Flickr

[MotoCroz]

Thinking of using a flickr account just to add pics of my area, when I bike ride walk etc. Or in other words a reason to take camera and pics (low mojo at moment) What do others use it for, as it seems at first glance a bit confusing.

[Seonnaidh]

Re: Flickr

Flickr is a great way to share your images with friends and various other contacts.
When I first opened a Flickr account there were a lot of very high quality images being posted. Nowadays unfortunately for the serious photographer it's getting rather full of dross.
Nothing wrong with that, it's great for sharing dross or not. But when I went onto Flickr to research some images taken with a particular lens I mostly found umpteen pages of
somebody's small child. Which basically didn't help.
I still maintain a Flickr account and enjoy looking at images posted by friends and contacts but very rarely do I expect to see anything inspirational.
For that I look elsewhere.

[Ian]

Re: Flickr

I've been experimenting with Pinterest:

http://pinterest.com/ianburley/

Ian

[snaarman]

Re: Flickr

I have the freebie Flickr thing, but it isn't a very serious place to show pictures to be honest. I did discover two neighbours up our small street are also on there, so it isn't exactly exclusive.

I started a blog on blogger.com which is free. Fewer people see the pictures than on Flickr but I do get to rant about things 'cos it's my page

Pete

[Grumpy Hec]

Re: Flickr

I agree with the comments on Flickr and add that if you post and get asked to submit to a group you can then get hassle from that group to invite others to join. All a bit of a fag really.

I have had a brief look at SmugMug which looks a little more serious and you can have a reasonable looking web site presentation rather than the photostream on Flickr. All in all in looks a bit more prefessional. However haven't got as far as trying it yet so perhaps someone else on the forum can add actual experience. You also pay, $40 per year for basic, so that's a factor.

cheers

Hec

[cariadus]

Re: Flickr

Flickr really comes down to which groups you join. I usually avoid the ones that involve invites - although sometimes I might get invited to submit to an interesting group that I wasn't previously aware of. So invites aren't necessarily all bad. I also avoid groups that require you to post a certain number of comments for each photo you submit (post 1, comment 3, that kind of thing) and groups that give awards or where excessive graphics accompany comments.

But there are some very interesting/useful groups too. Here in Wales WelshFlickrCymru has a generally high standard of photography and has been a good way to get to know local photographers. They also arrange regular meet-ups. http://www.flickr.com/groups/welshflickrcymru/

I've also found some of the more localised groups to me (for example the Vale of Glamorgan group) have been very useful in getting inspiration for local places to photograph.

So groups can be good if you join and submit to the right ones. As with joining anything on the internet it can be beneficial to do some research and lurk for a while before jumping in.

[ringneck]

Re: Flickr

Flickr really comes down to which groups you join. I usually avoid the ones that involve invites - although sometimes I might get invited to submit to an interesting group that I wasn't previously aware of. So invites aren't necessarily all bad. I also avoid groups that require you to post a certain number of comments for each photo you submit (post 1, comment 3, that kind of thing) and groups that give awards or where excessive graphics accompany comments.

But there are some very interesting/useful groups too. Here in Wales WelshFlickrCymru has a generally high standard of photography and has been a good way to get to know local photographers. They also arrange regular meet-ups. http://www.flickr.com/groups/welshflickrcymru/

I've also found some of the more localised groups to me (for example the Vale of Glamorgan group) have been very useful in getting inspiration for local places to photograph.

So groups can be good if you join and submit to the right ones. As with joining anything on the internet it can be beneficial to do some research and lurk for a while before jumping in.

Oh they have groups do they...shows how much attention i pay to it...
I have a photo-stream and have about 3 comments on about 5% of my uploads.....you can put all your various subjects in folders so if someone likes say a bird they can look at all your bird entries.
I have seen images being invited to join such and such a group.....these all seem home made groups with dancing avatars etc and put me off.
I don't know how people know if anyone has put a pic on and if it's like facebook I don't think I want to.

On the plus side I think the quality of uploads looks better than some sites.
Keith

[snaarman]

Re: Flickr

Flickr groups vary wildly. I tried joining the Newbury group
http://www.flickr.com/groups/newbury/

I read through the list of which pictures are allowed and which are not and then I put up a handful of my better Newbury images. Within 24 hours I had a email from the Mod pointing out some of my pictures transgressed their rules. Can't think why. Nice pictures of dawn over Newbury. I still wonder what was wrong with them. Wrong camera perhaps...

Anyway I had a flid and pulled my membership and all my pictures. I'm sure they can manage quite well without me.

So. Pick your Flickr group with care. I'm sure there are good ones and bad ones, like there are good and bad camera forums

Pete

[cariadus]

Re: Flickr

They're obviously a funny lot in Newbury. But then we knew that anyway, didn't we?
[Sorry, couldn't resist that one ]