San Francisco ? The Internet digital photo site Webshots seemed destined to dissolve in the dot-com meltdown a year ago as its owner, ExciteAtHome, prepared to go bankrupt.

But Webshots’ co-founders lobbied for another try at developing the site into a profitable business a goal that doesn’t look as farfetched as it appeared when ExciteAtHome was poised to pull the plug.

About 150,000 new users register at Webshots each week, up 50 percent from a year ago. More importantly, a significant number of those users are subscribing to the site’s premium services, an about-face from the carefree days when AtHome gave away everything for free.

“We have a better sense as businessmen what this space is all about now,” said Narendra Rocherolle, one of the three Webshots co-founders who bought the site back from ExciteAtHome eight months ago at pennies on the dollar.

Above, Rocherolle, left, Andrew Laakmann and Nicholas Wilder work for Webshots, which is thriving under new ownership as it joins several other Internet companies trying to salvage once-dying businesses.