Best site to start a photography website business

[Marcos_Emerico]

I know my way around Joomla just a *little*. I looked around just the other day (no luck) for a stock photographer friendly template (the ability to easily ((somewhat anyway)) upload my hundreds of photos), and with a shopping cart flexible enough to handle the various sizes and 2 license options (6 different sizes, 2 license options, 3 print sizes PER photo). And of course, nice lookin'. Any suggestions?

Hostgator for hosting (they called me to confirm my order, I felt so special)

Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal, or just go balls to the walls barehands style; ultimate control.

 

[WebLuke]

Hi Marcos,

Here are a few to check out:

Photography Orders - Photography Shopping Cart Script, Online Photo Proofing Software for photographers

Photocart - Pictures Pro - Photography Shopping Cart | Online Proofing | Photo Cart

Cheers,

Luke

 

[Sw1tchFX]

apotofolio > dan winters uses this

 

[Marmeduke]

I'll give my thumbs up to Photocart, WebLuke's suggestion - have used it for a while. I also did a 2 week trial with Squarespace recently, who have some really good gallery and shopping cart features. I would use them in the future but didn't need to invest in another site just yet. So they're worth a quick look. I tend to think that Wix are best for people who want a no hassle free site that looks cool. But they do have upgrades which I'm sure are worth exploring.

 

[nickzou]

I know my way around Joomla just a *little*. I looked around just the other day (no luck) for a stock photographer friendly template (the ability to easily ((somewhat anyway)) upload my hundreds of photos), and with a shopping cart flexible enough to handle the various sizes and 2 license options (6 different sizes, 2 license options, 3 print sizes PER photo). And of course, nice lookin'. Any suggestions?

Hostgator for hosting (they called me to confirm my order, I felt so special)

Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal, or just go balls to the walls barehands style; ultimate control.

Oh I usually just build my own templates. I usually have a look in mind and work towards that look.

 

[KmH]

Who y'all talking to?

The OP joined, started this thread, and disappeared. :er: 10 days later the OP logged back into the forums, didn't say thank you, boo, you guys all suck, or anything else. :thumbdown:

From the OP's profile - Last Activity: 01-29-2012 11:31 AM

Real professional and business like. Not.

Another OPW? One Post Wonder

 

[raider]

its terribly obvious - looking for a free site

 

[DiskoJoe]

I've been trying to do some research on starting a photography website but there is so much with websites having there name in the domain I haven't been able to find one that doesn't. Anyone have any suggestions?

I dont know what you just said kid but YOU GOT HEART!!!!

 

[krystleimages]

Well I'm not the op but I do thank you all for your responses I needed this help.

 

[musicphotog]

If you haven't checked it out yet, PhotoShelter just launched a new HTML5 portfolio website platform called Beam. You can use your own domain name and the new designs are gorgeous. At $30/month for the "good stuff," PhotoShelter has never been "cheap" but it's one of the few options out there that gives professionals almost everything they need in one platform:

No-coding necessary - check
HTML5 Portfolios - check
Responsive for touch devices - check
Retina-ready image quality - check
Awesome SEO - check
Built-in social media - check
Milliseconds load time - check

Built-in shopping cart - check
Automated printing via WHCC - check
Built-in RM/RF stock pricing calculator - check
Photographers paid instantly - check
Percentage of sale paid 90% - check

Image security - check
Private client proofing - check
High res file delivery - check
Secure cloud storage - check
Upload RAW, PSD, TIFF, & JPG - check
Upload from Lightroom/Aperture - check

Unlimited galleries - check
Unlimited nested folders - check
Phone support - check

The only things I can think of that PhotoShelter doesn't currently offer are blogs, email, and multiple (non-English) language support on the back end. I started using a combination of PhotoShelter and WordPress for my own business in 2008 and just switched everything to the new Beam platform. If you're looking for a new portfolio website AND a platform to do business from, I can't recommend PhotoShelter more highly. That said, if you just need a site to share your 30 best images, there are tons of cheap/free) options ( weebly, squarespace ) out there. Also, I would caution against using one-off templates based on CMS like WordPress, Drupal, or Joomal; they're a serious pain in the ass to install, prone to security problems, and can often break whenever you update the core platform.

My PhotoShelter site - www.chrisowyoung.com

Full Disclosure: Even though these are my personal opinions, I've worked directly for PhotoShelter since 2010. (You should be more skeptical than normal about this specific internet forum post.) Choosing a website platform is not something that should be taken lightly so I'm equally happy to share my opinions on what/who PhotoShelter is not good for.