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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Unlimited online storage for $5
Ron Erdrich, Photographer
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Abilene | TX | USA | Posted: 10:20 PM on 05.02.07 |
->> I just saw this at macrumors, apparently they support OSX and Windows now.
http://mozy.com/
They have a pro service for businesses which has a different pricing model, about $4 for a license and $.50 per gig.
Any other cheap online storage options out there? This sounds a lot better than my plan of burning everything to gold DVDs and sending them to my dad to put in his Cold War bunker.
-R- |
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Bob Ford, Photographer
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Lehighton | Pa | USA | Posted: 10:49 PM on 05.02.07 |
->> I've been trying to check them out, but their site seems to be down. Doesn't really instill a lot of confidence in a site that's supposed to back up your files.
I think you'll find that you get what you pay for. |
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Ian L. Sitren, Photographer
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Palm Springs | CA | USA | Posted: 11:50 PM on 05.02.07 |
->> Let's see...
I have worked so very hard to build up my clientele over these years, traveled to so many places to get one opportunity only to shoot the photos I have shot, worked day and night to get them to look as good as I can, spent a fortune on gear and the time to learn how to use this stuff. And now I am going to depend on a service for a few bucks a month or so to take care of backup for all my years of hard work.
Hmmm...
I am not making fun of you, just making a point. I think I will stick with PhotoShelter. |
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Ron Erdrich, Photographer
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Abilene | TX | USA | Posted: 12:49 AM on 05.03.07 |
->> I'm not sure I follow you. Spending more on PhotoShelter makes it more reliable?
Also, PhotoShelter is a searchable archive geared toward photography customers searching and purchasing work. It isn't a service I would use to archive family photos, video, music, etc., all of which could easily outpace PhotoShelter's 100 gig limit.
Of course, this wouldn't preclude me from creating my own discs and saving them locally. But I've been reading about online storage wars with different services competing with each other and I'm interested in other people's experiences.
-R- |
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Mike Isler, Photographer
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New York | NY | US | Posted: 1:09 AM on 05.03.07 |
->> Ron-
Well, PhotoShelter offers 1TB of storage for $1,000/yr. That's CONSIDERABLY cheaper than MozyPro's $0.50/GB/Month, which would work out to over $6,000/year.
Add in PhotoShelter's pro photographer specific features, and it's a bargain.
Then again, if you just want something for personal files, Mozy's personal service might fit the bill... |
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Jeffery Patch, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Huntington Beach | CA | USA | Posted: 2:50 AM on 05.03.07 |
->> Hosting companies are a dime a dozen. Fly-by-night operations. I should know. I have run one for several years and have seen others come and go.
That being said, I still have PhotoShelter for my photo storage. |
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Jason Watson, Photographer
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Charlottesville | VA | USA | Posted: 3:58 PM on 05.03.07 |
| ->> Not sure about mozy but Photoshelter also has a redundant file storage system -- on both US coasts -- so, your images are stored and backed up in two locations... that combined with the wide array of features that others have mentioned -- fotoquote integration, seemless customization, very inexpensive incremental storage costs (1TB/$1000/yr can't be beat), extremely helpful support, Photomechanic integration, etc. and Photoshelter is a no-brainer. I've been on it for a few months and it's already paying for itself. |
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Ron Erdrich, Photographer
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Abilene | TX | USA | Posted: 4:24 PM on 05.03.07 |
->> Having not drunk the PhotoShelter Kool-Aid, I'm curious as to exactly how it has paid for itself. I've looked into it but as a staffer I don't have the catalog of pictures that I could market in that manner. And speaking of marketing, does PhotoShelter market itself? Give me some editorial market examples on how it makes money for you.
-Ron- |
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Robert Caplin, Photographer
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New York | NY | USA | Posted: 7:26 PM on 05.03.07 |
->> Hi Ron,
I can't speak for staffers, because I'm a freelancer and own my copyright, but PhotoShelter Kool-Aid ain't so bad....
My PhotoShelter service has already paid for itself 100 fold. I bought the service first and foremost for image storage...I realized that if my hard drives crashed or if I lost my computer, there goes my everything...all the pictures I'd ever made...my archives. My archives are my 401K. I knew PhotoShelter was, and still is, redundantly backed up (as pointed out earlier).
On top of that, all those archives of mine are searchable via captions, file names, and tagging so I can access them quickly and easily from anywhere and on any computer in the world.
On top of that ANYone, ANYwhere can search those archives and contact you to purchase those images.
On top of that, you can set prices and make galleries with any of the images if you want to sell your nature (or whatever genre of) photos, so bam, you have an online marketplace built right into your archives.
On top of that, photo buyers/picture editors search PhotoShelter for photographers for assignments. I've received plenty of work and sold many prints and image licenses from my association with PhotoShelter...
On top of that, you get to have a member page much like a SS member page...ANOTHER place to showcase your work...and more specifically your archives (if you're a freelancer), your artsy-fartsy pictures (if you're an artsy-fartsy photographer), your animal pictures (if you're an animal photographer), your sports/event/wedding pictures (if you're a sports/event/wedding photographer).......you get the drift.
On top of that, (and most importantly) you have amazing customer support by people who know what photographers need.
So, in summary, PhotoShelter archives my photos safely, cheaply, and searchably (I don't think that's a word), editors and buyers can find me for assignments (and/or license my images), and I can feel comfortable KNOWING the people who run the operation (don't know them?...meet them: http://www.photoshelter.com/about/).
...damn, pretty good value in my opinion, especially when (as shown above) it's CHEAPER than mozy.
My workflow:
After every shoot, edit my take, caption using Photo Mechanic, and upload to both the publication and to PhotoShelter. Now I've not only finished the job I was just paid for, but I've also archived those images in a redundantly backed-up system which are accessible and searchable anywhere in the world to both me and potential clients.
----
So, my point is....you have a choice. You can archive your images in some generic system that's closed up with very limited features that no potential clients EVER see...OR...you can you can do just the opposite and secure everything you've ever worked for..your life, your memories, your livelihood, your retirement...your images.
Quality over quantity. Simple as that.
Robert |
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Jeff Snyder, Photographer
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Metro DC Region | MD | USA | Posted: 8:37 PM on 05.03.07 |
->> Ron-
I've been contacted my numerous publishers this year via my images that I have archived on PhotoShelter and made sales directly to them without having to pay an agency fee. I negotiate and set my own pricing, sometimes using the built in PhotoQuote, or just using my own judgement. Editors and image researchers definitly search PhotoShelter for the images that they are looking for.
PhotoShelter does advertise in magazines such as PDN from what I've seen, so industry leaders are absolutly aware.
So, is it worth it for me to have the ability to have my images searchable worldwide, YES, YES, YES... |
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Keith Bedford, Photographer
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New York | NY | United States | Posted: 9:15 PM on 05.03.07 |
| ->> Ron-- Gotta say I agree with Jeff. I have done very little marketing and have still made money from Photoshelter. They have the best tech crew, and are always open to suggestions. $5 bucks sounds great but I still believe in the phrase, you get what you pay for. |
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Ron Erdrich, Photographer
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Abilene | TX | USA | Posted: 9:27 PM on 05.03.07 |
->> So are you archiving your entire take from an assignment or just the 10-30 you considered keepers? Typically, I consider about ten percent of my pictures from a given assignment worthy of consideration. So, 300 pictures equals about 30 ones that I like well enough. Are you archiving those 300 or those 30 on PhotoShelter?
And I will say that I have received email off-list from people who say they haven't made any money with PhotoShelter despite being listed there for quite some time. So how does PhotoShelter fail for some yet work for others?
And I still don't see how $1000 per TB a year is cheaper than $5 unlimited storage. |
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Preston Mack, Photographer
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Orlando | FL | USA | Posted: 9:36 PM on 05.03.07 |
->> It lists the price at MOZY PRO at $0.50/GB/Month. That is for businesses.
The price for MOZY is $5/month for the personal, non- professional users.
If you compare the price of photoshelter to MOZY PRO, PS is a better deal.
I don't think that everything you do has to make money. It depends on what your needs are. I do not license any images through PS, but it is nice to have access to my archive of images from any internet connected computer. If I had a clent ask for something, rather than have me pull it up, they can log into my PS site and browse themselves.
I think PS users like the fact that many established photographers use Photosheler. I have never heard of Mozy. I would be hesitant to try a new company... |
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Avi Gerver, Photographer
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New York | NY | USA | Posted: 10:15 PM on 05.03.07 |
| ->> If you're purely looking for a place to store data offsite, it makes more sense to use a web hosting company to store it. The one I use for my website, LunarPages, gives me 350GB of space for $96/year, and having not shopped around for the specific purpose of storing large volumes of data, there are probably other web hosting companies that give you more space for the same price. If you don't need PhotoShelter's other features, it's simply more bang for your buck. |
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