by Andrew Gibson

Created on: October 09, 2008

Four Cool Photo Sharing Sites For Photographers

Nearly everybody has heard of Flickr, but what other photo sharing sites are there specifically aimed at photographers? Here I look at four and examine their good and bad points, taking into consideration ease of use, design, the quality of the photography, social networking aspects, cost, promotional potential and additional photography resources.

Onexposure

Onexposure is run by two Swedish advanced amateur photographers. Membership is completely free and the standard of photography on the site is extremely high. The operators of the site have come up with a simple system of ensuring the high standard of photography. Before a user can display a photo on the site, it is screened to see if the photo comes up to the required standard. If they aren't sure, they will post it for a day on the site and ask members to vote. The number of photos a member can upload is dependent on on their acceptance rate, the more photos that are accepted the more one can post.

This is a great idea for ensuring the quality of the photos on the site, and means that visitors can enjoy browsing the photos without having to sift through poor quality work. There's a wide variety of work to see, organised in categories such as Abstract, Landscape, Fine Art Nude, Portrait and Urban.

As a user however, I found the submission process a little frustrating. My first two photos were accepted, and the second two rejected. In light of the time spent choosing and preparing the photos to upload, I was asking myself the question Why did I bother?' But if you like a challenge, it's a good feeling to see your photos displayed alongside the work of some very accomplished photographers.

The site is very easy to navigate and use, and is very well designed, displaying the photos against a black background, with minimal distraction. The social networking element is emphasised, members are encouraged to comment (with appreciation or gently constructive criticism) on photos that they like and to reply to any comments they receive. All members have a profile, with a link to their website if they have one, and as a promotional tool, it's an excellent way to bring visitors to your website as long as you make the effort to post photos regularly.

The emphasis of the site is on the photographs, with a forum being the only additional photography resource.

Verdict: An excellent site for browsing extremely high quality photography with links to the photographers websites. Free

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