Flickr is an online photography community where you can upload your images to share with the world or to keep private (there are settings to keep your images completely private or to share with just family and friends or to share with the whole internet). There are organizing features, such as tagging photos, putting images into sets and galleries, and other such things. As far as I know, it is one of the most popular photography communities online. It is free to make an account, but you will need to go through Yahoo, if I am not mistaken.
Putting my photos into different groups, especially the 365 Days group, helped me to stay motivated and find inspiration. There is a camaraderie that develops when you see new photos day after day from the same group of people that are going through the same struggles that you are. Posting a self-portrait every day is tiring, but when there is an entire community of strangers wanting you to succeed, you are that much more eager to press on.
A sort of sister-community to the 365 Days group is We're Here! Users sign up to pick themes for every day of the year (to "infiltrate" various Flickr groups), so if you are stuck with coming up with a new idea in your 365, you can easily find a prompt that others will be attempting, too! I love seeing how others have interpreted a theme and this is the perfect community for that.
Getting artistic feedback is another benefit of Flickr. While there are many novices, there are also many seasoned photographers that may leave helpful feedback for your photographic growth. There are several groups that you can submit your images to that are specifically for artists looking for critique, but if you are especially sensitive, I wouldn't recommend this. Remember to be polite, if you want someone to check out your stuff, ask nicely and don't expect anything. People have lives outside of Flickr and if they are an especially popular photographer they probably don't have time to respond to everyone that contacts them.
Posting on Flickr gives you the opportunity to have your work seen by an audience it wouldn't have had if you just posted it on your personal blog. Every day, Flickr selects the top 100 "interesting" photos of the day and these images get LOTS of attention through the "explore" feature. I've been explored a few times and have gotten a lot of positive feedback and exposure through it. It is a huge ego boost and big motivator to keep producing work that you are proud of. Not all amazing photos are explored, though. Flickr has a mysterious formula for calculating "interestingness", so don't be discouraged if you don't get explored.
Quick tips about Flickr:
- Read the rules of the group you want to submit your picture too.
Often people, in their excitement to get comments on their images, submit their photos to every group they belong to. However, if your image doesn't fit with the guidelines of the group, you will just be annoying other group members.
- To get comments, you need to leave comments.
Like most online communities, you need to be an active participant to get attention! If you want people to check out your work, browse other users' photostreams and give them feedback. This won't guarantee they will check out your work, but it raises the chances that they will be curious and click your icon.
- If you want a chance to be "explored"...
I can't pretend to know how the "explore" system works, but this helpful info posted by a Flickr user has several tips. The ones I follow: don't upload more than five images a day, don't put any one image in more than five groups its first day of being uploaded, and TAG TAG TAG!
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