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Hello all
I have been both a computer and photography junkie
for a while. I have wanted for years to start an online gallery that serves as
an outlet for advanced amateurs who can't get published in print (like myself),
to publish and sell their work online. After several months of programming on my
laptop evenings and weekends it's finally done. So far people have posted a
little more than 200 pictures. There are many sites that let people upload their
work for critiquing. There are many sites that let people upload their work for
sale as stock photography. What I have in mind is to let photographers upload
their work for display and to sell individual prints to art lovers, without
giving up the copyrights.
I would like the input of all of you
on:
1- The look and feel, the interface, the first
impression it makes on a new visitor, etc. I am trying to maintain an editorial
balance between only accepting good work, so I can build a good reputation of
high quality, while at the same time giving a chance to as many photographers as
possible to display their work.
2- Since I'm starting this on my own, i.e. on a
shoestring budget, I had to be careful with using disk space on my hosting
account. So I require photographers to optimize their pictures to under about
100k. Many people have complained about that as restrictive. They gave examples
of places like shutterpoint.com which does not impose limits on file size, but
(apparently) does the file compression on their server to be of a size that
would load in a reasonable time on the web browser. I disagree with those
people, mainly because any reasonably computer literate photographer should know
how to optimize a picture. Also shutterpoint.com charges people according to how
much disk space they're using. So it's not really a free lunch.
3- In my model, right now uploading is free, but
when I build considerable traffic and membership, I plan to let people host,
say, 4 -6pictures for free then charge something like $3 /picture /year OR a
flat fee. And when a sale is made, I plan to charge 15% or so. I am not
done yet with online payments processing, but should be soon. Which model do you
think I should go with?
4- Do you think I should include a discussion board
for critiquing?
Please take a look at it and let me know what you
think. I consider that site a labor of love rather than a business project. www.1PhotoStreet.com
Khaled |
