Posts Tagged ‘tricks’
Flickr 101: A Beginner’s Guide
From its minimalist layout to its user-friendly functions, Flickr offers heaps of features that attracted hobbyist and professional photographers alike. Easily, it grew into a place where people can comfortably share their work, interact and learn.
So if until today you’re not yet Flickring then it’s about time you start. Registration is free. And to guide you on your Flickr baby steps, here are some beginner tips to help you move around.
Sign up using your Yahoo! mail account
And that’s it—no long bio forms to fill out, no secret password questions and no codes to confirm your being a human.
Upload photos with ease
The first thing you need to do—fill your photostream with as many photos as you want. There are a handful of ways to upload your photos in Flickr.
- Use the web-based upload form right in the Flickr website. Ideal when you only post one or two photos at a time.
- Upload photos straight from your desktop with the Flickr Uploadr 3.0. You can download the uploader for Windows (Vista/XP) or the uploader for Mac OS X.
- When you’re on a vacation and there’s no computer within your reach, you can use your mobile phone to send photos to your account.
- Email your photos to your photostream using an especially configured email address.
Add titles
After uploading, the filename of your JPEG file (e.g. IMG_076) automatically becomes the title of your photo. Change it to a more descriptive or artistic title like “Angelli sipping her coffee” or “Tonight I’m leaving my sky.”
You can also write a brief story behind the photo in the description box. Some users write (or paste) famous quotations that somehow describe their photo.
Use tags
Tags will help you search photos within your photostream, especially those belonging to the same theme. For example, you may choose to put the tags “travel” and “Sydney” on photos from your recent trip to Australia. Also, tagging allows other Flickr users who search for “Sydney” photos to discover yours.
Adding contacts
One of the great things about Flickr is its community. You’ll connect with photographers of varying expertise from all corners of the world. Some of whom would become your favorites, whose work you would want to follow and stalk. Here’s how you can add another photographer as a contact:
- Go to his or her photostream page, say AusPhotographer’s.
- Click Profile in the menu under AusPhotographer’s Photostream.
- On the upper right hand part of the Profile screen, click Add AusPhotographer as a contact.
- On the confirmation screen, you’ll be asked to add AusPhotographer as either friend or family. If the photographer is neither, leave the tick boxes unchecked.
- Finally, click Add.
Join groups
Flickr is home to thousands of interest groups you can join. They usually have a field of expertise in photography.
You can find groups on portrait photography, Canon cameras , Nikon gadgets, beaches, insects, lomography, macro, kites, and just about anything you can take a picture of. Some also form groups based on their country or city. There are also groups specifically created for themed photo competitions.
Advanced Flickr Tips
There are more fascinating things you can do on Flickr and one post is not enough to lay them all down. But the above tips should be enough to give you a jumpstart. Come back soon for more tips on Flickring! In the mean-time make sure you check out our advanced guide to the Flickr photostream.
The Non-Rules of Photography: How You Can Enjoy the Experience More
Long ago, Lomography.com listed ‘8 Golden Rules of Lomography,’ rules which may very well apply to photography in general. Technically, they are labeled rules but to those who practice photography, they are more like guides to breaking the formulated rules in taking pictures — right composition, accurate lighting, sharpness, what-have-you’s. They focus more on enjoying the experience of shooting and capturing.
So let’s go with the non-rules.
Take your camera wherever you go. In the park, the flea market, your school, your office, your friend’s bridal shower, in the laundry shop — everywhere. As long as you have your camera in your hand, everything around you starts to have a different color and story about them that just craves to be captured on film.
Use it anytime — day and night. They say that the best times to take a photo is at dawn or at dusk because it offers fantastic lighting. But anytime of the day is just fine. Don’t worry about night photography for the darkness of the night has its own charms.
Photography is not interference in your life. On the contrary, it’s a significant and integral part of it. The results of your photography are wonderful signs that you are alive.
Try the shot from the hip. You don’t need to always look through the viewfinder to get a good picture. Have more freedom in terms of perspective and you just might be pleasantly surprised. Hand it up in the air or lower it down to the ground. No one’s stopping you!
Approach your objects as close as possible. One of the most striking photographic themes includes photos shot on macro. It’s great if your camera has a good macro feature, but if it doesn’t, who cares? Get close. People show more soul up-close, so does your pet, for instance.
Don’t think. Just shoot.
Be fast. Sometimes your money shot will only last a quarter of a second. Always be prepared to shoot and do it fast. Don’t worry about getting the right settings.
Don’t care about any rules. Actually forget about the rules. Discover your own kind of photography and define your own rules. Just do it, do it the way you want and do it now.
Do you follow any rules in your photography? Share it with us.
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