Photo Sharing

One of the main reasons that we take photographs – no matter what type of photos they are – is to share them with others. A lot of times this audience may only consist of family and friends, but there are other instances when you catch that awesome shot and you want to share it with anyone who is willing to look at it.

Before digital cameras became so popular, it was a lot harder for hobbyists to share their photographs with a wide audience. Nowadays, with the advent of the Internet and affordable digital cameras, you can show off your photos to as many (or as few) people as you wish. But, what’s the best way to do this?

Getting Started with Photo Sharing

Before starting to explore various photo sharing options, it’s a good idea to think about exactly what you want to get out of the deal. There are a number of online communities that allow you to upload your digital photographs so that others can view them, and each of these communities has its own set of rules, features, and pricing structures.

In addition, there are many sites that offer things other than just basic photo sharing capabilities. Some of these sites also supply free online photo editors that you can use to modify your image before sharing – this can be a very attractive benefit if you have no photo editing software of your own. Still others offer even more flexibility and allow you to create online digital scrapbooks with your photos so that you can actually turn your collection of family vacation photos into a “story” that describes the whole trip.

Staying in Touch Using Photo Sharing

One of the great things about photo sharing is that it lets you keep up with the lives of friends and family, no matter how much distance separates you. Sure, you can always send emails and talk on the phone, but it’s still not quite the same thing as seeing each other. Sharing photos with loved ones is a great way to maintain a sense of closeness even if other matters prevent you from attending family get-togethers and visiting as much as you’d like.

Another advantage of online photo sharing sites is that they don’t just let people look at your photographs – most offer some format that people can use to discuss the pictures. It may just be a simple comment section for each photo or the site might offer blog integration. Either way, your photos can be a starting point for conversations in which the whole family can participate.

Things Everyone Should Know about Photo Sharing

Whenever you make your photos available for public viewing on the Internet, there’s always the chance that someone else may “borrow” them. This doesn’t bother everyone – in fact, some people are thrilled when others like their photographs enough to use them, no matter what the purpose is. However, if you don’t want your photographs used without your express written consent, make sure that your photo sharing site has mechanisms in place to discourage this and take your own precautions as well.

For example, on a “normal” web page, it’s fairly easy for someone to copy an image. Generally, all you have to do is right-click on the photo and you’ll be presented with an option to save that image to your hard drive. It is possible for web sites to disable this option, though. So, if you are really concerned about others stealing your photos, you can look for an online photo sharing site that does disable this feature, making it harder for people to access your property.

There are also some precautions that you can take from your side, no matter which photo sharing site you use. You can resize and adjust the resolution of your photo so that only a low quality image is available for public view and the better quality full image can only be seen in your private gallery. In addition, you can watermark your photos, making it less likely for people to borrow and repost them without your consent.

Despite this disadvantage, online photo sharing is a great way to show off your photographs and meet other people with similar interests. Even if you do decide to keep all of your photos private and only share them with close friends and family, using an online photo sharing site still has many advantages – and your overloaded email account will thank you.

For comparison between some of the best image editing software programs available, look to our TopTenREVIEWS Image Editing Software review site, which features reviews of top-rated programs Adobe Photoshop Elements, Corel Paint Shop Photo Pro and the Mac-only Pixelmator.