Flickr

[Michael Markey]

I must admit that I rarely ever use Flickr these days and its groups even less.
Most of the stuff I do is for immediate friends so that gets posted on FB or within groups on FB.
The other platform I use is IG although often the audience comprises of the same people .
Since there is no longer a requirement to use Flickr to enable posting on this site I`ve actually considered stopping my account altogether although I do sometimes use Flickr to check meta data .
Never think in terms of a wider audience tbh but if I do I post here.

 

[Erik van Straten]

The photo editing tool on Flickr is excellent. Flickr is useful for showing the slightly better photos. Photos are viewed by more people than the photos on RFf. I think Flickr gives a good idea of the status of my photos. The photo's are watched mainly by strangers. I'm getting to know the viewers on RFf a bit, but on Flickr are mainly people watching who are completely unknown to me.

 

[Yokosuka Mike]

Never think in terms of a wider audience

Well said and same here.

I know my limitations, I know I'm only so good but I'll never be great. Greatness is reserved for the fortunate few.

I'm not on Flickr or any other platform. I'm not interested in sharing with total strangers. I like RFF because I know that it's like sharing pictures with family. Some of the family members think your shit stinks, but they politely hold their nose and refrain from criticizing. And, sometimes they do criticize but it's tempered and they know that their turn is coming.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that a person can come to RFF and share their pictures without fear or favor because everyone here is sailing in the same boat.

Last thing... "Likes" . I was not a fan of introducing "Likes" to RFF. The over-use of "likes" can leave a person who doesn't get a like on their picture feeling left out in the cold. To the people who post a picture that doesn't receive a like I say: "A picture without a like is not a bad picture. Creativity is not a popularity contest. And, stay true to yourself!"

As usual, I've over shared.

Mike

 

[petronius]

Showing my photos to a lot of strangers can inspire a few of them to get deeper into photography,
to increase their seeing ability or simply entertain them (and turn some of them into something like friends).
The same happens to me all the time and these are enough reasons for me to stay on flickr.

 

[Out to Lunch]

simply entertain them (and turn some of them into something like friends).
The same happens to me all the time and these are enough reasons for me to stay on flickr.

Likewise. Also, the platform is fast, stable, photo specific, easy to use, includes an excellent search function, and I don't see any advertising.

 

[Michael Markey]

Likewise. Also, the platform is fast, stable, photo specific, easy to use, includes an excellent search function, and I don't see any advertising.

Must admit that the no advertising is a plus .
Thinking more about what I posted earlier and echoing what Mike subsequently added.
Back in the day we took pictures and most likely they were left in the folders from the store and maybe eventually put in a box.
Maybe you looked at them a few times, showed them your mum and dad but it never entered your head that anybody else would be remotely interested in them.
I think that is how I still look at the process.
Why would anybody be interested ?
I do post (posted a few from today on Flickr) but its not a natural thing for me to do ... is what I think I`m trying to say.
For some reason though I find it easier to post here and for some odd reason on IG.
IG for me has the benefit of a much wider range of professional work which I appreciate .
Just loathe the adverts.

 

[SWB]

I use Flickr as a barometer for my own work, not for getting 'likes' as such but in knowing it's in a public place under the public gaze and how does that make me feel about it. It's all too easy to exist in a bubble and without putting something out there self questioning can go out the window. It's a parallel to being in a print crit with a tutor and you have to explain yourself, even if it's only thinking 'I could have done that better'.

 

[Michael Markey]

I use Flickr as a barometer for my own work, not for getting 'likes' as such but in knowing it's in a public place under the public gaze and how does that make me feel about it. It's all too easy to exist in a bubble and without putting something out there self questioning can go out the window. It's a parallel to being in a print crit with a tutor and you have to explain yourself, even if it's only thinking 'I could have done that better'.

I think that we all question what we do.
I certainly do but I`m not sure that posting affects that doubt in one way or the other .
I do actually post an awful lot of my shots (probably up to seventy per percent ) because I take them all for a specific audience and a good barometer of worth I guess is how many they nick for their own FB pages and profiles 🙂
However non of that stuff would be of any interest on this board or any of the other sites.
I do look at your work on Flickr and very nice it is too.

 

[agentlossing]

Given the talk about the relevance of Flickr, I just created a new group there (my second) for the posting of photos with 40mm lenses. Check it out if you're interested.

 

[Archiver]

Given the talk about the relevance of Flickr, I just created a new group there (my second) for the posting of photos with 40mm lenses. Check it out if you're interested.

I am the second member of your new group! 😆

 

[Godfrey]

Must admit that the no advertising is a plus .
Thinking more about what I posted earlier and echoing what Mike subsequently added.
Back in the day we took pictures and most likely they were left in the folders from the store and maybe eventually put in a box.
Maybe you looked at them a few times, showed them your mum and dad but it never entered your head that anybody else would be remotely interested in them.
I think that is how I still look at the process.
Why would anybody be interested ?
I do post (posted a few from today on Flickr) but its not a natural thing for me to do ... is what I think I`m trying to say.
For some reason though I find it easier to post here and for some odd reason on IG.
IG for me has the benefit of a much wider range of professional work which I appreciate .
Just loathe the adverts.

I guess I have always had different experiences with photography. I first started making photographs when I was 8-10 years old, and my father, mother, and uncle were all very interested in what I was creating. I entered High School and immediately joined the Photo Staff, was shooting for the school publications and year book. Just as I look to other photographers' work for inspiration, I've been told by many that they look at my Flickr stream (and all the other places I post photos to) and find inspiration from my work there. There's nothing so fulfilling as the feeling I get that someone has been helped by seeing my photographs.

I no longer do photography for a living or plan to make any income from it, but I continue to post to Flickr and other photo sharing mechanisms because sharing my photographs and learning from other peoples' vision, et al, is what it's all about to me. I've met many many people through sharing photographs and enjoyed great times with them over the years.

To just stick them in a box and only look at them myself now and then seems to miss the whole joy of doing Photography.

G

 

[agentlossing]

I am the second member of your new group! 😆

Much appreciated!

 

[Michael Markey]

I guess I have always had different experiences with photography. I first started making photographs when I was 8-10 years old, and my father, mother, and uncle were all very interested in what I was creating. I entered High School and immediately joined the Photo Staff, was shooting for the school publications and year book. Just as I look to other photographers' work for inspiration, I've been told by many that they look at my Flickr stream (and all the other places I post photos to) and find inspiration from my work there. There's nothing so fulfilling as the feeling I get that someone has been helped by seeing my photographs.

I no longer do photography for a living or plan to make any income from it, but I continue to post to Flickr and other photo sharing mechanisms because sharing my photographs and learning from other peoples' vision, et al, is what it's all about to me. I've met many many people through sharing photographs and enjoyed great times with them over the years.

To just stick them in a box and only look at them myself now and then seems to miss the whole joy of doing Photography.

G

Absolutely right and thank you for the reminder .
Its the social aspect which is the prime motivator for me.
I remember fondly your series from the Isle of Man ( just off the coast from where I currently live).
Brought back a lot of childhood memories.

 

[Archiver]

Much appreciated!

This will encourage me to shoot with my Voigtlander Ultron 40mm f2 SL more often. I use it on the Panasonic S5 and sometimes Canon 5D Mark II. It was often on the Canon as it was compact and fast. 40mm is a nice focal length, not so confining as 50mm but more intimate than 35.

It's good to see activity on flickr, as it has been around for quite a long time, and participating is like continuing a fun tradition of the past.

 

[Godfrey]

Absolutely right and thank you for the reminder .
Its the social aspect which is the prime motivator for me.
I remember fondly your series from the Isle of Man ( just off the coast from where I currently live).
Brought back a lot of childhood memories.

Thank you for the compliment! 🙂

 

[filmtwit]

Flickr is great when there's an editorial hand. It's miserable when people are either just pouring-on junk (like instagram) or thinking they are the "you toned that black an white picture! infidel!" police.

The best Flickr group appears to be New Black and White even though it's a decade old or more now. Some former members: Tatsuo Suzuki, Alan Schaller, experimenters and a handful of regular posters building-up coherent bodies of work over time -- something very tough on other platforms, still. An ideological neighbor might be "( eclipse )" formerly called "Dark Side of the Sun."

The Hollywood Portrait Lighting group also has some good regulars (and so-so occasional randos who don't quite see to "get it"). Vincent Versace is the #1 poster iirc.

​

 

[Michael Markey]

I`ve watched a few vids from that chap . Very good.

 

[Michael Markey]

Forgot to add re Flickr that I .... after many years ... have terminated my Pro account .
I know that Insta gets a lot of criticism but I find it (despite the adverts) to be a much more lively and varied place .
A good mixture of well known pros and the enthusiastic amateur .
Like Flickr you can choose your contacts .

 

[Bolo Kukus]

Oh, so this thread is now born-again.

I've posted here before, so this time I will try to not repeat myself - difficult at my age and given my inclination to (did someone say obsession with) wordiness.

Since first posting here I've revisited Flickr a few times, and I now find I appreciate it more than I did. Confession - I'm a Flickr member, but haven't accessed it for so long, I've forgotten my password. So it's maybe time to contact the wizards there and get a new entry-ticket.

Originally I joined out of self-interest - to promote my architectural photography and, also important, steer potential clients to my posted imagery. But on exploring the site, I found so much of same-same (architecture), much of it what I regarded as below my basic standards of image-making, that I hesitated.

Then two photographer friends told me of their experiences with Flickr. One makes superb images, and after posting a fair number of his work, discovered that many of his images were copied and used elsewhere. So he threw the off-switch on Flickr. (Interesting to note that he was also on Photo.net for the same reason, and exited that site as well. I did suggest that he should try Rangefinderforum as being far better, but he never did.)

The other, now sadly deceased, found that whenever he directed his clients to Flickr to view his work, invariably they waded through all the folders, checked out the dross - and bought (or obtained without paying) other images. So he went too.

Eventually I set up a no-frills password-protected web site for media clients, mostly book publishers in Europe who were keen to buy architectural photos. I kept it for a few years, but as time passed, I retired, my photography went in other new directions and I decided to cease my photo sales (which were reasonable but never enough to enrich me or leave my heirs with unlimited champagne and caviar money) and closed down the site. It was, to sum up all this, champagne work for only beer returns.

For all that, now and then I go to Flickr for a look-see, and find that with careful searching, I'm usually pleased with what I find. Last weekend I did a nostalgic tour of the place in eastern Canada where I grew up, and the village in the same province where my grandparents had a farm. All there for me to look at and enjoy, tho' Google Maps made my 'revisit' all the more interesting.

Equally of interest to me is that many fellow posters here also have an active Flickr presence. I will certainly look them up.

So there are a few 'fair positives' to Flickr. I think we all acknowledge this.

 

[mconnealy]

I only post what I consider my best work on Flickr, so it took me sixteen years to get to a thousand images and to making the decision about paying to continue uploads. It wasn't actually a hard decision. I like the site because it offers a lot of opportunities to curate your experience. When I first go to the site I always start with clicking on the "flickr" logo in the upper left corner. That shows me recently uploaded pictures by the photographers I have judged to be particularly worth following. My next step is to go to the four or five groups I am currently following to see what is new.
Being able to create albums of related content has been helpful to me in organizing my ideas about my own work. The tags for each uploaded photo also contribute to retrieving pictures using a variety of criteria.
I was the moderator for quite a while of the group about the Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim. Now, I just run the New Mexico Film Photographers group.
There used to be a lot of useful discussions connected to the groups, but that is now far in the past as that kind of exchange has moved to the social networks, which are of no interest to me.