Is flickr pro worth it?

[GeorgeStorm]

As above really, this has stemmed from the beginnings of a conversation in the photo a day thread.

I've just made a flickr account, and since I've been uploading pngs rather than jpegs, my photos don't have all the exif data, and so I would like to replace them, but with the free account, I'd have to delete them all and reupload, loving favourites, views etc.

So I have the possible option of upgrading to the pro account, which isn't a lot if I pay for a year/2 years in one go.
However if I'm looking to get more serious about uploading etc, wondering whether anyone would recommend a different service? Such as 500px.

Would people say stick with flickr and upgrade to pro? Or do something entirely different?

[g8ina]

I upgraded, and Ive never hit any upload limits, whereas before I was limited every single omnth.

[GeorgeStorm]

And so do you guys always upload full res images to flickr? And do you tend to upload lots of images? And use it as kind of an online backup?

[g8ina]

yes to all three

BUT make sure you only keep the originals for yourself only to download, otherwise they'll be nicking your stuff.

[rox0r]

Give your new hobby a good six months to mature and see if the expenditure is worth it to you. If you're still as enthusiastic about the 5000th shot as you were the first, game on.

[GeorgeStorm]

Fair enough, that's what I'll most likely do.

[g8ina]

Its only 24 US$ (£15-77 by my Flickr acc page) to go Pro. What loss ?

Unless yer a real tight bum

[Saracen]

....

Would people say stick with flickr and upgrade to pro? Or do something entirely different?

Well, personally, I'm not interested in just sharing my photos on the net, so I wouldn't be uploading them to Flickr in the first place.

Second, I'm not impressed by the T&Cs so I wouldn't ber taking out even a free account, even if I did want to share.

Personally (and your mileage may vary) if I wanted to share images, I'd be looking for a small and cost-effective hosting account, and then I'd be looking to install one of the variety of "gallery" packages that are explicitly designed for photo sharing, but where I retained complete control over the domain name used, and the use of the server space, and the structure and appearance of the gallery. There are, to my mind, far more elegant ways to display images, and a service like Flickr isn't the way I'd choose to go at all, but exactly what you do depends on what the objective is ... including whether you just want a quick and easy method, or whether you have an idea to monetise your images, even if that's in the future and not quite yet.

So .... and I the stress personally .... I'd do "something entirely different".

....

Unless yer a real tight bum

Well, guilty on that, too.

[GeorgeStorm]

I'm not interested in sharing all of my photos online, but I'd like to share some, both for feedback/criticism, and so hopefully people can enjoy them, since if no one sees them, then what's the point of taking them? (not completely true obviously as I would still be able to enjoy them )

I'm happy to put some effort in if I would end up with a better implementation. I just made a flickr account since that seems to be the most popular amongst people I've talked to about getting my DSLR etc.
And I wouldn't mind monetising my images in the future, would be great if it meant to could put more time/money into photography as a result

[gss03]

For $25 a year is is a cheap DR solution, plus with the Pro account you can upload full high res photos which I don't think you can with the free account.

With integration within Aperture/ Lightroom it makes it dead easy to bump your photos up to Flickr once they off your camera.

[Saracen]

....

And I wouldn't mind monetising my images in the future, would be great if it meant to could put more time/money into photography as a result

Exactamently.

Check out what stock photo services say in their T&Cs about works being "published" elsewhere. It varies, but you don't want to preclude being able to market images (if that's what you have in mind) by "sharing" them for nothing.

As I said, a lot depends on your objectives.

[Bobster]

Google+

[GeorgeStorm]

What are the benefits of Google+?

[Bobster]

What are the benefits of Google+?

free, unlimited photo storage - 2048 longest edge

[GeorgeStorm]

Mm, never really used Google+ for photos, don't use it at all really, don't see the point.
But may look into it.

[g8ina]

redbubble is another option, its all free and it protects yer images with a transparent gif so no-one can rt clk and download yer images. They also print for sale for you, although you dont get much.

Of course, Saracen is right in that if you want total control, then hosting them yourself is the only sensible way to go.