Smugmug
Going on a a good review from Omar Shahine, I decided to check out smugmug. To be honest, I haven't used all that many photo apps, especially not online ones. I've played around with Adobe Lightroom, Picasa, and Picajet (finally settling on Picasa because of its ease of use). The thing about these stand-alone applications, though, is that they don't really support sharing all that well. Yeah, Picasa's web albums feature is in beta now, and all of the big names in photo management software are trying to find a way to make sharing easier. But, in my opinion, they just aren't there yet.
Before I go on, I need to confess that I don't particularly like web apps. They are great for some things, but most of the time I would rather have the power of a full-blown, locally installed application. When it comes to photos, however, I just need something that will allow me to document, store, and share the photos. If I want to edit them, I'll use the GIMP.
Keeping these simple needs in mind, smugmug does everything that I want/need, and looks great doing it. The interface is intuitive and easy-to-use, and the philosophy of the company rocks. Yeah, it costs a little bit of money, but they do allow unlimited storage and the features that come with the service make the price tag look more than fair:
- Ability to set comprehensive permissions for your photos.
- No advertisements - seriously.
- A really slick AJAX-style interface.
- Integrated photo purchasing support for families, friends, and fans.
- An intuitive interface that allows for easy upload and organization of photos.