[TaoMaas]

To me, much of photography is about making choices. What subject to shoot...in what light...with which lens...from where...how to compose the shot...etc.. It's all part of showing the world your view of something. So, when someone posts 50 shots of the same field of sunflowers, it makes me think that they don't really know what they're wanting to say with their photo. It's fine to have more than one shot if they say different things. Maybe a wide shot that shows off the expanse of color in the field vs a close-up that shows the texture and make-up of the flower. But several dozen shots that are simply a slight change in position...uh, no.

[Rupert]

How do you manage your online galleries?

I have around 7-8K photos in my Flickr. I seldom if ever "clean it up". I shoot for memories and gave up being a "Pro" ages ago, which is probably why I keep shooting. Memories are easy to capture, and you don't have to worry about posting a "technically correct" photo.

I post the Good, Bad, and Ugly....and as I browse through the past I am glad I do. Nowadays I mostly shoot with a Toy Camera, which makes it easier to shoot and to shoot more often....storing those memories for future viewing!

Shooting shouldn't be a "job" unless you are a Pro. It should be fun and rewarding. Shoot it ...post it!

Regards!

[TaoMaas]

Shooting shouldn't be a "job" unless you are a Pro. It should be fun and rewarding. Shoot it ...post it!

This is very true. But if someone has even the slightest hope of selling something through their Flicker account...they need to edit. I think it really boils down to whether a person is "saving" or "posting". If you're simply stashing pics on Flicker to save them...save everything. But if you're posting to show what you can do, you're going to lose viewers within the first 10 shots if they're all the same thing.

[BrianR]

I don't see any need to prune my flickr account, looking at it as a whole gives me a progression of what I've been doing. I only have 270 photos spanning 5 years though. I wouldn't consider using it as a portfolio, it started mostly as a place to put stuff shot for my local camera club but now I try to put up something interesting every few weeks, not necessarily my best or favorite.

This is very true. But if someone has even the slightest hope of selling something through their Flicker account....

Is this something that actually happens?

I've seen people advertising their services and link to flickr as their 'portfolio' which then contains hundreds or thousands of images but honestly this doesn't look professional. A small and solid portfolio on a dedicated website always looks tighter imo, flickr or other social sharing sites seem like more of a stream of consciousness kind of thing.

I agree about not wanting to wade through multiple shots of the exact same thing, people have different uses for flickr I suppose.

[severalsnakes]

I don't see any need to prune my flickr account, looking at it as a whole gives me a progression of what I've been doing. I only have 270 photos spanning 5 years though. I wouldn't consider using it as a portfolio, it started mostly as a place to put stuff shot for my local camera club but now I try to put up something interesting every few weeks, not necessarily my best or favorite.



Is this something that actually happens?

I've seen people advertising their services and link to flickr as their 'portfolio' which then contains hundreds or thousands of images but honestly this doesn't look professional. A small and solid portfolio on a dedicated website always looks tighter imo, flickr or other social sharing sites seem like more of a stream of consciousness kind of thing.

I agree about not wanting to wade through multiple shots of the exact same thing, people have different uses for flickr I suppose.

I agree, Brian, that if you really want to be viewed as a professional, you better have a dedicated website. Any crumb-bum can get a digital camera, (free) software, and a Flickr account and make STRIKING images. If they judiciously choose to only show the best ones, that doesn't necessarily mean they're any more professional than I am. I have enough pressure at my real job. I don't want to stress out about uploading two or three really similar images to my Flickr photostream.

[Rupert]

This is very true. But if someone has even the slightest hope of selling something through their Flicker account...they need to edit. I think it really boils down to whether a person is "saving" or "posting". If you're simply stashing pics on Flicker to save them...save everything. But if you're posting to show what you can do, you're going to lose viewers within the first 10 shots if they're all the same thing.

It would scare me to death if someone wanted to buy one of my photos from Flickr! What kind of person would want the stuff I post......legally blind....mentally unstable? Anyhow, stealing photos is so easy why would they want to buy one?
I was once at a store where I shop often and there was a new Mgr that I became friendly with. As we talked I told him of my photo passion and gave him a card with my Flickr & Pbase gallery internet locations. He was in a new home and had just moved here from out of state. A few weeks later, he stopped me and thanked me for the websites. He said his wife loved many of my photos, had downloaded them and had them printed and framed for their new home.
What the heck! If she liked them that much, why not!
At that time I was still plumbing, and if I wanted money all I had to do was go to work and make more money in a few hours than I could make in a year with my photos!

Fun, memories, pleasure..... and mingling with you guys/girls here......that's what it's really all about for me! I do "hallucinate" at times, but never about being a Pro shooter....even my dysfunctional brain knows better than that!

Regards!

[severalsnakes]

It would scare me to death if someone wanted to buy one of my photos from Flickr! What kind of person would want the stuff I post......legally blind....mentally unstable?

LMAO!

Fun, memories, pleasure..... and mingling with you guys/girls here......that's what it's really all about for me!

My sentiments, also. Thanks!

[BrianR]

I was once at a store where I shop often and there was a new Mgr that I became friendly with. As we talked I told him of my photo passion and gave him a card with my Flickr & Pbase gallery internet locations. He was in a new home and had just moved here from out of state. A few weeks later, he stopped me and thanked me for the websites. He said his wife loved many of my photos, had downloaded them and had them printed and framed for their new home.
What the heck! If she liked them that much, why not!

Sorry Rupert, but this was incredibly rude and presumptuous of them. The idea that some people feel anything on the web is free for the taking makes me feel a little sick to my stomach and despair for humanity.

I get that the interest is flattering and I get that you didn't care about making money here. But imo the decent thing to do would be at least to ask before decorating their house with your work (I'm assuming here that you didn't OK it in advance).

[6BQ5]

All of my images are open to the public for consumption. The last thing I want to do is become a pro. I think the stress would wreck me. None of my images have any watermarks or the like. Like Rupert, I would be flattered to know someone thought my images were good enough to "take". I would be more concerned for whatever bad karma would come to the taker than about the whatever financial opportunity I missed.

I look at my Flickr account as a presence of my creativity. Art for its own sake. An exercise for the soul. Shutter therapy as some forum members here call it. I look at it and say that I did that. So I take it seriously enough for its own sake and to give the medium the respect it deserves.

[MadMathMind]

I try to prune the images I keep to ones I think are mostly interesting. My standards are increasing for that.

I don't see my Flickr gallery as something worth dumping a lot of time into, so I just upload everything from my set. I keep it organized into albums so it's manageable to view, but mostly I promote the best images by linking them here. Posting everything gives some additional feedback as well; sometimes people like photos that I don't consider my best.

[luftfluss]

...meaningless shots of cats...

I understand the meaning of each of these words, but not when they are strung together like this.

[cxdoo]

I don't think I'm in danger of flooding my Flickr account any time soon. However even if I was, I'm not sure I'd start pruning; I use it to host images I post here, and many of those mundane shots ended up in Alphabet Race or I spy... threads, and I don't want to break all those links.
I'm not a pro or even aspiring to build a portfolio; I use Flickr just as a placeholder for whatever I want to share, be it banal or 'art'.

[LensBeginner]

It would scare me to death if someone wanted to buy one of my photos from Flickr! What kind of person would want the stuff I post......legally blind....mentally unstable? Anyhow, stealing photos is so easy why would they want to buy one?

You don't need to steal, actually...
There are so many Open Source pictures available... and then if you have a blog or something there's always that Getty deal where you embed a viewer and you can show some images they make available for free... and there's lots, even real-time event coverage...

[stevebrot]

But if someone has even the slightest hope of selling something through their Flicker account...they need to edit.

Either that or do a competent job of tagging and description. The license inquiries I have had have all been as a result of a topical search.


Steve

---------- Post added 11-15-14 at 02:19 PM ----------

He said his wife loved many of my photos, had downloaded them and had them printed and framed for their new home.

Ha! Ha!

And that is why I typically don't upload a photo at greater than 1000px on either dimension. Small stuff is generally not very usable for commercial purposes except in a collage.


Steve

[LensBeginner]

*snip*

Ha! Ha!

And that is why I typically don't upload a photo at greater than 1000px on either dimension. Small stuff is generally not very usable for commercial purposes except in a collage.


Steve

You hear those stories...
And then people make fun of me when I post 1024px (heavily) watermarked images!