My Power Flickr Workshop (previously to have been held at CubeSpace) has been rescheduled to Wednesday, June 24 at souk. The time is the same (we’ll start at 6:30pm) and the material is unchanged – see the listing on Upcoming to find out more or RSVP. Come join me to learn all sorts of great Flickr tips and tricks (and check out souk, a great work environment for those wanting an informal hot-desk type space).
Power Flickr Workshop
May 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I’m excited to announce Power Flickr, a workshop that’s all about the awesomeness that is Flickr. Power Flickr is a 2-hour discussion on using Flickr for all sorts of purposes beyond simple image hosting.
We’ll talk about a wide range of tips and tricks, aimed at both folks wanting to promote their photography as well as those looking to find the best material on Flickr. There will be a focus on Flickr’s community features including how to network with other Flickr users with similar interests.
A sample of topics to be discussed:
- Flickr’s contacts features explained
- how to find the best photos on Flickr
- all about Explore, what it is and tips for getting noticed
- how to make sure your contacts see your best photos
- finding relevant communities to contribute and interact
- driving traffic to your Flickr stream, via Flickr
- sharing your Flickr content elsewhere including blogs and slideshows
- third party tools and Greasemonkey scripts
I’m also open to exploring Flickr topics suggested by you! Leave a comment here with your question or area of interest and I’ll try to address as many as possible during the evening.
How much is the workshop fee? That’s up to you. No fee will be collected beforehand… attend the workshop and then choose how much to donate afterwards. We’ll be able to accept cash payment onsite or you can contribute electronically with a credit card (payment info will be provided at the workshop).
Please RSVP on Upcoming so that we have a general headcount.
Bring your laptop (or not). All skill levels are welcome although a basic familiarity with Flickr will be helpful. Any questions? Drop me an email or leave a comment.
7 Fun Ways to Explore Flickr
April 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Flickr is a great site with some great photography. Most everyone is familiar with the process of uploading photos or viewing photos of a particular person, but there are a lot of cool ways to find interesting images on Flickr. Here’s a quick list of some of my favorite ways to explore Flickr:
- Through the Explore pages. Flickr uses an “interestingness” algorithm to determine what appear to be the 500 most interesting photos uploaded each day, and they’re showcased through Explore. Take a look around. There’s some amazing material. I’m proud of my photos which have been featured in Explore.
- Browse by an interesting tag. Simply go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/tagnamehere – for example, check out recent photos tagged as “reflection”.
- Browse by a hot/trending tag. What’s hot right now? Go to the popular tags page to see.
- Browse by location. Fickr’s Places area allows one to find photos from a specific location (based on the geotagging data associated with individual photos).
- Find a group on a topic of interest. Name any topic and there’s probably a Flickr group. Want to see photos of fire engines? Portland? Monkeys? The color red? It’s there. And if you manage to find a topic not already covered, you can always create a new group!
- Browse some random Flickr photos using the Random Photo Browser from BigHugeLabs
- Also from BigHugeLabs (they have a bunch of Flickr tools), a photo wall that provides a dynamic, always-changing display of photos being added to Flickr. You never know what might pop up or catch your eye.
Did I miss something? How do you like to meander through Flickr?
Editing to Appeal to the Flickr-Browsing Crowd
February 5, 2009 By 2 Comments
I’ve had around 30 photos featured in Flickr’s Explore section, which showcases the most interesting 500 photos submitted each day. When one browses Explore, there are some obvious patterns, topics, and even colors which seem to come up frequently. Certain types of photos do well.
One of my more popular images is Under Dolores, a photo taken while looking through a culvert/walkway underneath a railroad yard in Los Angeles. The Flickr-ed image is a departure from the out-of-the-camera shot and I thought it might be interesting to take a quick look at the process:
First, as from the camera:
After adjusting the exposure:
Finally, applying tone and contrast adjustments:
Was the image altered? Heck yes. Did I alter the image specifically to give it more pop and make it an eye-catcher? Yes.
Is that wrong? There’s the debate. Personally I have no problem with folks who adjust images to create something new. I’m not trying to pass it off as some accurate representation of reality, but rather as a piece of art. Most of my photos aren’t altered this heavily, but this one seems to lead to a lot of conversations, so I thought I’d post a bit about how it got to the final state.
Great Flickr Find: Post-Its by gracie’s ephemera
December 14, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Every once in a while I stumble across something unexpected and amazing on Flickr. Check out this set of photos of post-its by Flickr user gracie’s ephemera. Wow.
