Robert’s Photography Blog

PBase is one of few photo-sharing sites that survived the dotcom bubble. Started in August of 1999, it has grown to be one of the largest photo-sharing sites on the web. The PBase business model is built around subscribers not advertising. So you don’t get bothered by flashing banners or barking dogs. Photo-sharing sites are designed for people with cameras who want to display and share their work on the web. Normally, all you need is an email address to open a trial account. Different photographers have different needs. A freelance or professional photographer might care less about the snazzier features of the newer photo-sharing sites and more about reaching potential customers and clients.

I started posting photos on PBase in 2003 at the urging of a friend. And, to date have posted nearly 1,300 images. Only last year was I able to acquire to username ‘Robert’ which had been locked by a defunct trial account. IMHO, PBase is the best choice for a freelance photographer (maybe, even better than putting up your own site). I say this because I get many requests to purchase photos through SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages). As long as you give your PBase photo a specific title and even better yet – add a description, the search engine bot/spiders will find it and index it. Munch, munch! If the information is general, forget it! But if the information is even partially unique, you will find a link to your photo floating to the tops of the SERPs as the hits pile up.

Here are the pros/cons of PBase as I see it:

Pros

• Inexpensive
• Free trial accounts
• No advertising
• User forums
• Private mail
• Linking allowed
• Multiple file uploads
• Custom style sheets
• Optional gallery password
• Indexed by search engines

Cons

• Gallery themes limited
• Limited text capability
• Customizing difficult
• Some Most Java scripts blocked
• No embedding tools
• No video sharing
• Occasional downtime

Addendum – May 9th: PBase is now blocking almost all Java scripts. This change effectively blocks the use of external counters, slide shows, add-to-cart buttons, rrs feed to Java, and other embellishments. It has provoked the ire of PBase power uses. Posts in the PBase Q&A Forum asking for the return of scripts have yet to be answered by the owners of PBase.com.

Addendum – May 23th: PBase has increased the storage limit for a basic account to 400MB. The price is unchanged at US$23/year. That’s enough capacity to post an amazing 4,000 photos assuming an average size of 100KB/photo.