Flickr: Contacts
Flickr is a social photo sharing community, and what community could call itself social without some person-to-person interaction? When I first joined Flickr I wasn’t too sure if I’d use the Contacts feature very much. I knew a few other people on there… maybe half a dozen. I didn’t understand why I’d care too much about Contacts. (for the rest of this article, when I use Contacts with a capital C, I mean the Flickr Contacts feature, as opposed to people in general)
I misunderstood. I didn’t realize the power of Contacts.
How to Add Interesting Flickr Contacts
There are millions of photographers on Flickr. A bunch of them are really good. As you browse the website and come across interesting photos, it makes sense to take a look at the rest of that member’s portfolio. When I find someone who routinely takes interesting photos, I add them as a contact. To add someone as a contact:
- If you’re viewing a photo, click their username in the upper right side. This will take you to their recent photo stream.
- From their photo stream, click on “Profile” near the top middle of the screen.
- Finally, click on “Add *username* as a contact” in the upper right. You can optionally mark someone as a Friend or Family member, but usually you’ll just want to leave them as a regular contact so you’ll just click the OK button.
That’s it. Now they’re on your contact list. So what does that get you?
Using Your Contacts to Keep Up with Great Photos
Presumably you added someone as a contact because they take great pictures. Flickr provides an easy way to keep up with the newest photos posted by your contacts. There’s a couple ways to access the Contacts view: either click on “Contacts” in the top menu (next to Home, You, and Organize) or from the home screen click on the “Photos from your Contacts” link in the middle on the right side.
From there, you’ll see a page with thumbnails of photos recently uploaded by your contacts. By default, it will show you up to 5 recent photos for each Contact, in reverse chronological order (newest first). At the bottom of the screen (right under the numbered screen (previous/next) links) you will find a link to only show one photo per contact. This can be useful if you have an extremely large number of contacts, but the tradeoff is that you’ll only see one of each contact’s photos.
Important Tip: Best Photos Last
So… if your contacts screen only shows the most recent five (or one) photos, what does that mean when you upload your own photos? Make sure that your best photos are the five (or one) newest. When folks view their contacts page, that will guarantee they will see your best work.
Reciprocation: More Eyes
When you find people who consistently present good photographs, add them as a contact so you can enjoy their work. Often you’ll find they reciprocate the gesture, which means you’ll now have more eyes on your work. Contacts can be powerful, but only if you use them.
Film vs. Digital
Whether you think that film is the only way to create a good photograph, or digital is the only way to create a good photograph… you’re wrong.
The Tripod: More Than Just Image Stabilization
One of the tools in any professional photographer’s arsenal is a good-quality tripod. It’s definitely something you should consider from the standpoint of minimizing any camera shake while shooting. But there’s another reason to use a tripod and it’s arguably of equal importance (especially for the beginning and intermediate photographer):
Using a tripod forces you to plan your shot.
The use of a tripod takes time. Even if you’re fast, it will take you several seconds to setup the tripod, attach the camera, and make some quick head adjustments. In an ideal situation, you have at least a few minutes to get things set up. During this time, you can look at various things such as what is around you or any obstacles which might interfere with your shot. As you put the camera onto the tripod, you can experiment with different compositions to see which one works best.
Perhaps the most important issue is that the use of a tripod to create a well-composed image prevents you from making hasty last-minute changes. When the tripod is planted firmly on the ground, your camera is locked into the head, and you’ve adjusted things so they’re “just right”, you can’t quickly change things at the last minute. Over the past several years I’ve found that generally when I change things just before the shot, I end up disappointed with the results and wishing I’d gone with the original plan.
Use a tripod. Plan your shot. Go with your plan.
*photo by [martin] on Flickr
Lose Any Photo Knowledge Credibility in One Sentence
Today I observed something on an internet photography mailing list that irritated me. Why? Because in the first sentence of a reply, someone instantly lost all credibility.
How did they do it?
The query to the list was one of processing RAW files. Someone new to the digital world was hitting some speed bumps in dealing with the RAW files from their Nikon D80.
Can you guess the reply that made someone look like an idiot?
Yep… that’s right. The individual responded that the poster should “get a real camera that uses film” and that would solve all of his RAW file issues.
Here’s a hint to avoid making yourself look like an ass on the ‘net: telling someone to switch from film to digital, or vice versa, is never a good first-sentence response to any problem.
Composition: Lemons Into Lemonade
Burnside over KOIN - click to view larger on Flickr
Last night I went out for a couple hours and walked along the Willamette River in Portland to take some night photos. Once I got there I noticed one arm of the Burnside Bridge was lifted and I remembered they were performing maintenance this weekend.
At first I was disappointed. A good bridge photo should be symmetrical, right? Either a lowered bridge, or with both arms raised? I walked back and forth a bit along the river looking for some sort of composition that would make me happy.
Eventually I settled on this… looking at the raised bridge arm, with the KOIN tower visible directly underneath the raised leaf. When you’re presented with a situation that wasn’t as you’d hoped, spend a few minutes looking at things and you will likely find something worthy of a shot.
Organization: Just Do It
I’m going to borrow a slogan from Nike and suggest it as a mantra for organization of photographs. Just Do It.
Whether your photography medium is film, slides, or digital, as you take more photos you’re going to end up with storage and organization needs. I know a couple guys who have gradually accumulated thousands of photos which they organize simply by burning them to CD and writing on the CD. I suppose that’s better than a complete lack of any system, but when you need to find a photo, it’s a challenge to guess when it was shot and to figure out which disc it might be on.
When it comes to storing digital images, there are several programs specifically for that purpose. I use IMatch and will likely write about it in the future. Regardless of the organization system you choose, here are four things you should keep in mind:
- The system should allow for images to easily be found my multiple criteria. Those criteria might include date taken, subject matter, photographic style, time of day, and other information specific to the types of photos you take. For example, I take a lot of photos of trains, and I can easily find those of a specific railroad.
- The system must scale. What works for keeping track of 100 photos might not be practical when that collection grows to a few thousand. Choose an organization method that allows for expansion both in the quantity of photos, as well as the types of material being tracked, that is, to have new categories or ways to find the material.
- The system should be easily backed up. If you’re using a software program, there should be a feature to backup the database. If you’re storing something in the physical sense (slides, prints, negatives, etc), your organization scheme should allow for a duplicate set of material.
- The system should be able to be used fast enough to be effective. If you avoid cataloging your photos because it’s too hard or too time-consuming, the system won’t get used, and you might as well not have any system at all.
Spending a few minutes to develop an organizational system will pay off in reduced frustration and time spent looking for photos in the future. In a future post, I’ll dive further into the world of digital asset management software and offer some specific information on my program of choice, IMatch. Regardless of the system you choose, the important thing is to have system, and use it.
Flickr: Favorites
One of the great features of Flickr is the “favorites” function, which lets you easily mark your favorite photos so they can be found easily in the future. As you browse Flickr and look at images, when you see a great one you can click the “Add to Faves” star above the photo and it is instantly added to your favorite list.
Favorites can be useful to other people as well. For example, if you find someone who has some great photos, it can be interesting to view their favorites and see what type of photos they like. The image above? That’s a screen capture of the most recent images I’ve added as favorites. Click the image to view my entire favorites list.
Finding Material: After the Waters Dry
As discussed previously, the best way to improve your photography is to take lots of pictures, and learn from what you shoot. But what should you shoot?
Look around. Look up, look down. I found the subject for this photo as I casually glanced at a water fountain near a light rail station in Portland. The fountain was dry, and as water had evaporated the various deposits left behind formed a colorful series of lines and rings around the bottom of the bowl.
There’s plenty of material to shoot if you look around.
Doing it Just Like Doug
One of the photography blogs I read regularly is Doug Plummer. Yesterday he posted a piece titled How to make photos just like me in response to a reader’s inquiry about what camera settings he uses to capture some images. Doug correctly points out that the technical aspects of photography are but one piece of the bigger picture [pun intended].
Creating a good photograph is a combination of many factors including technical aspects (such as shutter speed and lighting), photography knowledge (such as composition techniques), and sometimes a bit of luck.
A photographer who wishes to grow will work on mastery of not just the technical knowledge, but the art as well. The technical knowledge is a foundation… you can’t take excellent photos without having at least some understanding of the science, but likewise you won’t consistently take excellent photos without also studying the art and learning about those aspects.
Going DSLR: Budget for the Glass
One of the biggest mistakes that people make when getting into the world of a DSLR camera is to spend a majority of their budget on the camera body and then skimp when it comes to lens purchases. I made this mistake myself: when I purchased my Canon Digital Rebel in 2003 I spent about $1000 for the body but then purchased a $200 lens (the Canon EF 75-300mm). I ended up with a good camera body, but a zoom lens that was soft at either end of the range.
I’ll blame it on two factors: I hadn’t done enough research which would’ve warned me away from this lens, and I liked the price. When it comes to lenses, however, you generally get what you pay for, and I got a mediocre lens in exchange for the low price.
When you are considering a DSLR purchase, be sure to budget for some quality lenses. Buying a $1000 camera body that can take great photos isn’t much fun when your results are hampered by poor-quality lenses. My favorite site to read lens reviews is Fred Miranda, so if you’re wondering what to purchase head over there and read what others had to say. Most of the lens manufacturers offer at least a couple lenses at each focal length, sometimes you have three options. You may not need the multi-thousand-dollar pro lens at f/2.8, but you probably don’t want the cheap low-quality lens at f/5.6 either.
Do your research, save your money, and purchase quality glass. It should last many years and you’ll be happy that you spent a few extra dollars to get the most out of your photography equipment.
