Like the Ocean

‘Wow’, ‘Aah’, ‘Great’, ‘Wonderful’ …. [yeah all with caps !!] so goes the first impressions  with Smugmug.

If ur not aware – Smugmug is a family run, self sustaining, non external funded, profitable, web2.0 photo sharing site.

I had known about Smugmug for quiet sometime, but paying for the account, had made me a bit skeptical where there were lot of free alternatives. As I was using Flickr (and am still & will !) was looking for other alternative to load / categorize and share photos. Zooomr was quiet promising a year back. But after its move to Japan(couldn’t agree more with RaohlPop) and no promises or updates on the horizon , lost hope on the same. Wishes for Zooomr to spring back. Only time will tell.

Last week, was pulled back again to Smugmug, by Don’s passion and commitment to online photography and video sharing [if you already have not , definitely check out the video from Vincent using Canon Mark II]. Decided to tryout their photo sharing site. Signed  up for a trial account. The more I played around, the more tempting it became to use. You can use flickr / yahoo / picasaweb, based on what ur using currently, in the coupon/e-mail field & receive 50% off. Grab while it lasts.

Some of the prominent features I liked are [still trying out and finding treasures…]

• The first statement in their about page – ” Most Internet companies dream of selling to bigger ones, and getting rich. We don’t”. It says a lot.
• Amazing customer service support. I sent the first e-mail to real people, as the site suggests with a questions and got a reply in less than 10 mins. Later got a note from Markam, Director of BizDev for SmugMug. The query got resolved in the next one hour. It was amazing, considering that I was still having a trial account, and it was after hours, atleast for me – 6PM MST.
• Amazing flexibility of customization and co branding [only Power and Professional Accounts]
• Users don’t need to register to view photos / gallery [alongside with options for password protected private galleries]
• Option to set price and sell photos [only Professional Account]
• Open API , documentation and support [thru discussion forums, was able to find answers to most of my questions … ]
• Surprisingly, I found about their offer of free Pro account for anyone developing applications using Smugmug API. Its a win-win for both, nice move. Yes , I am working on something, would definitely write about is once it gets pretty good shape !

Edit
My Smugmug account is still under customization and would provide a link once the same is complete.
Link to my Smug Account / Portfolio – LikeTheOcean
Link to the Smug Application – SmugBadge