Portrait and wedding website development

[modlife]

Ok, so we're in the process of taking things to the next level and developing a website for our business.

What services are everyone using to proof/print/reprint/ship?

Collage.net seems decent but too pricey. Seems to me that there is probably a service that just takes a commission and the price of prints and allows integration into our site - where should I go?

Are there other options for integration into my website that will allow clients to log in and print/reprint only the photos they want to use without me spending $700/yr extra? Maybe we can justify something like that in the future, but not now.

I'm pretty decent at working Flash but don't know much about incorporating proofs/prints/checkout options for my client galleries so off-site hosting seems like the logical option.

 

[modlife]

Ok, so we're in the process of taking things to the next level and developing a website for our business....

After looking through sites I decided on Collage.net

I'll let everyone know what I think after I post a couple events.

 

[LarissaPhotography]

I decided to do our website all myself. It does help that I'm a software developer and that we were just starting up when I did most of the website work, but having the option to tweak and change things around whenever we want is definitely a plus. Our website is http://www.LarissaPhotography.com . I'm still learning flash too. I think there will always be other ways I can improve, but I think that's part of the fun in owning your own business. There's always something new to learn.

 

[Big Mike]

I've heard some good things about Colleges.net...Mike Fulton (of TriCoast Photography) is always saying how much he likes them. It's a good system if you do enough business to justify the commission costs and don't have time (or don't want to) handle the ordering/shipping yourself. You just upload the photos, let the clients know and watch for the money to appear in your account.
They do take a good cut though.

Myself (and many other photographers that I know) have chosen to use Photocart (Photography Shopping Cart | Photocart | Photographer Flash Websites - Pictures Pro). It's an application that you buy once and load onto your website...so it's fully integrated into your site. It's very customizable and has a ton of options.
You do have to do the ordering and shipping yourself (or have someone do it) but the benefit is that you only pay for it once.