I  tried  to  upload  my  photos  but  have  been  directed  to  a  page  to  upload  credit  card  info.  (times  being  what  they  are  -  i  don't  have  any.)  Is  there  a  way  around  this?

Yes, this is normal.

No way around it, and don't ask me why. It's supposed to charge you some minimal fee, .35 euro or 35c or something, but I got charged more. No big deal. Read the contract, it explains it better than I can.

I think I used PayPal to pay it, but it's been so long, I might just be imagining things.  

Found it:  

https://www.panthermedia.net/index.php?page=anmelden.php&ms=fg

**       Why we have to charge a set-up fee::
If you wish to offer images in our stock agency, you need a free account with one of our payment partners, PayPal or Firstgate. You need this account for several reasons: 1)we transfer your remuneration from licence sales to this account, and 2)to verify your registration data (for legal and security reasons) The set-up fee for registration with PayPal is 0.35 euros (=35 cents ). If you register with Firstgate, the set-up is for free.