Well, I'm now on Flickr. I have most of my photos uploaded and organized (still have some organizing to do). I've made some "Sets", and I've "tagged" my photos by theme or subject or location, and I've even tagged the locations of some of my pictures on the map to show exactly where they were taken (how humbling it is to then compare my pictures with those of others who have tagged the same location, especially on the Oregon Coast!).
Now to join a group or two (I'm not sure where to start) to get some feedback, suggestions, criticism...this is the uncomfortable part of the learning process, I think. As I browse other people's profiles and "Photostreams", as they're called, I am, in short, extremely humbled. People who call themselves amateurs have cameras far more advanced and photos far more polished, far more crisp, far more "artistic" than I think mine are.
I suppose this is where I begin to define my strengths and weaknesses and identify my own niche. After all, not everyone is looking for artsy sepia photographs or bold, modern interpretations.
I'm torn between my desire to portray the actual beauty in something by subtly emphasizing it, rather than "insulting" the subject, in a way, by changing it drastically to make it "beautiful", and the desire to do what I think many or most photographers do: portray the image as I perceived it in my own mind's eye, to magnify and reveal the hidden beauty of things not as the eye perceives them but as the mind and emotions do.
Thus I enter a new realm of skill and perspective. Wish me luck! And if any of you have done this, where do I start? It's a little overwhelming...
8 comments:
I don't have any advice. I simply love your photos and wish you the best.
Make sure to copyright those photos... you may feel like your photos are "amateur", but you really do have some amazing photos. Wouldn't want anyone to steal them :)
Thanks you two. And yes, all rights are reserved. :-)
I viewed a few hundred photos on Flicker and saved a half dozen to use for artwork (not to be duplicated, but rather to be used as references for specific components of a painting, such as the sky). Three of them, all by the same photographer, were blank when I opened my folder. The titles were there, but no photo. You should find out how he/she did that in order to truly protect them from being stolen. In an article I read, copyright photos are stolen from the Internet all the time, and it's about impossible to prosecute for copyright infringement, even though it's illegal. Vanishing photos might do the trick.
That's a setting in Flickr. I have it set so Family and Friends can download, but nobody else.
And you're right, with international access and law, it's near impossible to enforce copyright. But I'm not TOO worried about it.
Oh, and no matter what, you can always do a screen capture and paste the image into a photo editing app. If you don't know how to do it, e-mail me the links, and I'll do it for you, so you can have them as a reference. They'll just be small.
The beauty of art is that you should never compare yourself to others. As you said, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, (maybe you didn't say that, but I think that's what you were getting across).
You work is beautiful and you know there are people out there that admire it!
I completely agree with Quinn. I spent a lot of time yesterday looking through the Flickr Oregon Coast gallery, which includes thousands of photos by many photographers. There were some artists whose photos stood out. They obviously have good technical skills and an eye for subject matter and composition (and very expenses lenses). However, your technical skills are also very good and you have a great eye for subject matter and composition, but your talent is distinquished by a rare characteristic -- an artistic soul that enables you create photos that elicit an emotional response. Stop selling yourself short.
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