DPChallenge: A Digital Photography Contest You are not logged in. (log in or register
 

DPChallenge Forums >> Business of Photography >> zenfolio or smugmug
Pages:  
Showing posts 1 - 19 of 19, (reverse)
AuthorThread
08/20/2008 04:06:19 AM · #1
Hi,
I've been looking at both these sites lately and tryin gto decide which to go with. First off, a bit of info on me. I am an American that lives in a small comunity in Germany. I work for the US government here but will be staying for quite awhile. I love shooting events (sports, local concerts, fests, not up to weddings yet). I would like to start making a bit of extra cash on the side to try to afford more gear, you know how that is when you are on a tight budget. Anyway, I need a site where I can send people to to view photos and request prints. I need to be able to have it in both German and English (menus, price lists, ect). Right now I am sending people to a flickr account but that seems so unprofessional. //www.flickr.com/photos/double-d-photography/ If I get either a zenfolio or smugmug account it will be the middle of the road one. Please give me any advice you have on either or even other options.

Thanks
08/20/2008 04:48:12 AM · #2
long time smugmug user here. (My Site I've never heard of zenfolio but I looked at the overview of it's features.

Smuggy, already has many of the features Zen is claiming will come soon, like customizing themes
Zen has coupons (smuggy says it's coming soon.)

I'd say 6 of one, half a dozen of the other. I don't know how long Zen has been in business. Smuggy has been around a while

edit to add: Zen is cheaper, but Smuggy is totally customizable, even able to have slideshows..... not just logo swapping

Message edited by author 2008-08-20 04:49:27.
08/20/2008 05:19:32 AM · #3
Nice site. Seems like you have the pro account. Not sure if that one would be worth it for me.....yet.
08/20/2008 07:12:38 AM · #4
www.hjalti.se/photos

This is a ZenPhoto site that I threw up in 1 day :)

//www.surpasshosting.com/ + zenphoto for the win :)

Message edited by author 2008-08-20 07:13:17.
08/20/2008 09:28:53 AM · #5
Thanks for the info Bolti. Nice site.
08/20/2008 09:38:17 AM · #6
I think you have more customizing potential with smuggy, but that's just me. Here's my smuggy site: //www.penrodstudios.com
08/20/2008 09:39:00 AM · #7
hi I am longtime smuggy user here been using smugmug for a longtime, love all the customizing they give you... here is my website //www.lamontphotography.com

my website //www.lamontphotography.com I did alot of customizing and made it look as clean as I could... I also like smugmugs forum dgrin.com lots of info and help they give you along with sharing photos and photo contest and gtg's they have

Cant wait until they have the coupons that are coming soon...
08/20/2008 10:00:58 AM · #8
Out of curiosity, what smugmug level are you guys using?
08/20/2008 10:25:02 AM · #9
That's what I would like to know also because right now I could only afford the power account with them.

Message edited by author 2008-08-20 10:25:15.
08/20/2008 10:26:35 AM · #10
Originally posted by Trumpeteer4:

Out of curiosity, what smugmug level are you guys using?


I am using the pro level.....

if you sign up here is my Referral code gRqDsQdX03m9M should save you a few bucks

Message edited by author 2008-08-20 10:37:24.
08/20/2008 10:35:00 AM · #11
Like you, I explored Zenfolio, Flickr, and SmugMug. I also had a PBase account for a while. In the end, I went with SmugMug because it's the following:

1. Well-established
2. Highly customizable
3. Supportive Technical Group (www.dgrin.com)
4. Easy to publish the public portfolio and protect the collections that are specific to just your family and/or clients.

I found Zenfolio a little cumbersome to use so I ended up with the the middle account for SmugMug.

Just my two cents...Good Luck!
08/20/2008 10:52:57 AM · #12
Thanks Alot for all the posts.
08/20/2008 04:09:27 PM · #13
150 bux a year is DIRT CHEAP! Pricey at the moment you buy it but DIRT CHEAP if it helps you sell. 6 - 25.00 images & it's paid for. Just the custom watermark alone is worth that for me and then the fact that they take ALL kinds of credit cards, that's several accounts I don't have to deal with. They also do customer service if needed and will email you if your assistance is necessary as well. So nice not to have to deal with those phone calls and emails. Not to mention the ability to auto delay printing. I can put up proofs, then the client orders and I have 7 days to put up a fully processed image before it ships. Saves tons of time and I don't have to process every single image.... only those that are sold.

Before Smugmug, I used to do it all myself, I had a web designer that loaded all my images, I took orders through Paypal, I printed, packaged and shipped everything. Now I'm happy to let most of that go and go back to being a photographer instead of a shipping agent. So, whatever service you choose, those are some of the benefits. I've not used anyone but SmugMug so I can't compare places very well.

Most of my customizing was cut n paste a code. But you can do way more than my meager changes.

for those who asked, I use the Pro level of SmugMug.

Originally posted by david1707:

Nice site. Seems like you have the pro account. Not sure if that one would be worth it for me.....yet.


Message edited by author 2008-08-20 16:10:20.
08/21/2008 03:28:28 AM · #14
Ristyz,
thanks alot for all the info. It helps alot. The only problem I forsee is that I live in Germany and deal with Germans also. Not sure if they can order prints through smug. Any idea if the site can be customized to have the menus in 2 languages?
09/14/2008 09:35:18 AM · #15
I'm not sure if you are still monitoring this thread David, but Zenfolio just made some updates to their site. I also don't know if they found a printing partner in europe yet, but the overall presentation on the site is looking more polished.
09/15/2008 10:37:38 AM · #16
Thanks Nusbaum (or should I say nut tree?). I still do monitor it.
09/24/2008 09:34:54 AM · #17
I finally did it. Looks like I will go with smugmug. I am in the 14 day trial right now but it looks like I will get the pro account. Thanks to everyone who posted on here, it was a big help. You can see what I have so far at //www.ddphotography.org
09/24/2008 09:42:23 AM · #18
hey welcome to smugmug....no problems with them at all....so I checked out your site and nice photos so far but you may want to turn off the smugmug option where you can save or download your photos. Not sure if this bothers you but people will have the option to download your orginals by turning this off they cant download any of your images.
09/24/2008 10:24:40 AM · #19
Ugh, thought I checked that. Must have done it to only one gallery. Thanks.
Pages:  
Current Server Time: 03/28/2024 07:43:10 PM

Please log in or register to post to the forums.


Home - Challenges - Community - League - Photos - Cameras - Lenses - Learn - Prints! - Help - Terms of Use - Privacy - Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2024 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 03/28/2024 07:43:10 PM EDT.