Photoblogging websites

Share your photographs online. We test photoblogging websites

report by Kim Gilmour h Creating your own photoblog h Choosing the photoblog thats right for you h Best Buy photoblogs

In brief

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Inspiration
Need inspiration? With millions of photoblogs out there, youll be sure to find one to subscribe to or bookmark. CITY LIVING From August 2006 to August 2007, a French girl in Sydney posted an image every day of her new life Down Under at Sydney Daily Snap A (http:// sydneydailysnap. blogspot.com). Shes back home now, but her playful, serendipitous snaps of life in the city are worth a look. For more daily photoblogs check out B http://citydaily photo.com. Theres wit and whimsy in comedian Dave Gormans photos taken from around the globe at C www.flickr.com/ photos/dgbalances rocks. His unusual collections include posters and life interacting, and faces seen in everyday objects. PORTRAITS Jide Alakijas beautiful, predominantly black and white portraits at D http://alakija. shutterchance.com are taken in a photojournalistic style in natural light and surroundings. To see other portraits, check out www. flickr.com/groups/ selfportraits. LANDSCAPES Kenny Weng, the man behind Moodaholic E (www. moodaholic.com) is the winner of numerous photoblog awards. The site showcases some truly epic, cinematic photography. RANDOM FINDS For inspiration on the latest and greatest photoblogs, see Flickrs photos from the last 7 days at www.flickr.com/ explore/interesting, or www.photo blogs.org for the most active blogs.

very picture tells a story but to what audience? A photoblog is an easy way to show people how you capture the world around you. Its also a way to join online communities of people who share your interest in photography. Weve tested free, photoblog services that provide web space for your images.We think a good photoblog should allow you to easily upload and manage your photographs. It should also display your photographs without distractions from adverts, allowing your personality to shine through. We signed up to the basic, free photoblog services on offer from eight popular websites (see How we test). We found two sites, Flickr and Shutterchance, that gain Best Buy status for their ease of use and great performance. Photoblogs are the photographic equivalent of weblogs (online journals, on which readers can comment). These types of photoblog are the easiest to set up. Youll get your own web address, and the ability to create entries, or posts, that link to your chosen photo, or photos. Youll also have the chance to join a number of active communities where you can get to know other members by commenting on each others photoblogs.

RESTRICTIONS

Before signing up for a photoblog you should consider how many photographs youll want to post in a day. The number
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Beginners guide
Thinking of starting up a photoblog? Here are some common questions Whats a photoblog? Youve probably heard of a blog a regularly updated online journal. A photoblog is a photographic extension of that - the difference being that the entries focus on photos, not words. A good photoblog will have a running theme, even if its just showing images of daily life. content on their own computers) so you dont need any technical knowledge to set one up. Once youve created an online account, youll need to set up its parameters (such as whether to allow comments from registered users of the site). Then, you can begin uploading images to the website. The way the setup process works will differ depending on Why would I the host and whether or want a photoblog? not you are on a basic or You could be a paid-for package (weve keen amateur only assessed the free photographer who wants versions, here). You can to display their art; a manage the images by beginner who would like giving them key words constructive feedback or (tags) and keeping an someone with far-flung eye on the comments relatives who wants to from other visitors. maintain a private blog Why cant I just to share family snaps. use my regular How do blog to post photos? they work? You can, and many The photoblog people do; this is sites weve tested just another type of all specialise in hosting photoblog. If youre your images (storing familiar with sites such as website Blogger (www.blogger.com) or the site Wordpress (www.wordpress.com) then you may be more comfortable using one of these tools instead. But, websites that specialise in photos may appeal if you just want to post images. Uploading images is more straightforward on photoblog sites. Photos are often displayed in a larger format and you can tag images so theyre easier to search. Best of all, youll be joining a vibrant community of likeminded photographers who share and comment on each others images. If you already have your own webspace, you can install a photoblog with the help of software such as Folderblog (www.folderblog.org) or Pixelpost (www. pixelpost.org).

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What is EXIF data, and how do I use it? All photos taken with digital cameras will contain EXIF or An example of EXIF data Exchangeable Image from a digital camera File Format data (see Whats an right). This data includes RSS feed? technical information Many regularly about the image updated websites, including the type of such as blogs and news camera used, exposure sites, feature RSS (Really and shutter settings, Simple Syndication) the date it was taken feeds. Rather than visit and so on. This data will help you to organise each of these websites individually to see whats your images. new, you can subscribe How do I tell people to their feeds, using a about my blog? news or feed reader. Many photoblog Readers let you browse websites include all your subscriptions links that allow you latest updates at a to send your page, glance, from one place. or an entrys address, Can I use phototo friends. Your images blogs to back up should also be my photos? searchable on the Its tempting, but photoblog hosts not a good idea. directory, too. The original, full-size Commenting on other image is not always peoples blogs and stored often its just a linking back to yours, also generates lots more web-only version, or there are file size upload limits. visitors to your site.

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of photographs you can submit varies from service to service, and each one has its own quirks. Blipfoto(www.blipfoto.com) wants its members to use its site as a daily online journal. This means it closely monitors your posts, limits when you can post, and only allows one photograph per day providing you took the image that day. On one occasion, the moderator asked why our photo didnt match the date of posting. Our response didnt pass the test. Fotolog (www.fotolog.com) is also a one photo-per-day site. After you upload your image, youre only allowed thirty minutes to edit the caption or delete it and re-upload another. Best Buy Shutterchance (www.shutter chance.com) lets you post one image
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every time you create a post, or entry. Photoblog (www.photoblog.com) limits contributions to one entry per day, but you can feature 20 images per entry. Best Buy Flickr (www.flickr.com) has a 100MB limit per calendar month, unless you upgrade. It excels in organising and sharing images, but you cant change the colour scheme of its site. We also tested Aminus3 (pronounced A minus 3; www.aminus3.com), which is purposely designed in an attractive, minimalist manner but this is at the expense of usability. Fotothing (www.foto thing.com) meanwhile, has a more traditional look-and-feel. Its cluttered with advertisements, but it appears to have a decent forum of users. Fotopages

Flickr excels in organising and sharing images

(www.fotopages.com) also has a good number of users. Its an international site that allows you to browse by country it seems to have 50,000 accounts in Malaysia compared with just 2,600 for the UK. It does look dated for a photoblogging site and is more of a photo album than a place to share your thoughts.

GETTING STARTED

Blipfoto lets you display a rolling journal of your daily life. Its a sweet idea but some may find it frustrating and inflexible. Signing up to Blipfoto isnt instant; it took several hours before someone took a look at our application and approved it. Most of the photoblog services are simple to get to grips with, but there were
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occasional warnings from Blipfoto and Aminus3 that our files were too big. Photoblog.com has a friendly, welcoming tone throughout and an easily accessible sidebar with large text outlining all major categories. As soon as you upload images, its straightforward to add captions, rearrange them in order of preference and allow visitors to view larger versions of images. Shutterchance adopts a simple approach to photoblogging. We particularly liked the fact you can click on help buttons in the preferences section to read clear explanations about what everything means, such as whether to display your online status or images youve flagged as a favourite. Our top performer Flickr, is quick to sign up to and use, too but its a powerful tool, so you may have to dig around a bit to explore whats on offer. For example, you might know that you can choose to only allow friends and family to see images, but not realise there are also advanced settings that can limit who can comment on them. You can create an easy-to-remember web address for your blog, but this is different to your Flickr ID and the name you use to log in, which is confusing.

Blipfotos grey background may not suit everyone

SHOWING OFF YOUR SNAPS

Your photoblog service may be easy to use, but the end result has to be pleasing to the eye. Unfortunately the photoblog services we tested limit the way you can customise the design of your website, and some could do a better job of displaying images. A good photoblog displays images in a simple manner; bringing attention to the

photo, not the look of the site. Hence, we marked sites down if they displayed too many intrusive advertisements, or were difficult to navigate. Flickr is a handy site, but it doesnt allow you to display larger versions of your images on screen so visitors could miss minute details. And only paid-for Pro members let people see full-sized images. For showing off your images, our Best Buy Shutterchance (www.shutterchance. com) is ideal. You can only post one image per entry and there arent many ways you can customise the look of your blog, but you can post as many entries as you like as long as images are at least 700 pixels long or tall. For a snazzy site with bells and whistles such as your own customised banner, background image or sidebars full of external links youre better off creating your own website or using blogging software (see Beginners guide p45). Blipfoto.com has a rather sad-looking grey background, which may not appeal to everyone. Fotothings orange theme

BEST BUY

BEST BUY

MANAGING YOUR MEDIA

Photoblogs are living websites after you upload images and create entries, visitors can comment on them and regular fans will eagerly await your next instalments. So its crucial to interact with visitors, cull inappropriate comments if necessary and ensure your entry is appealing. Most services let you add tags (key words) and categories to your images to make them easy for others to search for, or send links to an image or main photoblog to friends. Photoblog.com has a small envelope icon that lets you send the web address to a friend; and Shutterchance lets you send images as an ecard. Thankfully, the services we examined provide decent, accessible organisation and management tools, albeit some more limited than others. Fotolog doesnt let you edit images more than 30 minutes after youve uploaded them, for example. Photoblog.com makes it harder to manage the images once theyre online as you sometimes have to jump around different sections. For example, if youre editing an entry and want to create a category for it you have to leave the entry to create a new category. In contrast, Best Buy Shutterchance lets you do this from within the entry.
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Flickr
Top performer for beginners and seasoned users alike
WE LIKE Its easy to tag (label) and organise images. You can easily display your images in different sets or your photostream the main repository for your images. WE DONT LIKE Basic account only shows last 200 photos unless you pay to upgrade; a little difficult to find your way around whats on offer; default display only shows small versions of images VERDICT An established photo site that has a large community of dedicated users. Website www.flickr.com Ease of use wwwww

Shutterchance
Great for keen amateurs
WE LIKE Simple to create entries; huge version of photo displayed to show off your snaps WE DONT LIKE Couldnt monitor how well our upload was going. Limited to one photo per entry and cant customise look and feel very much. VERDICT Shutterchance would suit anyone who is into creating and sharing good photography. Despite a few limitations, it offers a generous, free service. Its website has a clean design which means visitors can focus on your photos. Website www.shutterchance.com Ease of use wwww

OVERALL SCORE 83%

OVERALL SCORE 74%

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ON TEST PHOTOBLOGGING WEBSITES

looks bright and happy, but its site is blighted by advertisements. Similarly, Fotopages had intrusive banner ads. We liked Shutterchance and Aminus3 for their crisp, minimalist approach to web design that lets visitors focus on the photos, not the surrounding stuff (although this made Aminus3 a little harder to use, visitors probably wont be put off). Flickr also looked good but you cant choose background colours or change fonts; every page is laid out in a very similar manner although you can file your photos away into different sets for easy browsing. worked brilliantly and we think the other sites should adopt it, too. Red-eye removal was a breeze and colour and exposure adjustment was intuitively tweaked by using a simple sliding scale. All of the blogs support RSS (see Beginners guide), and all have a counter showing how many visitors have seen each of your photos (apart from Fotolog, which only offers this as a paid-for service). Some, like Shutterchance, even allow you to embed a Google Analytics code into your website (a more sophisticated and detailed way of seeing whos visiting your site).

VERSATILITY

Many of the services allow you to update photoblogs via an email address unique to your account. This is handy if you take a photo with your mobile phone and cant wait to share it with your friends on your blog. With many phones sporting wireless or mobile broadband capabilities, its easy just to take a snap with your phone and attach it to an email and soon it should appear on your site. Weve listed the sites that support email updates in the table. Flickr used a tool called Picnik that allows you to edit your images online this

VERDICT

Flickrs the best all-rounder and would suit beginners as well as pros, with its fine emphasis on sharing, displaying and organising your images. Our other Best Buy is Shutterchance, which is clearly dedicated to displaying good photography and nurturing a friendly photoblogging community. The other sites are still worth a look, particularly Photoblog.com for its simple and welcoming approach, and the quirky onea-day Blipfoto.com. And when youve established your photoblog, please tell us about it!

Aminus3 has an attractive minimalist approach

How we test
We create a real photoblog on each website with a selection of test images. We rate ease of signing and setting up, uploading, organising, sharing and managing images. We then rate how well the photoblog looks across browsers, its aesthetic appeal and its search tools. Finally, a versatility score is applied by assessing the features on offer.

Paid upgrade option

Number of views

Large version

Email uploads

Upload limits for basic accounts

Performance

Ease of use

Versatility

Photoblogs
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PICTURE TAKEN FROM AMIN US3 WEBSITE HTTP://PUTTER. AMIN US3 . COM

FLICKR www.flickr.com SHUTTERCHANCE www.shutterchance.com PHOTOBLOG.COM www.photoblog.com FOTOLOG www.fotolog.com BLIPFOTO www.blipfoto.com AMINUS3 www.aminus3.com FOTOPAGES www.fotopages.com FOTOTHING www.fotothing.com

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100MB per month; last 200 images displayed 1 photo per entry 1 entry per day 20 photos per entry 1 photo a day 1 photo a day 1 photo per entry None 5 photos a day

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83% 74% 68% 61% 60% 59% 52% 49%

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USING THE TABLE Number of views Site includes a counter to show you how many views your photo pages have had Paid upgrade option Whether the site offers a paid-for premium service www.which.co.uk

Large version Whether the sites basic account displays large images or allows people to view larger versions of your images Email uploads Facility to email your photos to your blog

Ease of use How easy it is to register and set up your photoblog and ease of uploading, organising, sharing and managing your photographs Performance How well the site functions at performing key tasks,

Versatility Range of additional features available such as facility to make the blog private and the presence of editing tools Overall score Ease of use 40%; Performance 30%; Versatility 30% September 2008 47

Score