Photoshelter?

[david mcwilliams]

I’ve lurked a bit, but never said hello… so hello, I guess.

Now that thats over I have a question that I would appreciate ya’lls insight on:

Does anyone use photoshelter?  Experiencies?

In addition, aside from the obvious pros & cons of a “package” site (e.g. pro: little work to get it going; con: can’t really customize), how do consumers (be it editorial, commercial, or joe schmoe) percieve a cookie cutter site like photoshelter?

I appreciate the wealth of knowledge and diverse experiences presented here.  Thanks for your insights.

(I did not put this under the “website” board on purpose… if it needs to move feel free to do so)

[Steve K.]

I can’t help you with Photoshelter….but welcome to IA. I’m sure someone will come along shortly that can offer insight.

[Chad Simcox]

Welcome to IA.
As far as perception goes with cookie cutter sites, it’s hard to say since you’re talking about the way individuals see the site. Personally I don’t like the look of PhotoShelter’s pages. I was on their stock program but haven’t tried their personal archive.
Livebooks is cookie cutter but generally excepted as being a professional solution for websites, and widely used within the photography world for portfolio pages.

http://society6.com/grainfarmer Fly Fishing and Landscape open edition Photography prints.

http://grainfarmer.vsco.co/ iPhone photos
http://instagram.com/chad_simcox Instagram

[kendal larson]

I’ll echo the welcome, and then say after being burned by PS when they shut their doors on their stock site, I chose not to give them any more of my time – and money.

So, it’s been SmugMug for me – cheaper, and it’s very customizable, and while it doesn’t have the pricing tools that you’d want for your own stock site, it does provide good customization tools via the DGrin (Digital Grin) forum, and it’s much cheaper to start.

Depends on what you’re after in the end.

Just back from Montana here – with a sequence of photos of a big brown being yanked out of the Madison into a kayak that are just killer. Prepping to shop the story soon – it was an absolute GAS up there – I miss it already.

KL

[John Pavoncello]

I’ve been a Photoshelter user for several years and still think they are the best around for what they offer.
I started using Photoshelter after a external hard drive failure left me without thousands of images from a Colorado trip that I hadn’t had a chance to back up. Photoshelter has four storage sites in four different parts of the country so your images are as safe as they can be.
While on-line sales and stock aren’t the purpose for my having a PS account, I have made sales to several magazines and recently started creating galleries of client’s wedding photos. I also used their included templates to build a nice little website for myself. User customization is possible with CSS and if you already have a web site, you can insert the PS galleries into your site and take advantage of their lightboxes, shopping carts, etc.
Unlike Kendal, Photoshelter closing their stock program didn’t effect me at all, I made a sale or two through it, but it was a ton of work for Grover (one of the owners) and his staff and it just wasn’t producing.
If you have any other questions, PM me. Check out my site below.
http://pa.photoshelter.com/c/pavoncello

[david mcwilliams]

Thank ya’ll for the input, its appreciated

[kendal larson]

John – you’ll forgive, but I could give a rat’s patootee about Grover and the PS staff as it relates to it being a lot of work.

Photographers from all over the world bit into the idea that they were a legit company, funded properly, and had more than 8 months of life in them (that’s about how long they were live out of beta).

Both Grover and Allen sold the photographers that were part of PS Collection a bill of goods – and then didn’t have a business plan worth the paper it (may have been) printed on if all they could do was stay alive for 8 months. How can any sort of critical mass build up in that short period?

Anyway – yeah – I’m still irked when I think of all the work folks put into building the Photoshelter Collection, only to see poor management cause its premature demise.

KL

[John Pavoncello]

John – you’ll forgive, but I could give a rat’s patootee about Grover and the PS staff as it relates to it being a lot of work.

Photographers from all over the world bit into the idea that they were a legit company, funded properly, and had more than 8 months of life in them (that’s about how long they were live out of beta).

Both Grover and Allen sold the photographers that were part of PS Collection a bill of goods – and then didn’t have a business plan worth the paper it (may have been) printed on if all they could do was stay alive for 8 months. How can any sort of critical mass build up in that short period?

Anyway – yeah – I’m still irked when I think of all the work folks put into building the Photoshelter Collection, only to see poor management cause its premature demise.

KL

Wow,

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