50% off Smugmug Account

[Lanalee Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lanalee]

If you've ever considered obtaining a Smugmug account for your digital photos, now is the time to sign up.

When you sign up for an account, use coupon code flickr and you’ll get 50% off your first year! This is much better than the $5 you save when you use a referral code.

There's more information about it here: SmugBlog

From what I understand, you do not have to have a Flickr account to use the coupon code.

I use Smugmug and I have been very happy with their services. Their customer service is awesome!

[vinolover Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close vinolover]

Lanalee,

Your pictures are wonderful. Thanks for sharing.

[riverdees05 Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close riverdees05]

Is it worth $20 for first year and $40 thereafter for this vs. the free account? Just want to get opinions.

[Lanalee Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lanalee]

Is it worth $20 for first year and $40 thereafter for this vs. the free account? Just want to get opinions.

I personally think it's worth it - but of course that's just my opinion. There's nothing wrong with free sites, they offer a great service. But I think you get a better viewing experience with a paid site. Free sites typically have lots of ads on the pages, especially ads to buy prints. Also visitors are sometimes required to register for an account before they can see your pictures. And if you're not careful, your pictures can get deleted if your account is inactive status after a certain length of time.

And most free sites limit the number of pictures you can upload. Smugmug allows you to upload an unlimited number of photos of any size, including your high-resolution photos. So it's a great way to store your photos and know they are safe. Smugmug keeps 4 backup copies of your photos in 3 different states. And in the event you do decide to leave Smugmug, you have the option of having every photo in your account copied to a CD and sent to you.

If the $40 cost is an issue, you might want to consider Zenfolio, their closest competitor. I have an account there as well, but I'll probably let my paid subscription expire after my year is up. It makes no sense for me to have two sites. But I just wanted to give Zenfolio a try because I had read lots of good things about them. And they are cheaper - their basic subscription is $25 (minus $5 the first year if you use a referral code).

Here is my Zenfolio account: Zenfolio | Yolanda's Photography

With Zenfolio's $25 account, you are limited to 1 gig of storage space. But every year you renew, you get another 1 gig of storage space added. For most people, that's probably more than enough. On the other hand, Zenfolio also has a $40 Unlimited account that does allow for unlimited storage space.

One negative I heard about Zenfolio is that the site doesn't work well for people who use a modem internet connection. But I don't know if this is true.

If you are interested in either site, they both offer a free trial account.

[Lanalee Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lanalee]

Lanalee,

Your pictures are wonderful. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you! I took a look at your photos as well. I especially enjoyed looking at your pictures of Sedona. My husband and I were just there in December (first visit). What a beautiful place!