# Other photography websites...



## paul13walnut5 (Aug 14, 2012)

Life after flickr?

Recently flickr seems to be really stale, a lot of my groups are very very quiet and a lot of once familiar users haven't uploaded in months.

Has anybody else noticed that? Where have they all went? I liked the groups feature and tagging etc in flickr, but didn't like the clumsy interaction. The group here is much more vibrant, knowlegable yet discussions more viceral, opinionated, less 'chummy' (a good thing in a way, everything on flickr was 'great' 'super' etc 

Thoughts? My pro membership lapses soon and I'm really not of a mind to renew.


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## mws (Aug 14, 2012)

500px.com isn't too bad, not as much variety as flickr though. 

I think it's mostly due to Yahoo just letting it languish, and not doing much to keep it fresh. Plus I think a lot has moved to facebook, etc. Hopefully with the new CEO at yahoo, they can maybe breath a little life back into flickr.


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## preppyak (Aug 14, 2012)

mws said:


> 500px.com isn't too bad, not as much variety as flickr though.


Yeah, it's great for seeing other's work, but, not so much for discussion. Still a cool site, but I agree that its not gonna replace that aspect of Flickr


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## Sunnystate (Aug 14, 2012)

It's the sign of the time... people realized that the market after Flickr is still the same, odds of making money same, same people in the game, and hoopla on sites as Flickr don't really mean anything but hoopla, and in order to make some money you have to go and shoot weddings or pets or children in the neighborhood, not exactly glamorous photography work, so they are loosing interest.
I think this is the reason why Canon is in trouble, lack of understanding that 80% of 5D II buyers were amateurs living mirage of "FAME" on internet sites like Flickr, shelling thousands of dollars for semi pro cameras and lenses.
Well the dust is finally settling down after the digital explosion, now we will see whats next.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Aug 14, 2012)

Sunnystate said:


> It's the sign of the time... people realized that the market after Flickr is still the same, odds of making money same, same people in the game, and hoopla on sites as Flickr don't really mean anything but hoopla, and in order to make some money you have to go and shoot weddings or pets or children in the neighborhood, not exactly glamorous photography work, so they are loosing interest.
> I think this is the reason why Canon is in trouble, lack of understanding that 80% of 5D II buyers were amateurs living mirage of "FAME" on internet sites like Flickr, shelling thousands of dollars for semi pro cameras and lenses.
> Well the dust is finally settling down after the digital explosion, now we will see whats next.


How does your rant relate to the questions by the OP? 
What does the OP's question have to do with making money?
Why do you think Canon is in trouble.? Any evidence? ... like losing market share? 
Flickr is a image sharing site, it does not claim to be making money for photographers. It has certainnly, however, changed the way people display and share images, and provided a channel for communication between photographers.
I no longer use it, but my wife and relatives do. It suits the needs of many millions of photographers, but not everyone.
Pro photographers who wish to communicate their work with millions of other photographers also post images, even if its not a primary channel for them.


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## Dylan777 (Aug 14, 2012)

I recently joined Phanfare.com. I love it

http://albums.phanfare.com/isolated/L5z5Jj0E/1/5709476


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## mws (Aug 14, 2012)

@ MKIIIphotographer Spot on! There is a legitimate use for forums such as these, I usually only post when I have a technical question or something similar. But I agree, the more time I'm on here, the less time I'm out shooting. 

Also Smugmug has lots of good photos, not the best for exploring though. Most people seem to use it to host photos and imbed them into their own websites.


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## cayenne (Aug 14, 2012)

mws said:


> 500px.com isn't too bad, not as much variety as flickr though.
> 
> I think it's mostly due to Yahoo just letting it languish, and not doing much to keep it fresh. Plus I think a lot has moved to facebook, etc. Hopefully with the new CEO at yahoo, they can maybe breath a little life back into flickr.


I'd never really heard of flickr before I read about it on some threads on this site, but then again..I'm just now getting into photography.

I did read that the new Yahoo CEO does have it high on her plate that Flickr will be getting updated and improved as one of the first items going forward.

I've heard there are lots of changes already...a more 'google' like environment at Yahoo now..hoping to capture and retain more talent to help the site improve.


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## distant.star (Aug 14, 2012)

.
Interesting post, Mr. Walnut. Generally, I'd say flickr has languished into near irrelavancy over the last few years. Their version of "social media" is at least five years behind the times. With the current dominance of more instant, and what I categorize as "throwaway" communication/images, flickr is nearly pointless for most folks now.

I never posted a lot of pictures there; never felt much need to. I looked around a few years ago when I came back to photography in the digital world and selected Smugmug as a place to store (and limited share) my image files.

What I liked, and still like about flickr is the seemingly limitless grouping. If I want to look at pictures of ferry boats, there are many different groups. If I want to see pictues of baseball, flowers, general landscapes, aircraft, trucks -- they're all there. While I am not participating in the group, there is a 365 project group that I've enjoyed watching. Nice to see the evolution of the project itself as well as the photographers. Anyway, at this point, I think everyone is on hold as the new CEO ponders Yahoo's new direction(s).

To the folks who are suggesting that most flickr members thought they would find fame and fortune, that seems preposterous to me. There is surely a huge proportion of approval seekers cultivating a following that will tell them everything they do is "awesome," but I hardly think they ever thought they could translate this to a business and reliable income. Lots of high school kids dream about the NBA or NFL because a coach tells them they're good and they have some success. The real world intervenes to slap 99.9% of them down in a big hurry.

Mr. Walnut seems to address the disparity between photo sharing sites, like flickr, where many people post photos and can't talk very intelligently about them, and forums like this where lots of people can and do talk knowledgeably about photography and equipment, but where few photos are posted. I don't know of a site that has integrated those two ends of an apparent spectrum. Maybe there is one, but I haven't seen it.

The trend seems to be toward iPhone and the concomitant delivery/sharing systems. Apparently it's damn seductive. I've seen several outstanding pro photographers who now spend most of their time producing "iPhonography." They're even having big shows on the art side.

One person suggested the dust is settling on this whole thing. I think it's a long way from settling and the future is murky and well out of focus for just about everybody. Also, it's never a good idea here to say anything negative about Canon. There are some folks here sensitive as an open sore on that count. Just a word to the....


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## RLPhoto (Aug 14, 2012)

MKIIIphotographer said:


> Sunnystate said:
> 
> 
> > It's the sign of the time... people realized that the market after Flickr is still the same, odds of making money same, same people in the game, and hoopla on sites as Flickr don't really mean anything but hoopla, and in order to make some money you have to go and shoot weddings or pets or children in the neighborhood, not exactly glamorous photography work, so they are loosing interest.
> ...



Agreed. I like to believe I'm the exception to this.

I shot on a 50mm for the majority of my life and used it till it broke. Its not your camera but the 6 inches behind it that matter.


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## paul13walnut5 (Aug 14, 2012)

@MKIIIPhotographer


> there seems to be a high concentration of "pixel peepers" and equipment testers in this forum. It's hard to take advice from someone with a portfolio containing 90% ISO Charts, equipment and little else. There is always a need for tech people but at some point you have to ask where the photographer is... When did photography get lost in translation?



This is hilarious, I've seen _that_ thread!!!

There are some posts which remind me of the worst of the camera club gear snobs I've encountered in real life.

"I want to upgrade my 300D to something a bit better, was looking at a T3i"
"Don't waste your time, get a 1DX"

"I'm looking for a cheapish compact lens for travelling"
"Don't waste your time, get a 35L"

And that kind of thing...


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## Act444 (Aug 15, 2012)

I had some stuff on Flickr...it was a great way to share my photos with "the public" (non-FB friends)...but I soon reached my limit for a free user (200 images)- ultimately I just decided to put everything on FB instead (also allowed me to tag the relevant folks in select shots)


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## Menace (Aug 15, 2012)

I joined up in the early days but soon realized it wasn't for me and kind of lost interest. Now just use FB to share pics with friends and family.


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## aprotosimaki (Aug 15, 2012)

I don't mind flickr. There are some pretty good photographs up there. I tend to use it for compositional ideas and as a starting point for learning new techniques.


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## Hillsilly (Aug 15, 2012)

Several years ago when I first went looking for a photosharing site I considered flickr. But, although free, it seemed to have many restrictions relating to uploads and file sizes (I can't remember if it had any "pro" options then). I ended up signing up with smugmug instead. Since then, I don't know if Flickr has innovated or changed much. Flickr pages look the same as they always have. Being the first big kid in the market certainly helped them become popular. But I'm just wondering if some of the initial users have moved onto other sites that give them more options and flair with how they present things?


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