Hull flickr meeting and a simple flickr guide
flickr is a superb website for sharing and learning about photography. It really is huge, and it is quite easy to get lost… but do persevere and have a look around. I thought I would outline a few of the things that I have learnt about it over the past couple of years, so you can dive right in.
Pro Account
This is essential in my books – only $25, so less than £13 with the rather good exchange rate at the moment (BTW, if you need a good currency convert, there is only one – easy to use and fast!). The pro account gives you all the things below. £13 for 12 months, I think this is a bargain!
Uploading Photos
There are a number of ways you can upload your photos. You can do it from flickr itself, but this is not the recommended route. If you using Macs (we salute you!), there are a couple of much better options. Firstly, a plugin for iPhotos which you can find here. Or, try flickr uploadr, which is the one I am using the most now having switched from iPhoto to Lightroom.
Tagging
For each photo you upload to your account, you can “tag” it with appropriate words. This allows you to find it again quickly, but more importantly, lets others find it as well. Some users go potty when tagging and one photo can have about 30 tags. I would suggest using a maximum of 10 and a minimum of 2. It can be descriptive, location, colour, person etc etc. The sky is the limit!
Groups
As well as tagging, you can also send pictures you have uploaded to different groups, having first joined those groups. This is the wonderful community aspect of flickr – you can join groups that interest you, and believe me, there are some diverse groups out there, so you will be spoilt for choice! Within groups there are people, dicussions (like a forum) and the photos themselves.
Explore
If you have a spare 5 minutes, just click here, right now! Explore showcases the photos that are most interesting - the ones that people are favouriting, or commenting on. The standard of photography is just superb and you can click away and have a look at all the latest shots.
Contacts
As well as groups, there are also contacts – the people who post the photos. You can add these people to be contacts, or friends, depending on whether you really know them or not. You can then see when they post new photos (very handy) and also send them messages. Again, this really adds to the sense of community and you can get to know people, stay in touch and interact.
Meeting people
Groups, as I mentioned earlier, can be based on pretty much anything. However, one of the best things is that places – towns, cities, regions, often have groups and they sometimes organise meets where people get together, talk photography (and other stuff) and take some photos!
Hull is no exception and I had the pleasure of attending a meet last week, which was excellent and met some great people.
So, tagging, groups, exploring, contacts and meeting up with fellow flickr folks gives you a huge amount of scope! It really is a a great site with many features. Please feel free to point out some more good stuff in the comments and I will amend this to reflect the items I have missed (and there are many of them!).
Technorati Tags: flickr, hull, photography
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10 Responses to “Hull flickr meeting and a simple flickr guide”
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A great article Jon. I think you have accurately summed up all the best bits.
Meeting people through flickr is by far my favourate bit. I have learned more from hanging around with other photographers than I have from reading books and forums.
Spot on. As well as the social aspect I have derived a lot of inspiration from flickr, especially in the local groups. It’s great to see other photographers’ interpretation of familiar scenes and locations. Flickr also provides a very positive and suportive environment in which to experiment, both technically and creatively.
Dunc, Jamie, thanks very much for the feedback. You are both right – the learning aspect is very important and the people play a huge part of the community experience.
Jon, you have hit the nail on the head with your article.
Inspiration, knowledge, support, creativity & community are all part of the flickr experience.
It never grows stale like some forums do.
Perhaps you should place a warning to prepare the unsuspecting of flickritis, when the bug bites
Just to second Ian’s point, Flickritis is a real danger! I joined Flickr just so I had somewhere to put all the snaps I was taking on my cameraphone and now I’ve bought a DSLR, a bunch of accessories, have just bought my first additional lens to supplement the kit lens, and have an extensive shopping list for more. I’m also in danger of turning every holiday, day trip and even night out into a photo shoot! I’m learning all the time, and the community aspect of Flickr is a great help with that.
LOL @ theholyllama! You are so right!! I tell you what is even more dangerous, the Canon forums, especially the lens and body sections – especially when people post up unboxing and gear shots.
I’m afraid I have fallen for these tempting posts many a time, including at the moment ……. watch this space
Apparently my other half tells me I was lost to Flickr at the start of 2006 and I haven’t been the same since!
I bore people at work with it as well!
It’s great to get inspiration from others on Flickr and also feedback from others helps enormously.
LOL @ “I bore people at work with it as well!” – me too! There are still a huge number of people who are ripe to be converted and who have never heard of it.
Great post mate. Given that you’re in a plane on the way here at this very moment you won’t see this until you’re at my house. Welcome.
Morning Richard!
Thanks so much for the amazing steak last night! It’s great to meet you ans Anne at last.
I am now at your place
Best,
Jon