and it works just fine. Never felt the need to go Mac. Full Photoshop is brutally expensive - Elements does everything that the amateur photographer could want and I've hugely improved some shots with it. Photoshop also brought out software called Lightbox - not sure whether that or Elements is meant to be better these days.

    All Photoshop products will run on PC or Mac.

    All of our photos are on our PC at home, backed up periodically to both an external hard drive and DVDs. Never thought to keep the DVDs at work - I should do that! Some of our most precious shots are in our Dropbox for a further backup.

    I would never store anything solely in the cloud. I'd use cloud for a backup of local, but never as my only means of storage. What if the cloud company goes bust?

    If she moves up from a bridge to a full DSLR the file sizes for the images will be huge, and uploading them to the cloud would take AGES!
    It's called Lightroom, not Lightbox and yes, it is much better than elements. Most pros use it.
    http://www.My-Bicycle-and-I.com
  • me-109
    me-109 Posts: 1,915
    Dropbox
    Photobucket
    ISPs often provide some storage for free or chargeable
    Could even look at domain registering and hosting to see how that cost compares.


    Save to pc, backup locally (external HD) and online for sharing and disaster recovery.
  • morstar
    morstar Posts: 6,190
    Thanks for replies folks. I think my own preferences cloud my judgement of faffing about with pics on a PC (other platforms are available).

    Personally, I just want my pics seamlessly into the cloud without minimal effort as they are just snapshots and do still exist on the memory card in the event of on-line problems. If my daughter does develop photography as a hobby, I guess part of the fun is the actual playing about with them on a computer after the event.

    Has taken me a while to make that mental jump. Obviously a bit slow at the moment.
  • daviesee
    daviesee Posts: 6,386
    morstar wrote:
    Has taken me a while to make that mental jump. Obviously a bit slow at the moment.
    Mental jump -
    Photos (snaps) are available on multiple platforms.
    Photography post processing has to be done on a computer. Or dark room for old skool. :wink:

    Snaps - photography = Cycling to mates - Etape Du Tour. You need better and/or more equipment and more importantly, enthusiasm and commitment.

    Horses for courses. :wink:
    None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.
  • chris@68
    chris@68 Posts: 22
    Pro tog here.
    I currently have a 1tb drive on my desk at work. That backs up everything via Timemachine (built in backup system on my macbook). I have a 4TB Drobo system on my desk at home, doing the same thing.
    Personally I cannot wait for my village to go 'cable' for 'tinterweb as I'll then be able to add Cloud storage as a 3rd option.... Currently, things like streaming movies are but a pipe dream - heck - if we need to I-player something we have to download it overnight.

    Whichever way you go, try to get your daughter into the habit of being decisive with her selection of and, saving of, favourites and delete the rest... nothing worse than a drive chock full of stuff you can no longer be bothered to wade through.
    Scott Cr1 Pro
    Cove Handjob
  • springtide9
    springtide9 Posts: 1,731
    Another + for Crashplan.

    I use this for backing up my PC locally as well as remotely. I have a friend who has a similar requirement, so washplane just backup to each other rather than the cloud.

    Crashplan gives you the option(s) to:
    - Backup locally
    - Backup to a friends computer securely over the internet
    - Backup to Crashplan's Cloud securely over the internet
    Simon

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