Sharing picture online? Why not?

Vishnu K. Mahmud, Contributor, Jakarta

The holidays are history, the guests gone, the food finished. What is left are memories of the family get-together and about two tons of cheesy photos capturing the celebrations. One common complaint is that the family never sees the photos as everyone is busy after the festivities.

Nowadays there aren't any excuses.

Sharing pictures online via a number of photo sharing websites are available on the Internet. Instead of setting up your own web server and dabbling in web programming or homepage building, these sites offer a quick and efficient way of posting your snapshots online. But first, the photos must be in digital format.

Prices for digital cameras have fallen sharply over the years.

It's easier for people to buy a simple PHD ("push here dummy") digital camera for fun instead of hauling bulky single lens reflex (SLR) photo equipment. Using digital technology also avoids costly printing and developing bills that can really add up, especially if you use many rolls of film.

If you are considering buying a family camera, choose a digital one with the highest possible megapixel (the more pixels in a picture, the sharper the image) for optimal results. Some would say cameras with 2 megapixels and up provide adequate quality photographs.

Another way of digitizing your photos is by scanning them.

The market is now flooded with inexpensive scanners that can be used at home or in the office.

The quality of the picture depends on the resolution (measured in dpi or dots-per-inch). A picture scanned at 300 dpi would provide a sharper digital image compared to one scanned at 75 dpi.

If you have no access to a scanner, you could scan your photos at various internet kiosks and some photo finishing shops. Once scanned, put your digital images on a floppy disk, burn them on a CD or e-mail them home.

Once you have your photos in a digital form (preferably using the JPEG, GIF or any other format that your computer can view), put them online.

Security is always an issue. You don't want total strangers to look at and maybe steal your precious photographic masterpieces. There are a number of websites that provide security as well as photo prints for loved ones.

The Digital Fridge (http://www.clubphoto.com, http://www.thedigitalfridge.com) is a unique photo sharing site in which users cannot only upload their digital pictures but also video! Users can invite family and friends via e-mail to securely view their photos or video behind security features. Members can also publish their art in the "Public Fridge" for all to see.

There are also links to purchase a copy of the photo, should your visitors want one. Creating custom gifts such as mouse pads, photo CDs and others are also possible for an extra fee.

However, it is important to note that a majority of these service providers are U.S.-based. Receiving copies or gifts could take some time to arrive in Indonesia.

The web's number one Internet portal, Yahoo!, has their own photo sharing section at Yahoo!Photos (http://photos.yahoo.com). Using its easy-to-use interface, the site could guide the newest of newbies to upload their photos online (no video) as well as set security features to allow certain individuals to view the snapshots. The only drawback is that visitors may have to sign up for the service (it's free) if the photo site is restricted as only specified Yahoo! members can access it.

In addition to uploading photos for sharing, you can also send in your roll of film for processing, printing and automatic uploading. Again, the site is U.S.-based so sending and receiving the prints may take a while.

Photo Island (http://www.photoisland.com) also provides customized e-cards (send a digital card using your own picture) and a photo workshop. The workshop has a bunch of fun web-based tools to edit, morph, add effects and warp your pictures, to name a few. This site is geared more towards the amateur and semi- professional photographer.

One of its unique services is its poster-sized photomontage. You can order a poster of one of your pictures that upon closer inspection are actually made up of thousands of micro images. So if you bring a magnifying glass to the poster of your family dinner for example, you could actually see thousands of little images of other pictures (yours or something else you specify). Definitely an interesting gift!

These are just a few sites that offer photo-sharing services. For amateur or professional photographers, you can use these sites to impart tips and learn new techniques from others while viewing photographs. These photo portals also offer the latest photography news, camera reviews and commentary to help increase the skill and knowledge of the fledgling photographer.

But more importantly, your uncles and aunts can see the pictures and purchase copies without nagging you!