How to create a simple photosite?

[sezam]

I want to develop my personal photosite. Could anybody give me an advice or a recommendation?

Now I have most of my photos at Flickr, and I like it. But I want to have something more personal, with my webdesign, a few static pages, blog, etc... I've contacted a few web-programmers and it seems this is expensive and long job. But I'm not a top-class professional to pay thousands of dollars.

On the other hand I found two service providers:
- www.albolio.com
- www.pullfolio.com
Both are very cheap and can create a personal photosite based on my Flickr account.
Have anybody used these services? What are pros and cons?

Is there another alternative?

[GB1]

I understand the dilemma; we all want the ideal blend of personalization and ease of construction/low cost. I also considered this when creating a personal account and finally did it myself, even though I'm not really a web programmer.

An important thing to consider if how easy it will be to maintain: can you easily add new photos/blog entries, etc at any time? I'm assuming yes, but better confirm. I used a flash thingie, but Flash isn't available on Apple handheld products. It will be on Palm and Android soon though.

Just checked those links -- I'm not super thrilled with Albolio's format, but Pullfolio's PR specs looks interesting. But, where are the example photo books of what it creates? I can't seem to find them, though did see a blog. If you go with them they have a free service but the $8 a month one isn't a bad price, either.

Hopefully others that know more will answer here -- anyone??

GB

[ayn]

Hi sezam,

I think I replied to your thread at photo.net but it's not there anymore, maybe somehow it got deleted. I was the same way - post most of my photos on Flickr, anything from more serious professional shoots to cameraphone photos, also the way Flickr organizes the photos is sorta random and if I send potential clients to my Flickr page it doesn't seem "professional". On the other hand, I didn't want to maintain multiple sites and upload to multiple places when I want to share new photos. So I built Pullfolio for myself and made it multi-user so others can use it too. It's free to signup and most of the features are free to use. Our Pro plan is very affordable and caters to the professional photogs with features like the ability to point your domain name to your Pullfolio site. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

-Andrew
my pullfolio: http://photography.andrewng.com

[sezam]

Thank you, Ayn! Last days I tried different ideas and services, and after all I've stoped at Albolio. This is exactly what I was looking for. Something basic and easy to get me started. It's free to use and it loaded all my Flickr pictures. I did this quick one in a few minutes: http://zamkovoy.albolio.com

[irvingsmith]

I use smugmug. It's not the cheapest, but I also use it as a backup site for most of my photos. Plus it looks extremely professional and has tons of customizability.

run 3