Is there any point to Flickr?

Big Nick

Big Nick

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After being recently banned from a Flickr group (I'm not sure why?) I started asking myself what is the point in Flickr?

Obviously a lot of us on here have Flickr accounts so I wondered if anyone had actually seen any real benefit from having their pictures on there e.g. Got any business offers etc

I initially went on there to see if people thought I could take a decent picture and if there was possibly a chance I could try and make some money at this game in the future (although this is a bonus and not my driving force for taking photographs)

I've also noticed that quite a lot of good pro's don't seem to bother with it either when I've looked for them on there

So c'mon then what has Flickr ever done for you!!!
 
For me, It hosts my photos for sites like this and I use the photo steam link to show people as my portfolio.
 
Hi Nick,

When I started on Flickr I hadn't got the first idea about photography in general - one of the things that's helped me immeasurably is being able to check out the exif data on other peoples photographs to see more or less exactly how they got the shot they got.

Since then Flickr has referred quite a few people to my website who've subsequently purchased something or other.

Also, I was recently contacted by Getty via Flickr to submit a dozen or so shots that are now on available to licence via the Getty site. Something that's ongoing and that may not have come about without Flickr being the middle man.

So all in all, yeah, I'd say it's worth the fiver every few months (y)
 
Getting 'views' and 'favourites' make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Just kidding

It's a place where I store pictures if I'm honest. That's about it.

I guess some of the groups allow like minded folk to discuss specific topics - not everybody is on a dedicated photography forum.
 
I'm another who uses Flickr purely as a host. If I want opinions on my pix, I'll post them here, then I know whose opinions are likely to be valid. My pix there are all set as private so only I can see them (or access them from other people's machines). They're also there at 800px longest side so not worth nicking (if they ever would be!)
 
Big Nick said:
Obviously a lot of us on here have Flickr accounts so I wondered if anyone had actually seen any real benefit from having their pictures on there e.g. Got any business offers etc
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Yes, I have. I use Flickr alongside my own site, and have gained work from it, both directly (redirects to my site to buy prints) and indirectly, people getting in touch with commissions and commercial work. I keep it alongside my site as it is very good at SEO and gets me out to a wider audience than just my own site, all for very little expense.
 
It gives inspiration and ideas to many, it does store your images and now they have upped the storage to 1 Terabyte it is well worth it IMHO.
 
Mainly, I just see it as a place to easily host photos to share with people - like you lot on here!

Some image hosting sites have file size limits or scale your photos down, but on Flickr they stay at a decent size and quality. And it's free! :runaway:

With a business cap on though, I can see how you see it as pointless. I guess it could get you some publicity if you're photo gets 'popular', but other than that you're just giving people an opportunity to steal your photos :LOL:
 
Its for people who are too cheap to have a proper website.. its a horrible place...
 
I started initially using Flickr to host my pics, since I have added people as contacts,people have added me, I enjoy looking at their pics, I have also made some friends on there, even met a few local to me who have become good friends, we often meet up.
So yep I like Flickr.
 
Mikechappers said:
I started initially using Flickr to host my pics, since I have added people as contacts,people have added me, I enjoy looking at their pics, I have also made some friends on there, even met a few local to me who have become good friends, we often meet up.
So yep I like Flickr.
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+2 :)

Also useful for scouting locations & that like too.
 
I use it to host pictures, but it's also useful to check out the specific lens groups for inspiration and to see what people are doing with lenses I own or want.
 
Flickr is another social media site and everyone has their opinions on the value of these! Personally I find Flickr very useful and have made sales through it privately and with Getty.

I have my own website for my landscape photography so I just use Flickr for posting all sorts of stuff as well as for researching locations, swapping info with local contacts and just getting inspiration etc. It's not perfect and might not be everyone's cup of tea it's just one of many places to post/host pictures online.
 
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KIPAX said:
Its for people who are too cheap to have a proper website.. its a horrible place...
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I do both - they each have their own merits and purposes.

As already observed above, it's a social media site. You either get that or you don't.
 
I used it as a backup and for hosting photos but as it doesn't work very well for me anymore and I hate the look and the way it is so I no longer use it. It used to be good for keeping up with other togs photos too before the recent changes.
 
I use it to host photos to put on forums mainly. I prefer the size that the images are displayed at compared to 500px despite 500px being more enthusiast orientated, some of the photos go off the screen on 500px.
 
It did help me to sell several times - stuff gets noticed, when website just doesn't get the same traffic. It also results in a few stolen pics... but probably same goes for the website...
 
Since the site was bought out I had no end of bother with both connecting & uploading images, I was a pro account holder for 5 years but cancelled that & then even took the step of deleting the account due to the shabby treatment of it's users!. which reminds me I must remove it from my TP signature.
 
Use it for hosting, and looking at other peoples exifs!

But whats starting to grate a little bit are all these "awards" which just seem a bit spammy some times.
 
I just do it for favourites and comments. Lots of views rock too.

I avoid any group with trophies, post x comments etc. Partially as I can't be bothered, partially as I don't need 20 shiny graphics in the comments for a photo.
 
Seems most like it and some have generated paid work from it, I'll stick with it a bit longer and see how things go
 
Big Nick said:
Seems most like it and some have generated paid work from it, I'll stick with it a bit longer and see how things go
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View work generated by Flickr as a happy accident. If you're looking for work, it's the wrong tool.
 
Useful for hosting for here and even my own website, It's got me paid business which is great but it's also just a simple way of sharing what you do with the world. I use it to check out locations virtually and just to see what else is out there.
 
I like it to look at other photos of areas I plan to visit, this give me an idea of locations etc
 
Hate the new changes but will stick with it as I've had more positives than negatives in using flickr.

These days I'm very selective on which groups I add to.. Avoid the shiny awards, add 1 post 5 groups like the plague!.. Have my settings set so I don't get 'explored' anymore which is a good thing IMO as my images that did get on there are my most 'stolen' and blogged etc.

It's useful for inspiration, looking for locations.. Have met some nice people. Made money from Getty and had photos published from being contacted via there so yes, well worth it for me.. :)
 
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I use it for two reasons- hosting images to display for TP and inspiration

Les :p
 
One of the main reasons for me, you never know whats around the corner, I have come across some amazing photographers and some of them living within the same area as me etc I do find it a little slow loading up recently which is starting to annoy!!
 
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Its handy for researching identification of images of wildlife i take. I have a token page, though i dislike the new look which is slow to load so i dont put much on it these days.
 
I have only a small percentage of my photos on Flickr at the moment, 387 out of over 48,000 but I have plans to eventuqally upload all of my photos purely as a backup host in case of any problems. I just don't fancy going through the descriptions of 48,000 pics, so maybe I'll just keep to my 3 external backups that I use already.

I am using Canon's Project 1709 as well but that seems to be taking a very long time to upload the photos and takes a long time to display them for now. Maybe when it all gets finalised it will be better.
 
Image hosting, ability to share high(ish) resolution images easily, portfolio storage.

It definitely has its uses in those respects - but the groups also have a use, especially the really specific ones where you can address others users who have the same specific preferences as yourself.
 
:)I mainly use it as a host for posting photos on here, but I have made a few local friends and learnt about some locations I never knew existed before. Also, about 2 or 3 years ago, I was contacted by 'What Digital Camera' magazine about using one of my shots their researcher had seen on there, for which I received jessops vouchers (woop), and a mugshot with a little bit about me under the photo they chose.
 
I used to hate it - terrible, slow image delivery, obstructive gallery viewing - just a frustrating mess. It *seems* to have been really turned around in the last few months, with better gallery views, faster image delivery and a more professional approach - speaking as someone who has viewed others images on there but never used it for hosting myself (because of the awfulness). I'd say the point is that now it's a place that I could use to host galleries and not want to apologise for doing so.

The social networking side is very very difficult to get right for a photographic site. Lightbox was fantastic, but the owners got hired by Facebook. 500px started out very professional - almost elitist - then the site went photography-olympics. Streamzoo, eyeem and instragram were always the mass-flooded-market end of photography. One of the best things that I learned from the social networking side was to attempt to produce images that stood out and would appeal to people glancing through, rather than those who would take their time to look at and enjoy an image.
 
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