I was invited to shoot an equestrian event in the Valles Grande Caldera a couple of weeks back. Part of the deal was to provide a place for folks to view and possibly purchase some of the photos. After much digging around, I decided to try Zenfolio‘s premium account.
So far, I’m happy with the decision. They have very good tools for setting up your account quickly, and some nice selling tools, including the ability to create and use your own coupons. While the gallery and slideshows could use some more customization in the ‘box’, you are allowed to use a CNAME redirect to give the appearance of the gallery being under your own domain (see below for gallery link). The intrepid among us can also embed parts of the gallery under your own pages for even more seamless integration. I’ll check more into that as time goes on.
One thing I really like a lot is the ability to drag/drop pictures into an upload space directly via web GUI. I’m doing this from Adobe Bridge to Firefox without a hitch. Sweet! It’s very easy to grab thumbnails from Bridge and just treat the web interface like another folder. Hit ‘Upload’ and let it chunk away.
Another element that swayed me was the fact that they use MPix as the primary print lab for US distribution, but you can easily specify your own printer. This is especially handy for collateral items such as novelties, large print runs, and specialty items.
Zenfolio‘s premium account is US$100/year, and comes with a good array of selling tools, unlimited storage, and the ability to hide both the Zenfolio logo and any print lab mentions. This gives the visitor a well-branded experience. You can also add music to your slideshows, and develop custom price lists based on formulas or direct pricing. Good stuff!
I’ll be ordering sample prints soon, both with and without the free color correction service the lab offers. But I’ve seen stuff from MPix before and have been impressed. There are even multiple paper and finish options available to customer, each of which can be specified by the gallery owner.
I’d love to hear what you think of the gallery and the images 🙂
