Regardless of your photographic abilities, we all have photos we need to store and share. Whether we are preserving memories, sharing new photos of our children or family, showing off some recent highlights, or demoing photographs for a client, we all have a need for networked storage.

Regardless of your photographic abilities, we all have photos we need to store and share. Whether we are preserving memories, sharing new photos of our children or family, showing off some recent highlights, or demoing photographs for a client, we all have a need for networked storage. In recent months, cloud storage options have grown unbelievably and many options are available for FREE. Although some companies offer enhanced features with a payment plan, even these purchased options are inexpensive and work well.

Dropbox
Dropbox becomes larger by the day and is a great solution for hosting your photographs and documents. Its ability to sync with any computer and most smartphones & tablets, allows you to have access to any photograph on all your devices. This often comes in  handy when a potential client wants to see some past work, or when you just want to show of some family pictures. As a bonus, all files hosted with dropbox are protected in case your computer crashes, is stolen, or destroyed. 2GB are included for free with larger options available for a fee.
http://www.dropbox.com/

Flickr
Flickr is an excellent method for sharing albums with family, friends, or clients. It also ensures that your photographs are backed up in case of a disaster. Unfortunately the free version does have some strict limits in file sizes, and does not allow you to post photographs at full resolution. Even so, flickr remains a great option for sharing large batches of photos.
http://www.flickr.com/

Windows Skydrive
Windows Skydrive has changed recently, turning it into a major player for photographs, video, as well as other documents. With the ability to set up individual photo albums, control access for each album, and offer full resolution photographs for download, I have really been impressed with the Skydrive ability. Though it still is difficult to manage folders and has some issues resuming uploads after a session is interupted, the system works very will and has great potential.
http://explore.live.com/windows-live-skydrive-get-started

Picasa
Picasa is another option for photo backup and sharing. While it doesn’t have as many options as Skydrive, it does have its own limited photo editor that is available for free. Sharing is simple and storage is free though I could not get it to allow full resolution downloads. In any case, it is a compelling option for keeping your photographs safe in the cloud.
http://picasa.google.com/features.html