Reviews: Photo Sharing/Critique Websites
Introduction
Editing your own work, whatever you do, can be a hit and miss affair, especially if you're relatively inexperienced. One proven way to combat this is to get a fresh pair of eyes to look at what you've done; friends, family, work colleagues. It's amazing what other people see that you have completely missed.
Now, with the advent of the Web, you can also invite complete strangers to offer their views and opinions on your work! There are a number of websites out there that allow you to share your photographs and invite constructive criticism of them by other more-than-willing photographers.
In this 6 part Review, I'm going to take a look at some Photo Sharing/Critique websites and let you know what I think about each one and the overall concept of posting your photos for review.
I've posted a limited selection of my photographs onto the following 5 websites during the last month or so:
My principal aim was to try and get some constructive feedback on my photos. Generally speaking, are they any good? Like most photographers, I'm interested in finding out what other people think of my work. More specifically, what could be done to improve them? Hopefully other people would suggest specific ways in which my photos could be improved. As a relatively inexperienced photographer, I think the more criticism I can get, the better.
A secondary aim was to get people interested in my photos and drive traffic to my websites. I figured that some people would find my URL and make their way to PhotographyBLOG after having seen my photos.
My actual choice of photographs wasn't in any way scientific. I picked what I thought were some of the best photographs that I've taken, and also some more recent ones that I'm using for my City and Guilds Photography Course. I've tended to post the same photos on each of the 5 websites.
Comparison
This table compares certain aspects of each website e.g. price, and it also shows the statistics for the photos that I have uploaded e.g. Total Views for All Photos (as of 13th March 2003).
| Photo Forums | ShutterCity | UseFilm | WebAperture | webphotoforum | |
| Price | Free | Free | Free (donation welcome) |
Free | Free (£15 to subscribe) |
| Upload Limits | 2000Kb disk space | 3 photos per week | 1 photo per day* | 4 photos per 7 days 50 photos maximum |
30 photos maximum (no limit for subscribers) |
| Comments | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Ratings | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Albums | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Favourites | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Email Updates | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No (subscribers only) |
| e-Cards | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
My
Photos |
|||||
| Date of First Upload | February 9th | February 18th | February 28th | February 18th | February 15th |
| Total Photos Uploaded | 23 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 23 |
| Maximum Views for a Photo | 27 | 45 | 42 | 47 | 17 |
| Total Views for All Photos | 290 | 213 | 103 | 256 | 148 |
| Maximum Comments for a Photo | 2 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 |
| Total Comments for All Photos | 3 | 25 | 14 | 48 | 29 |
| View My Photos | View My Photos | View My Photos | View My Photos | View My Photos | |
*UseFilm - Allows 1 upload per day for non-donors who sign up. As you increase your participation the number of uploads you get increases for free as well. Also if a member donates they get 3 uploads per day plus whatever their participation level gives them as a bonus.