Getting the most out of Flickr?

Daysleeper40

Daysleeper40

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Fi
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Hi All,

I've just bought myself a Flickr pro account and so far I've made myself a few collections, added lots more photo's and added tags to everything (that I want to). My question really is how do you get the most out of flickr - do you just browse and join groups etc or is there a better way?
 
Pretty much...lol

I'm still getting to grips with it myself...though I reckon it's a pretty under-used resource by most of us who do have Pro-accounts there...
 
what an apt question, I set myself up on flickr (normal account) yesterday, more because everyone else has one, than actually know what to do with it :D
 
:D

I've had a normal flickr account for a while but today is the first time I've clicked on the "Explore" button... now I am :thinking: about where to go and what to look at!
 
I upgraded to flickr pro because I was making a load of images privately available to an amdram group, and the free account limits were too small. I'm sure I'm not getting the most out of it by a very long way.
 
One thing I really don't understand is how something is catagorised as "interesting"?

Oh and just to prove it's a small world the first group apart from TP that I have joined (Zoo UK - Zoos of the United Kingdom) has an admin called Sypix. I know that name I thought - so I had a look at his photostream and it is indeed the TP member Sypix who's shots I was commenting on here yesterday!

Spooky? Or does it just prove that TP is taking over the world?
 
The trick is to join groups, post every photo you have to every remotely relevant group, hope people spot it, favourite it and add you as a contact.

If you do this for ages then you will get lots of regulars to favourite and comment on your photos, which will ultimately get you "explores".

If thats what floats your boat, then go for it. If it does, you'll probably find you also enjoy trying to get 10,000 followers on twitter or friends on facebook too...

Furthering your photographic career? Not really IMHO.
 
Well I don't have a photographic career to further so that's not really a priority ;) This is just a hobby that I'd like to get better at.

I'm also not really one for collecting friends on Facebook etc - but I would like to use flickr to it's full potential given that I have now paid money for it. I guess I will just be joining groups for the things I find interesting and see where that takes me...
 
Well, its another public forum for getting your work seen, but I think you'd learn just as much if not more from on here.

At least on here you can get technical advice on your shots or ask technical questions on other people's work.

Whilst this has grown into quite a large forum, Flickr is vast and I feel its easy to be lost on there.

Just look at Flickr as a way to host your photos. Its not like its expensive.
 
Okay... well I'm going to use both.
 
One of the things that you can do to help your shots "interestingness" rating, is to ensure that they have proper titles, rather than just the out of the camera names, and to tag the images with appropriate words/phrases. Flickr are deliberately evasive as to what constitutes "interestingness" as if it was published, everyone would just stick to the formula.
 
Good point - I'm just intrigued by what it thinks are my most "interesting" shots - not necessarily what I would have picked!
 
desantnik said:
...Furthering your photographic career? Not really IMHO.
Click to expand...

Oh, it does work for making a bit of money... I've sold quite a few landscapes as a result of using Flickr and even had one wedding booking from it too.

You have to play the game and make sure you tag and keyword everything to make searches relevant to you though. I asked a recent client how he'd found my work and said that he'd entered 'lighthouse' and 'North Wales' into the search. A few of my images came out amongst others and he went from there. :)

Si
 
I upgraded to Pro simply because there was a 20MB limit for image files and the ability to not have to resize them. The replace feature is handy, too, since now and then I will find something I dislike and want to change it.

Flickr for me is just a medium to view other people's work and hope they view mine. I do realise that there are certain types of shot that the Flickr people latch onto moreso, and that's before you even get into all the nudity on there. It would be nice if it were more diverse, but it would be nice if everything was more diverse - then everything would have already been said, created and found.
 
Daysleeper40 said:
Oh and just to prove it's a small world the first group apart from TP that I have joined (Zoo UK - Zoos of the United Kingdom) has an admin called Sypix. I know that name I thought - so I had a look at his photostream and it is indeed the TP member Sypix who's shots I was commenting on here yesterday!

Spooky? Or does it just prove that TP is taking over the world?
Click to expand...

:wave: Hi Fi. Thanks for joining the group. Have added you as a contact.

Not sure what you want to get out of it? To me it's just a place to share photos with other like-minded people. Saying that, I have sold a few photos via Flickr too. I have also knocked back numerous approaches from various people wanting to use my images for free!!
 
I've been using Flickr for about a year or so thanks to the free Pro account that comes with my broadband service. By posting my shots in relevant groups and getting some contacts it hasn't taken long to get a bit of exposure. In a year I've had over 14000 views with very little effort.
 
sypix said:
...I have also knocked back numerous approaches from various people wanting to use my images for free!!
Click to expand...

I've had the same thing... on more than one occasion! :) One was from a catholic church group asking for a picture of the missus to use for an anti-suicide poster! :thinking:

The only organisation that gets images for free from me is the RNLI but that's mainly because I have a special affection for them and have friends on three different crews... I've never been rescued though before anyone says it! :D

Si
 
Great advice as above. Join groups, add photos, add tag words. Comment on others as well and add people who's work you find interesting. :)

On another note was at a talk with Martin Parr and he thinks that flickr is the most useful thing to a photographer starting out and regularly finds new photographers on it :eek:
 
Hi Fi

I've just noticed your post at the top of the Home board. :wave:

I've had a Flickr pro account for a couple of years - and I'm STILL trying to work out what to use it for. :lol: I sometimes 'tag' - but I'm not even sure if I'm doing it effectively, and I've only joined groups I've been invited into! I don't even post on TP via Flickr - although the rate my Gallery is filling up, I think I'll have to. :(

After the first few images, I took the decision to size them the same as I do for TP. There seem to be concerns about misuse of high-res images. I don't think they look any worse for that, and it saves me doing the job twice if I want to post them here. :)

Jean
 
sypix said:
:wave: Hi Fi. Thanks for joining the group. Have added you as a contact.

Not sure what you want to get out of it? To me it's just a place to share photos with other like-minded people. Saying that, I have sold a few photos via Flickr too. I have also knocked back numerous approaches from various people wanting to use my images for free!!
Click to expand...

Well thanks for having the group in the first place - I love a zoo visit so it's interesting to see all the other shots the people have got at various places. I'm the same as you really - just looking for other like minded people and a bit of inspiration for my own efforts. I can't imagine anyone wanting to use my photo's (free or otherwise) but you never know!

Spiritflier said:
I've had the same thing... on more than one occasion! :) One was from a catholic church group asking for a picture of the missus to use for an anti-suicide poster! :thinking:

That's actually very rude of them!

The only organisation that gets images for free from me is the RNLI but that's mainly because I have a special affection for them and have friends on three different crews... I've never been rescued though before anyone says it! :D

Si
Click to expand...

You don't need to justify why you let them use your shots - they are your's to give away and the RNLI do great work.
 
Vic said:
Great advice as above. Join groups, add photos, add tag words. Comment on others as well and add people who's work you find interesting. :)

On another note was at a talk with Martin Parr and he thinks that flickr is the most useful thing to a photographer starting out and regularly finds new photographers on it :eek:
Click to expand...

Well I don't have any big expectations of being discovered but I'm sure it is a useful platform for some people.

I get that you get out what you put in (like here) so I think I need to be a bit more active myself in making comments and joining groups. I'm finding the stats very interesting - seeing what people look at most could probably teach me a lot. I often post 2 or 3 shots here and people prefer the one I didn't think much of so I've obviously got a bit to learn about CC'ing my own photo's!

jeangenie said:
Hi Fi

I've just noticed your post at the top of the Home board. :wave:

I've had a Flickr pro account for a couple of years - and I'm STILL trying to work out what to use it for. :lol: I sometimes 'tag' - but I'm not even sure if I'm doing it effectively, and I've only joined groups I've been invited into! I don't even post on TP via Flickr - although the rate my Gallery is filling up, I think I'll have to. :(

After the first few images, I took the decision to size them the same as I do for TP. There seem to be concerns about misuse of high-res images. I don't think they look any worse for that, and it saves me doing the job twice if I want to post them here. :)

Jean
Click to expand...

Hi Jean - how are you?

I've made the effort yesterday to tag everything apart from the family snaps that I put on for family / friends to see. I don't know if I'm doing it very effectively but we will see. I actually use Pix.ie for posting shots here - mainly because I am too lazy to re-size before uploading. Maybe I should give that a bit more thought :thinking:
 
I don't bother resizing for flickr.

I use a pro account and post the medium size image to here. I also link that image so that people can click on it and see the larger version. When I used photobucket I had to resize first and kept forgetting.

Andy
 
daddy day care said:
I don't bother resizing for flickr.

I use a pro account and post the medium size image to here. I also link that image so that people can click on it and see the larger version. When I used photobucket I had to resize first and kept forgetting.

Andy
Click to expand...

I've just realised I could be using the medium sized - is that different on the pro account or have I just never noticed it before? I can use 639x800 from pix.ie but the last few I posted I've actually gone for the smaller 399x500 which is basically the same as flickr medium sized anyway. What a numpty!
 
Hi All :wave:

I've been using Flickr for sometime now. Initially it was a way of sharing my photos with friends and family, whilst having a backup too.

Since then I use it to upload pics while on holiday for two main reasons;
- so people can see what we're up to
- so should I lose my camera, laptop etc I don't lose ALL my photos.

I've joined a few groups, one of which a small local group, where we have a monthly competition. No prizes other than winner chooses next months theme. Just helps you get a little more creative and also great for critique.
 
Daysleeper40 said:
Hi Jean - how are you?

I've made the effort yesterday to tag everything apart from the family snaps that I put on for family / friends to see. I don't know if I'm doing it very effectively but we will see. I actually use Pix.ie for posting shots here - mainly because I am too lazy to re-size before uploading. Maybe I should give that a bit more thought :thinking:
Click to expand...

I'm fine, thanks, Fi, and just about hanging in on the 52 again, with some weeks being really uninspiring, but other weeks just working like a dream. Much the same as last year, really, but I still find it makes me take shots I wouldn't have thought of, so it's well worth the pain of the 'Grunge' weeks. :lol:

Well done on getting all your images tagged. I've just been having a browse round your Flickr and found too many shots I liked to comment individually, but the primates are definite favourites. :thumbs: Have you thought about giving titles to your images, rather than their file reference?

Will you put the shots that you post here on Pix.ie and Flickr? At what point do you resize them? I just make a low-res version after pping and saving and store them all in a 'Low Res folder', under their file reference. I start a new folder each year. It gets a bit unwieldy after a few months, but at least everything in is numerical order (I never zero the file nos on my camera) and it's easy to scroll through the thumbnails. :) I'm sure other people have got much slicker workflows! :D

Jean
 
I recently upgraded to Flickr Pro too, partly for the unlimited uploads and partly because I didn't like the payout of the profile on the freebie version. Plus I have found looking at the statistics is bringing up some very random backlinks!

I wasn't sure how to make the best of it either, and judging by some of my contacts' comment numbers and contact lists I'm nowhere near a "pro" at it, but I'm happy to report my list of contacts is growing! I found adding lots of keywords of adding your photos to lots of groups has really been the key. People will then add you as a contact and you can add them in kind.

I have the web version on my mobile also and find this a lot easier and faster to use when commenting on my contact's own work.

Hope this helps! I'll look out for you on there, I'm listed under lucy_hill

Best wishes

Lucy
 
jeangenie said:
I'm fine, thanks, Fi, and just about hanging in on the 52 again, with some weeks being really uninspiring, but other weeks just working like a dream. Much the same as last year, really, but I still find it makes me take shots I wouldn't have thought of, so it's well worth the pain of the 'Grunge' weeks. :lol:

Well done on getting all your images tagged. I've just been having a browse round your Flickr and found too many shots I liked to comment individually, but the primates are definite favourites. :thumbs: Have you thought about giving titles to your images, rather than their file reference?

Will you put the shots that you post here on Pix.ie and Flickr? At what point do you resize them? I just make a low-res version after pping and saving and store them all in a 'Low Res folder', under their file reference. I start a new folder each year. It gets a bit unwieldy after a few months, but at least everything in is numerical order (I never zero the file nos on my camera) and it's easy to scroll through the thumbnails. :) I'm sure other people have got much slicker workflows! :D

Jean
Click to expand...

I have to hang my head in shame as I havn't looked at anyones 52 thread in ages - there are still so many of them it's difficult to know where to start! Good to hear you are still in the game though :thumbs:

I do upload most of my shots to Flickr and Pix.ie but now I've realised I can post straight from Flickr I'll probably just use that for everything and make Pix.ie a bit more discerning. I already put some stuff that I don't fancy everyone (family / frined wise) seeing on Pix.ie - like anything that involves personal stuff or me semi-clad!

I don't re-size at all at the moment and my file system leaves quite a lot to be desired. I need to sort it out really but it's starting to look like quite a big job...

digiphotouk said:
I recently upgraded to Flickr Pro too, partly for the unlimited uploads and partly because I didn't like the payout of the profile on the freebie version. Plus I have found looking at the statistics is bringing up some very random backlinks!

I wasn't sure how to make the best of it either, and judging by some of my contacts' comment numbers and contact lists I'm nowhere near a "pro" at it, but I'm happy to report my list of contacts is growing! I found adding lots of keywords of adding your photos to lots of groups has really been the key. People will then add you as a contact and you can add them in kind.

I have the web version on my mobile also and find this a lot easier and faster to use when commenting on my contact's own work.

Hope this helps! I'll look out for you on there, I'm listed under lucy_hill

Best wishes

Lucy
Click to expand...

Thanks Lucy - I've already seem the positive effects of joining a few groups so I will definately keep doing that. Off to have a look at your flickr now... you may have a new contact soon ;)
 
I think to make the most out of flickr you need to like the "community" of it. Flickr gets a lot of bad rep for having security flaws (which I won't dispute) which it wiggles itself around by saying it's a "photo sharing" website rather than a photo critique website.
 
I had 4 explored in my first few weeks, this is typical. As you're there longer it becomes harder - it's about getting new people to comment on and fave your stuff. If you give out a lot of comments and favourites, people are likely to reciprocate. The more people who you are a contact of, the better. Use good titles, tags, and don't be lazy about descriptions. Don't submit to 50000 groups if you want to get into explore, submit to just a few where you're likely to get a lot of feedback and comments. Geotag your stuff too. Bottom line, the more effort you put into flickr the more likely you are to be repaid.

Feel free to add me as a contact!

The most important thing? Take shots people are likely to like :)
 
I use it primarily as a hosting solution, I don't use it for critique at all as I find people only ever comment positively and usually just a couple of words so just not use that way.

Joining groups and adding your photos to them as well as tagging all your photos will increase you hits. If you do neither of these you will get almost zero hits. I don't use it to promote myself though, I just find it handy to link to, particularly the slideshow element.

^^^ good point about about finding out which of your photos are getting more clicks. Interesting rather than being particularly useful though imo as I take photographs that I like rather than satisfying others.
 
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