Convention Fans:
Where Should I Post My Convention Photos Online?

One of the best parts of attending a convention can be going through all your photos a few days later, reminiscing about how great it was. Or, if you're a cosplayer, you probably look through people's photos hoping to catch one of yourself. With all of the options for uploading, sharing, and storing photos online, what service do you choose? What is the best? What is the most expensive? What is the cheapest (or free)? Below is a list of some of the more common options for sharing photos online, which includes prices, limitations, and other pertinent information.

1. Facebook

One of the free options for online photo hosting is Facebook. It's pretty user friendly, however, it does cap the size of photos. Some of the benefits are that you can add captions, tag fellow Facebook friends, and sort them into albums. You can always make them publicly viewable, even if you want to keep your actual Facebook profile private. It is, by far, one of the easiest ways to share photos with friends.

2. Cosplay.com

Another free online photo hosting site is Cosplay.com. You can upload photos, add captions, list photographers, inspirations for the cosplay, etc. However, Cosplay.com has several rules concerning photo uploads, rules that other sites do not have. That being said, Cosplay.com is one of the largest cosplay communities online, and if you're looking to share photos of your convention cosplay with other cosplayers, this is the best place to do it.

3. Photobucket

This is an online photo site that has both a free option, and a paid "Pro" option available. With the free version, you can upload up to 5,000 photos and videos, you get 500 MB of storage, and 10 GB/month in bandwidth. With the paid Pro account, you get unlimited storage and bandwidth, as well as full statistics. You can get a Pro account for around $2 a month (its cheaper if you buy more time up front, vs paying month to month). In terms of features, Photobucket offers one-click posting to most social networking sites and even your phone. It also has some basic photo editing tools, the ability to add captions, and organize photos into albums. You can also tag photos. Additionally, you can set privacy permissions on a per-album basis.