Hi Paul,

I guess it depends whether or not it affects your current images. I've used both PB and Flickr extensively over the years as a non-paying user and I don't use either any more, even though (miraculously) all of my PB images still hotlink without without issue -- take this 9-year-old thread at DHS for example: click. My image host of choice for the past few years has been imageshack.com. My last subscription renewal for premium service cost me £16 for the year (it's normally around £35/yr) and I use the service extensively. The uptime is very good and photos can be organised into albums just like on other sites, and there is a variety of sizing options for sharing images on forums, social media etc.

It may not be plain sailing if you do jump ship from a familiar hosting service, but the bottom line is you can definitely get cheaper than PB and Flickr.

I had PB up until recently when they started charging, I went to Flickr as they are currently free for my needs which is posting some pics every now and then.

As to your question, I do look at others pictures (even though there are more people embedding videos now) as I like seeing regular pictures. As I said before, the times I want to post a picture here paying for a place like PB is not cost effective, maybe if I was able to get out more and make photographing stuff a hobby or lucrative hobby then yes I'd pay for PB to host my images.

Hopefully you can make the right decision for you but what ever you decide has to fit your needs but also remember, I for one like your pictures and do look at them!!!

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Dain

I'm a kid at heart, so I will play with any model construction vehicle from 1:87 scale to 1:1 scale!!!!

Age is a state of time NOT a state of mind!!

Hi Paul, a very interesting point of discussion. I guess your decision to subscribe depends on what you expect out of this forum. It is apparent that many people treat this forum as a passive entertainment medium, like watching videos or perusing pics on a hosting site. When a topic update is made you can see a few hundred views over a short period of time mount up. The dilemma is that people don't seem to want to engage in conversation on the pics.

When I initially started posting I was very excited to post a new pic that contained a new model and some creativity to try and create a diorama scene like I would display on my shelf or curio. I initially found it disheartening to check in on that post and see little to no conversation... comments, ideas, what people liked, ideas they have for customization, photography etc. When I resolved myself to using this site as an organized and indexed (searchable) means for the hobby, joined with the fact that people were actually looking at my pics I decided to continue to post. Sites like Facebook and YouTube that cater to passive consumption of media with little to moderate feedback is likely what has catered to a majority of people relegating forums to the same format thereby removing their desire to directly engage with this medium.

I think by building and maintaining this repository of ideas and images that it can help to inspire and drive the hobby forward. I wish you all the best on your decision.

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All,
Based on this feedback and on the other thread I have made the decision not to carry on with PB. I will continue with Flickr but perhaps post less photos and instead include a link so people can look at more if they desire.

As a side note, I also used PB for posting images on Hansebube and they kindly transferred all of them to their own server so that when my PB account shuts done, they will still be available for people to see.

I asked Chuck if he could do the same thing, but based on the lack of response I think he cannot do this. This basically means that come April time, the vast majority of my photos in the two threads will disappear.

I am quite an avid user of FB but not so much Instagram, though I may start using it more to see how it goes.

Thanks,

Paul R

Those are indeed kind words and of course something I had not realised. You are one of few that do comment and it is much appreciated.

Unfortunately I cannot do much about the old photos unless Chuck decides to save them to his server like Hansebube did, but I will continue to post some photos via Flickr moving forward.

All the best,

Paul R