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Where Do You Post Your Images?


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<p>Besides photo.net, where do you post your images for people to see? 500px? Flickr? A personal website? Some other site?</p>

<p>I don't have too many on display, but they're all right here on photo.net. The instructor in the only photography course I ever took, however, said that the purpose of photography is to show your images. They do no good hiding on your hard drive.</p>

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<p>I also post on p.net exclusively, for no other reason than it's where I began posting photos. </p>

<p>I'd disagree with your instructor, Dave. Photography serves many purposes of which sharing is one of them. I don't share the vast majority of my photos here either because I consider them private or they are of no interest to anyone but a small group of people. </p>

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<p>I'm currently using Flickr as my primary showcase for photos. Photo.net USED to be my primary place to show photos, I always enjoyed the comments and interaction between members. But the quality and quantity of the comments has deteriorated to the point where I don't see the point of posting photos here any more. </p>

<p>I get about as many comments and interaction from other photographers on Flickr as I do here. This is still a good place for forums about the art of photography, the philosophical underpinnings of photography. But as a place to see those touch points realized and then get specific commentary on quality and technique of your work? Not so much.</p>

<p>I still post here on occasion, but it's more out of a sense of stubborn persistence than anything else.</p>

 

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<p>I agree with Glen. I post mostly on Facebook (personal) and my "Stanley Beck Photography" page, and on my website and Shutterfly where my images can be sold. I rarely post in the photo.net "No Words" forum because the categories seem pretty lame these days, almost like, " I bet I have a photo of something that nobody else has." In fact, I seldom even look at the threads anymore. I might give Flicker a try one day.</p>
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<p>It depends who you want to see them and in what context. I have a website to act as a brochure for gallery owners, stock agency creatives and those of my friends and family who are interested in photography or the things I photograph. I refer people to it if I think there might be a value to them or me in seeing it. I don't promote it randomly.</p>

<p>I have a Flickr account on which I post specific types of photograph , such as Abandoned/derelict; old cars, etc. Thats there to encourage dialogue with people of similar interests leading to location info exchange etc.</p>

<p>I make presentations to photo clubs etc when asked. Most of my better work will see light of day in that direction.</p>

<p>I will occasionally include a photograph with a response on Photo.net when it helps support my answer. Otherwise I do not load photographs here- my website details are on my membership page here so its not too hard to find my work if people are interested or curious- or if they feel that they want to see work before they accept or reject the arguments I make in posting here. </p>

<p>Some people may decline to show their work because they photograph purely for themselves. Although I don't personally share that motivation I do concede that its valid and so I'd consider your instructor's advice to be wrong. For me showing to others is a part of the reason to photograph, and I'd like to think that between work with Stock Agencies and the routes above I reach a relevent audience. There are places I don't go- like for example giving shows of my work to random friends and family when they visit. All these people know I'm a photographer- unless they ask to see stuff I assume they aren't interested or don't much like it. Neither do I spend time or money promoting a website or exchanging links to attract an audience I don't know anything about. </p>

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<p>I also disagree with your instructor for personal photos/images, that's the individual's choice, in part because I produce photo cards and prints and share galleries on an iPad. For on-line galleries I use Photo.net as the primary source and my Website as secondary for specific galleries, but then I'm not a fulltime working professional who needs the exposure for customers.</p>
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<p>I agree that you should show or "share" your images, but it's up to you about how far that goes. Making a vanity book for your family might be one way, or printing images and mounting on the walls of your home or office is another.</p>

<p>I do all of those "personal" types of showing/sharing and also post on Flickr (I like their display, their social network and their licensing). Of course, there are millions of crappy images on Flickr, but with just a little exploring you can find like minded photographers with images to share that you'll enjoy viewing. Flickr can also lead to sales, if you're so inclined.</p>

<p>I also have a Smugmug page, aimed more at selling images. They connect to Bay Photo, which has tremendous options for prints and canvas. The recently raised their price for a Pro account outrageously, so the prior incredible value is now marginal, depending on sales volumes. It does have social networking, but it's not as good as Groups at Flickr, where there's lots more participation.</p>

<p>Both Flickr and Smugmug recently revamped their looks. Unlike p.net, display sizes are unlimited and you get 1TB of free storage.</p>

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<p>I post only on photo.net.</p>

<p>I disagree with your instructor. I am an amateur. I take and process photos for my own satisifaction. When the subjects of the photos are my friends' children, I make prints for my friends and the childrens' grandparents.</p>

<p>I post pictures on photo.net in the hope of receiving constructive criticism so I can improve my photography.</p>

<p> </p>

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<p>Since getting my personal website hacked, I defaulted to my PN gallery, where I don't have to worry about such things. I have a flickr account I haven't updated in months. Any pictures I post to Facebook are strictly throwaway, socializing type stuff (which is fun, but I don't care if they get stolen, which some do). I don't sell stuff online. Any sales I do get are from being on gallery walls. If someone I meet is interested in what more of my work looks like, I can direct them to my PN gallery, and that seems to work fine.</p>
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<p>I post a good number of my images here and even more on Photo Points. Both are excellent sites but I find that there is more dialogue on Photo Points. one of the strongest points of Photo Net is the forum discussions. If you sign up for these two sites you can't really go wrong.</p>
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<p>Re: instructor. Lighten up, boys. It was a throw away comment to introduce the discussion, not a deep philosophical statement about the meaning of art. I just want to know where you post your images.</p>

<p>Thanks to those who responded. I'll have to check out Flickr and Smugmug and some of the others. No one has mentioned 500px though. Is that not a good place? Cheers.</p>

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<p>I am not really interested in people looking at my shots - I do them as relaxation for myself if they are not for a commercial or personal documentation reason. I feel I am overwhelmed by the volume of repetitious shots I see everywhere I look - I take them too so I am as guilty as the next photographer. Not sure this helps the discussion though!</p>
Robin Smith
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<p>Only occasionally here on photo.net (which was the first place I showed my images publicly but playing the ratings game grew stale after a while); now it's primarily on flickr and selectively and intermittently on 500px. Just opened an account on ipernity to check things out. Selected images are for sale on imagekind and redbubble.</p>

<p> </p>

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<p>First, I should say I'm an amateur, and not a pro, and I've only been shooting for a couple years, but here's what I do.<br>

I have a Facebook fan page. It's the best exposure by far in my opinion. For example, 95% of my friends and family are on FB are not on Flickr, and they can get regular updates when they 'like' my fan page. Who isn't on Facebook these days anyway? Even I personally subscribe to several fan pages of other photographers on FB. I rarely ever visit personal websites for photographers these days unless I'm really interested in seeing their work in high res. Facebook can serve as a great marketing tool as well, and to promote your website. That being said, I'm careful how I post to Facebook to minimize theft and Facebook using my images. For example, I don't upload full quality high res images to FB (but just enough so the images look good), and I watermark most of my images. I am also careful with privacy settings. I also post alot of my iPhone photography on social media like Facebook or Instagram. <br>

I never cared for Flickr, and even with the new look, it's still the same old Flickr below the surface in my opinion. That being said, Flickr has the largest variety of communities which is nice on some level. I've had Photobucket and Shutterfly accounts before too, but they seem to fiddle with compression and I never cared for them that much. Good for teenagers, family members, non-pros. <br>

I have a Smug Mug account which I use for high res web galleries, backup, and as my basic website. I also like that people can buy prints and other items directly from my Smug Mug page. They just unveiled a new look with several new features, updates, and easy customizable websites. I've tried Zenfolio which was also nice, but I already had a subscription to Smug Mug. <br>

500PX is very nice and a great place to share and view images. I find the caliber of photography is also high. It's also a cool way to get instant feedback on your images. I'm not on there anymore, but it was fun seeing the 'percentage' score I got for each image. I still visit 500px for inspiration. </p>

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<p>Thanks, everybody. Much appreciated.</p>

<p>I've been poking around Flickr and Smugmug and thinking about how I want to approach this. Believe it or not, I'm not on Facebook, but perhaps I should be.</p>

<p>What about stock agencies? Do you sell images on a stock agency?</p>

<p>Cheers.</p>

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<blockquote>

<p>I've been poking around Flickr and Smugmug and thinking about how I want to approach this. Believe it or not, I'm not on Facebook, but perhaps I should be.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I think Google+ is better for photography than FB. Maybe it's a legacy from Picasa, but the image quality seems, "crisper" somehow. I also like the people I find on it better. But I will admit if you have commercial interests to consider, FB should probably be your first choice. maybe a combination of FB and Smugmug is the way to go. FB to generate interest and Smugmug to make the sales.<br /> <br /> Maybe I'm not commercially oriented enough, but I don't see how a Flickr account could be commercialized successfully.</p>

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  • 2 years later...

<p>I am in the process of removing my images from 500px as they have changed for the worse in my humble opinion. Today, I use Fototime, Flickr and FineArtAmerica. Recently, I started an image portfolio here on photo.net as a way to compensate for my 500px withdrawal.<br>

Recently, Flickr seems to have been put up for sale by Yahoo. I don't know what the future will be for Flickr but I hope it does not go away or become like 500px. Time will tell.<br>

GR</p>

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  • 1 year later...

Like Michael Chang, I first started posting pictures on photo.net I think in 1998 I eventually became a pro member and stayed so a good few years it wasn't until I started getting trolled by a couple of people (won't mention names) but it was around that time I heard from other members who were also friends telling me that they were also getting trolled. It was this that decided it for me try another site and so tried Flickr and haven't looked back I also tried 500 pix and maybe another but Flickr was by far the friendliest with least amount of trolls stomping the galleries...

I still have a few pictures up here on Photo.Net although they seem to have no reach at all and almost never viewed possibly due to restrictions on non-paying members or lack of participation. This doesn't bother me though as I only pop by now and again to view friends work and see what they have added.

I once recommended Photo.net to every budding photographer that I met but after the trolling experience stopped it was sad because I really liked photo.net and what it stood for.

 

Wherever we decide to post our images we must always remember common courtesy & respect for one another without this it just becomes a clash of the egos and mating for rating. If we do not like an image then we should say so in a nature where it does little to offend the photographer but in no way should we attack the photographer for no other reason than they don't like who they photograph And for the record I am a visual anthropologist (a social worker/slash photographer.)

Edited by hugh_hill|2
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