Zenfolio is great

Actually this blog has several tidbits in it.  I was trying to solve the problem of picture storage for my step-daughter (her internal drive is 99.5% full and half of it is pictures).  She had some requirements:

1. Simple and easy

2. Available to her where ever she is

3. Easy to post up on things like Facebook

Her current 'workflow' was to take pictures with her iPhone, hardwire sync her iPhone to her laptop and moving the pictures into iPhoto.  Once in iPhoto she could post them up to Facebook.  This actually worked quite well for her until she discovered that her hard drive extremely full.

Now it is true that she can get a larger hard drive, but no matter how large, it will eventually fill up.  So I added a 4th requirement: infinite expandable space.

A SOLUTION:

1. You need a Zenfolio account.  There are several options starting at $30/year.  

2. Download the myZenfolio app from iTunes and install it on your iPhone (I assume it works with other mobile phones as well).  You can do the same thing with an iPad.  The app is free.

A Zenfolio account provides you with lots of choices and options.  But first, the online help and customer service is very good so if you get stuck, there is someone to help you. Things you can do with a Zenfolio account depending on the type of account:

1. Infinite storage space.  The pictures are stored in galleries, but you can organize galleries in different folders called 'Groups'.

2. Flexible sharing capabilities.  You can make a group or gallery public, private to you or password protected.  You can also allow people to download your pictures or if you lose a picture you can download them as well.  If you keep your pictures in public galleries, it is easy to share them on social media sites via links.  If you make them private or password protected, the links will require the person to know the password.  Alternatively, if you open a picture up to full size, at the bottom left, there is a link to post the picture directly to Facebook (and it is not just a link).

3. You can order a wide range of products through Zenfolio from photographic prints to calendars and coffee mugs, plus many other things.

The process is very simple.  Using the myZenfolio app, open the camera app and take your picture.  You get a preview and you decide to retake the picture or 'use' the picture.  The picture is saved to your phone.  At this point,  you can then upload this picture to Zenfolio, email the picture, transfer it to your iPhone photo gallery or delete it.  I upload them to a private gallery (viewable only to me) called 'iPhone'.  This allows me to put ALL my phone pictures in a secure storage location.

Then I can log in to my zenfolio account, review the pictures and select which ones to upload to Facebook.

Now I know that you can just post a picture from your phone directly to Facebook, but you may not want to post all of your pictures to Facebook, you may want to actually print a copy of a picture (FB can't do that) and if you ever lose your phone your pictures will still exist on Zenfolio.

Occasions arise when I want a picture, but don't have one of my professional cameras so take out my iPhone and capture a picture.  There is an old saying 'The best camera in the world is the one you have with you at the moment.'




 

Elmhurst Toyota--something fun

I was featured as a 'fun photographers share their secrets' blog at Elmhurst Toyota.  It is a great little article with interesting tips from several photographers. 

Visit it when you get a chance!

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A© 2011-2018 by Steven Seelig, Chicago Photographer                          630-561-6581                                      e2photo@e2photo.net