Could Yahoo! be engineering Flickr's demise from the inside out?

Yahoo! undertook a mass cull of staff late in 2010, of which a significant percentage were Flickr staff. A little over a year on and it would seem as if that were insufficient; another bundle of Flickr staff have just lost their jobs. This time it's the entire senior tier of customer support that's been asked to pack up their desks.

This is a group of gifted and committed people, according to previous Flickr-employee Nolan Caudill. They had fairly thankless jobs, but always had Flickr's and its users' best interests at heart. Consequently, he's convinced that laying them off was a huge mistake on Yahoo!'s part. If that's the case, what sort of justification can the management at Yahoo! be offering?

It's easy to think that they reached tipping point with the number of gut-wrenching screw-ups that some of the customer support team at Flickr accomplished, for example deleting entire accounts of long-standing users, and claiming that there were no back-ups and couldn't be re-instated, or not double-checking DMCA take-down notices before removing legitimate content. But if this group of people is as talented and dedicated as Caudill says that they are, then they're the guys who are trying to make Flickr better for its users, help prevent these sorts of screw-ups, and rectify them when they do happen. Had it been these guys who were responsible for these sorts of epic blunders, then really, action should have been taken against them well before now.

From Caudill's perspective, the people who were laid off were Flickr users' biggest advocates. They helped to fix the bugs inadvertently whipped up by developers and presented the user-eye-view of Flickr at product and development meetings. They knew more about the site, its operation, and its foibles than anyone else. So with them, an encyclopaedia of Flickr-knowledge has just walked out the door and Flickr won't be getting it back. That's a huge loss.

Now this could just be a case of naivety, if I'm being kind - mis-management, if I'm blunt - on Yahoo!'s part. But I've a feeling in my gut that it's possibly a bit more sinister than that. What if Yahoo! were attempting to precipitate Flickr's own demise? There have already been concerns raised for Flickr's future - its failure to capitalise on the social media revolution and a general sense of Flickr feeling old and tired; the loss of other valuable staff members; and the sense that Yahoo! doesn't have its best interests at heart. By showing the door to a group of people who understood the site and understood its users, management has lost one its most valuable assets. Without their knowledge and support, the erosion of everything that made Flickr great for its users will be all too easy. If that were to happen, and users were to lose confidence in Flickr, then it's an easy step to close it.

If Yahoo! really doesn't have the enthusiasm to support Flickr or the guts to compete with 500px, Google+, and Facebook, then this is a gloriously Machiavellian and distinctly long-term plan to bring about its end. But it's probably a whole lot easier to steadily vex the owners of five billion photos to the point where they have no confidence or interest in Flickr any longer, than to infuriate all of them in one go by pulling the plug without any obvious catalyst. A steady stream of disappointed emails, or better yet the constant drift of apathetic users, is far easier to deal with than a vehement deluge of complaints, especially when you don't have an experienced customer support team to handle it.

I'd love for this speculation to be the product of my over-active imagination, but I've seen something similar happen to other organisations and institutions, so I'll sit and watch, and make sure that I've a Flickr alternative lined up. Just in case.

Multiple copies, multiple servers, and cooling off periods at Flickr

The peeps over at Flickr thought it might be a good idea to reconfirm for users how their pictures are stored, what happens to them if your pro account expires, and who owns your photos. They’ve also just introduced a 90 day cooling off period in between account deletion and content erasing. So, without further ado, here’s a run-down

Your pictures (and their relevant data and comments and what-not) are stored on multiple servers scattered across the United States. Hopefully, if anything should go awry with one copy of an image on one server in one place, there’s a back-up copy of it waiting on another server in a different place. Good-o.

If you forget to renew your pro account, no fear, Flickr won’t erase your content. They’ll store your pictures and videos on their servers until you either do decide to renew or to delete your account. That’s reassuring.

Just to reiterate their clarification from two weeks ago, you own your photos and the rights to them. By default, all content is set to ‘All rights reserved’, but if you prefer to use Creative Commons, you can apply whichever version of that tickles your pickle.

And finally, if you decide to delete your account, Flickr has a 90 day cooling period when it keeps your content (but doesn’t make it visible), in case you change your mind. (Of course, that might also be in case they accidentally or arbitrarily delete someone’s account and need to restore it, which has been known… )

So now we now. And if you want to know even more, pop over to the Flickr blog.

Fancy that? Fancy photo-sharing facilities from Flickr

Noticed anything slightly different about Flickr? (Assuming of course that you frequent the Flickr-verse. It’s be a bit hard to notice if you don’t.) They’ve changed their ‘Share’ facility. It’s now a one-stop-shop to share your pixels of perfections via FaceBook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Blogger. That’s all a bit easier and more web-functional than having just the option of email.

If you’re logged-in, you can share your photos, whether individually as a set, in groups, or even your entire photostream to FaceBook. If you don’t want to make all of your photos public on Flickr but do want to share them with your FaceBook friends, that’s all perfectly possible. And you can set things up to automatically share your public Flickr feed to FaceBook.

If you’re not signed-in, you can still share your public photos via Twitter and Facebook in one click, from the now-drop-down share panel conveniently located at the top left of a photo.

There are more changes in the works, too.

All you ever wanted to know about photosharing on Flickr is on their blog.

45 inspirational nude photos

Nude photography is a genre most photographers dabble in every now and again. I've often thought of nude photography as a natural extension of portraiture; if you're going to spend so much time on trying to capture the 'essence' of who somebody is, in some cases shedding any barriers between the model and the camera (such as clothes) is the next logical step. One thing that can be a challenge, is to translate portraiture techniques into nudes. For right or wrong, there are still a few social taboos around nudity - and even in relation to photographing nudes - and I often receive e-mails from people who want to give it a right good go, but can't quite figure out how to get started.

Get the book

I am often asked where people who are interested in nude photography should start - and after a bit of research, I've finally found a great one-stop shop for all the information you could need about nude photography.

The book is called True Confessions of Nude Photography, and was written by A.K Nicholas.

You can find it on Amazon UK or Amazon.com.

Where to begin?

I've written about the topic before, and you could do a lot worse than having a look at Try Nude Photography; my interview with nude photographer Pascal Renoux who is also featured in this list of inspirational nudes), Adding Passion to Nude Photography, and Nude Photography 101.

You may also be interested in the short piece by Brigitte I posted on nude self portraiture. And, of course, if you're not 100% sure about taking it all the way, there's always the deeply titillating art of implied nudity in portraiture.

I need some inspiration!

The reason I decided to create this post is two-fold; A lot of photographers are posting their first few steps in nude portraiture to Flickr, but many of them don't get the exposure they deserve. This list (with a very few notable examples) consists mainly of photos that I found to be inspirational (in some cases; aspirational), but that haven't had that many views and/or comments. The great thing about this is that even if you are a Flickr veteran, there's likely to be a load of photos in this list that you haven't come across before.

The other way of using this list is for 'imitation as inspiration'. If you're only just starting out in nude portraiture, it may be a useful exercise to pick some of the photos you like best, and plagiarise them. See if you can recreate them as closely as possible, and learn as much as you can about the process. Obviously, I wouldn't necessarily recommend posting the copies to Flickr (or, indeed, anywhere); but imitation can be a great way to get more familiar with a model, with directing your subjects, and getting a 'feel' for what works and what doesn't in nude portraiture. Once you're comfortable, turn off the 'copying' switch, tune in to your own creative vibe, and start creating your own masterpieces.

I did promise you some inspiration, though, and so far it's only been me babbling on... Let's get started!

1 - Call Girl by Glen Flower

From the title, you’d expect something a little more audacious to live up to what we know as a call girl. This photo stands out by going against that predictable notion and taking a more playful tone by use of bright colors and lighting, an eye-catching pattern of characters and a simple yet effective pose.

See Call Girl by Glen Flower in full res on Flickr

2 - Nude 2 by Andy Hassall

The first thing that draws my eye to this photo is the glow around the woman’s figure. Not only is it flattering to accentuate the curves, more importantly it adds an ethereal story to the image. Soft and delicate is a woman...

See Nude 2 by Andy Hassall in full res on Flickr

3 - Untitled by canarinomannaro

It's very obviously a nude, but there is nothing to see. It's intriguing and alluring, almost beguiling. The grains and the black and white do nothing but complement.

See Untitled by canarinomannaro in full res on Flickr

4 - Desnudo Simple by Alberto Ibarra Glez

There's something pure, innocent, and powerful about this nude; the model isn't without flaws, and the shot itself isn't perfect either - but that's where the beauty comes from. The relaxed pose and the peaceful look means it doesn't really matter. A lovely example of the nude photography genre indeed!

See Desnudo Simple by Alberto Ibarra Glez in full res on Flickr

5 - Day 235: Scar Beneath the Surface. by Brigid Marz

The fear of reality is the attraction of this shot. Wet hair suggests vulnerability. Parted lips infer loss of breath and words. The hand on her breast declares a longing for comfort.

See Day 235: Scar Beneath the Surface. by Brigid Marz in full res on Flickr

6 - Untitled by Jenn

There is a serene beauty when you look at this woman. The pose is almost heartbreaking as she stares out the window and the light soflty hits her skin and her surroundings. The only color in the room is the pink flowers on the wall, which implies that the subject is not sad, but only hushed.

See Untitled by Jenn in full res on Flickr

7 - H.E.A.T by Nausika Bongard-Bonjour

Raw is the word. It is only human to feel heat and the artist has created a "real" representation of this. Her treatment speaks of grit by having the close appearance of an instamatic or polaroid camera. The ice is not foreign either whether we'd like to admit it or not.

See H.E.A.T by Nausika Bongard-Bonjour in full res on Flickr

8 - Bathtub racer by Jaybird

The fun use of lines and color in the composition reminds me of when we were kids. The way our imagination worked during moments of lull is what the image captures - just proof that even as adults, our imagination still runs away with us.

See Bathtub racer by Jaybird in full res on Flickr

9 - Spiderwoman by Rod Monkey

The minimalism of this nude is an effective delight. I can't help but enjoy the pose - the model on her tiptoes and the bones of her shoulders make the shot and help us appreciate the supple human body.

See Spiderwoman by Rod Monkey in full res on Flickr

10 - Varina & Jiz by Maxwell Lander

I'll be frank with you: There's nothing attractive about this photo; but that's also not the point. It has raw emotion, and a veritable overload of attitude, passion, and even a touch of anger. Bloody awesome work. The rest of Maxwell's work is worth a peek as well; he's one of those photographers who is able to surprise me (in good ways) rather consistently.

See Varina & Jiz by Maxwell Lander in full res on Flickr

11 - Grow by Meta-morphosis

The artist attempts to portray power and strength, that which is intrinsic in a stripped down "real" man. Roots of a tree as a metaphor to the latter are elementally strong and able to withstand nature's (maybe even all) challenges.

See Grow by Meta-morphosis in full res on Flickr

12 - Untitled by Yami Ya

The photo is haunting as the model's spine presses against her skin. The peculiar spine is what catches the viewer's eye and arrests them to linger on nothing else. The mood is solidified by the predominant grey tones.

See Untitled by Yami Ya in full res on Flickr

13 - 112/365 by Lys

The image emits a whimsical feel to its viewers. The different hands clutching the woman's back can be interpreted in many different ways and perhaps different emotions. For example: the hand with red nail polish represents lust by use of color and the hand's slightly stronger grip on the skin.

See 112/365 by Lys in full res on Flickr

14 - No heels, no shirt, no skirt...All im in is just skin...All I want to see you in is just skin. by Lauren

The model's eyes hold the power of this shot. You stare at her as she stares back at you with a brutal sense of honesty. This shot seems simple, but it's far from it when beyond the eyes you start to notice the curious shape of the body, the flaws of the skin and the odd proportions. I guess it's like looking in the mirror.

See No heels, no shirt, no skirt...All im in is just skin...All I want to see you in is just skin. by Lauren in full res on Flickr

15 - Tina Nude by Haje Jan Kamps

I did a photo shoot with Tina many years ago, in 2003; I loved the innocence that shone through in many of her photos. A few years later, she became a glamour model - but I like to think that it was these shots that got the ball rolling (It probably wasn't...)

See Tina Nude by Haje Jan Kamps in full res on Flickr

16 - Untitled by Marko Matus

There are so many things one can say about this photo. The texture is lovely. The light adds depth. Your eyes can fool you - it takes a while to notice what you're really looking at in this photo. This nude is brilliant and unique (and maybe even painful).

See Untitled by Marko Matus in full res on Flickr

17 - Morning by LightDream 7

The warm subdued colors give the photo a Sunday morning vibe. The mood is lazy and grateful as you think about the weekend. What makes this photo real is the detail of the hair on the model's buttocks, the light that hits the crack perfectly and the little bokkeh beside it. Wonderfully lethargic!

See Morning by LightDream 7 in full res on Flickr

18 - Nude by Fran Rivero

This sultry, alluring nude is terribly suggestive, but that's because of her eyes. They're drawing you into the shot, whatever of her body is on display.

See Nude by Fran Rivero in full res on Flickr

19 - Sunshine in the Water by Andreas Müller

This is an enjoyably light-hearted nude. An offshoot from the expression "the sun shines out your ass," the photo deserves recognition for successfully providing humor to its viewers by using the human form. Smooth lines are an added element to the visual appeal of the photo.

See Sunshine in the Water by Andreas Müller in full res on Flickr

20 - Untitled by Dario Torre

The photo somehow teases and thrills. This nude shot doesn't expose much, except the backside of the model, however the attraction is the model's gaze in his reflection in the mirror. It's just enough to make you wonder how the rest of his body looks and what he could be thinking about you.

See Untitled by Dario Torre in full res on Flickr

21 - Untitled by Kvn

The photo is a visual craft of highlights and shadows. Though the shadows envelope a majority of the photo, it doesn't darken the message of the image, but it adds to the charisma of what little highlights there are, as they dance around the subject. She looks almost angelic.

See Untitled by Kvn in full res on Flickr

22 - let it flow away by Eleina Priede

There is a beautiful angry desperation to this photo. She holds a knife, but looks as if she doesn't have the strength to use it. Curled up, hugging herself, she holds on in restraint. The light plays well on her weapon of choice, which she may never use.

See let it flow away by Eleina Priede in full res on Flickr

23 - Alex Oller by Ronaldo Donizeti

All I see is a solid canvas in this shot. The subject is flattered and paraded as a work of art, not because of the ink, but because of the texture of his body and the natural peaks and valleys. The details are excellent.

See Alex Oller by Ronaldo Donizeti in full res on Flickr

24 - BS 14 by Marco Villani

Minimalism is beautifully portrayed in this nude. Smooth clean lines and duotones work for this piece as they help put our attention on the real focus, imprefect bumps of the subject's skin. There is also an amusing ambiguity to the composition that draws you in.

See BS 14 by Marco Villani in full res on Flickr

25 - Z by Don Pasquella

The androgyny of the model, combined with the otherworldly, almost sculpturesque quality of this photo is astounding. It's a nude, for sure, but subtly so, and extremely well executed. Well worth a closer look!

See Z by Don Pasquella in full res on Flickr

26 - Power by Imitable at Least

Power is truly the message that this capture speaks. The seated pose with his arms raised up and his head humbly down exemplifies the aforementioned power and also achievement. The perfectly strong contrast between the black and white tones complement such as well.

See Power by Imitable at Least in full res on Flickr

27 - Pastel Time_93 by Fabienne Chemin

"I sleep to dream" is my first thought when admiring this nude. The man without clothes as he sleeps puts one in a very naturally relaxed state that trumps all states of relaxation. The artist comforts us even more with the use of very light colors and textures, maybe hinting that the dreams we dream can be nothing but sweet.

See Pastel Time_93 by Fabienne Chemin in full res on Flickr

28 - Chimera by Jason Skinner

Complexity is this artist's game. There is nothing more mesmerizingly complicated than the human body, what more when intertwined with another's (metaphorically and literally). It's a riddle unsolved. The balance, highlights and shadows work wonderfully to make the art three dimensional and labyrinthian.

See Chimera by Jason Skinner in full res on Flickr

29 - Haunted by her by Sharlene Shappart i

Fear overwhelms me as I look at this photo. I take a glimpse and look away as I'm haunted by her stare. The sheer of the cloth on the woman's breast is perhaps the only vulnerability that can be grasped. The nude figure is subtly but effectively used by doing so.

See Haunted by her by Sharlene Shappart i in full res on Flickr

30 - Yolande soft nude 4 by Julio Cristian Ruiz Molinero

The eye travels from head to midriff to the tips of her toes and then back again. The composition urges you to take in everything, before maybe settling on the in-focus nipples, or perhaps on her hands. See Yolande soft nude 4 by Julio Cristian Ruiz Molinero in full res on Flickr

31 - Dune by Lindy Barbosa

Allan Teger is a wildly talented photographer who did a great series of photos called 'Bodyscapes', where little characters would do everyday things in landscape made of a human body. 'Dune' is an imitation of one of Teger's shots, showing how it adds fun and creativity to an oft-overdone shot.

See Dune by Lindy Barbosa in full res on Flickr

32 - Helping Hand by Neo Geodesy

There's no doubt about what's going on in this photo, and whilst the subject is undoubtedly verging on the pornographic, the treatment is sensual, intimate, and beautiful. Masterful lighting and great use of depth of field nail this one home. Awesome.

See Helping Hand by Neo Geodesy in full res on Flickr

33 - Tubside by Imre Kissik

Another great example of 'no clothes, but showing not-a-lot', this warm-tones feast-for-the-eyes by Imre is a cascade of class and finesse. Having her eyelashes in focus is a lovely touch, too.

See Tubside by Imre Kissik in full res on Flickr

34 - Intimate by Luca Gualtieri

Naked like the day she was born, and yet casually covered up. The touch of light on her eyes pulls my vision to her face; and her relaxed yet slightly anticipatory expression adds just the right amount of tension to the shot. Absolutely lovely.

See Intimate by Luca Gualtieri in full res on Flickr

35 - Untitled by Jorge Carrion

I adore how this portrait comes across as a battle between humans and their surrounding elements. There's something brutal, yet serene about this photograph that I can't quite put my finger on - which is why I keep coming back for more, I suppose.

See Untitled by Jorge Carrion in full res on Flickr

36 - Untitled by The Girl Behind the Lens

In this photo, you can barely tell what it is a photo of; to me, the first thing I noticed was the sheet in the background, which led me to think we are looking at a bed. Only then did I realise what the photo was on. A masterful study in subtlety that appears to be all too rare in the genre of nude photography

See Untitled by The Girl Behind the Lens in full res on Flickr

37 - Morning Bell by Kristaps B

High key photography is something that lends itself well to portraiture, and nude portraiture is no exception. A feeling of innocence, purity, and simplicity is projected onto the viewer - and the soft lighting helps make the model seem approachable. A delightful shot!

See Morning Bell by Kristaps B in full res on Flickr

38 - v2 by Hans Proppe

I know this photo has a nude body in it, but it took me quite a while to figure out quite how. That, in itself, is enough reason to include this image in the list, I believe; the abstraction of nudity is something that really appeals to me; the intrigue, intricate textures and delicious lighting - perfect!

See v2 by Hans Proppe in full res on Flickr

39 - Naakt by Klaas v/d Pijl

Some nude photography has a whole other layer of nudity in it; an innocence, a complete and infallible belief that there's nothing wrong with not wearing clothes. This photo, to me, is an excellent example of just that. Yeah, the girl is nude, but there's just something about her calm facial expression which shows that she doesn't do shy. A simple shot, for sure, but worth recreating for its zen-like calm when you're working in the studio

See Naakt by Klaas v/d Pijl in full res on Flickr

40 - Assembly of Shadows by Dreamography

The title of this photo speaks to me. Sure, there's a nude person in the frame, but it's incidental; this image is all about the interplay of light and shadows, and about the mystique of it all.

See Assembly of Shadows by Dreamography in full res on Flickr

41 - Venus by Artemisia Artex

Nude portraiture is hard, I won't lie about it. Nude self portraiture is a whole other level of hard, but 'Artemisia' pulls it off beautifully. Gorgeous lighting, a look that really locks with the viewer, and the fiery red hair make sure all the image comes together beautifully.

See Venus by Artemisia Artex in full res on Flickr

42 - Can't you almost hear her thoughts by Sol Lang

Whereas some nudes stand for pride, strength, and self-confidence, this photo is almost the exact opposite. The model's facial expression is reserved - afraid, almost - which makes her vulnerability shine through. Her body might be nude, but I can't help but feel that in this photo, we are also staring at a bared soul.

See Can't you almost hear her thoughts by Sol Lang in full res on Flickr

43 - Te Ofrezco by Manuel Orero

There is a long history of nude photography and pregnancy, and frankly, it's curse-worthy hard to come up with a new take on the topic... but this image does it gorgeously. A pair of baby shoes, and an out-of-focus mother-to-be? Fabulous. Okay, so she isn't actually completely nude; but as far as a cool idea for a shot goes? A definite winner.

See Te Ofrezco by Manuel Orero in full res on Flickr

44 - Disappearing by Brigid Marz

I've been a huge fan of Brigid's work for a long time, and this photo is a great example of why; she often manages to convey a vulnerable strength - or is that a strong vulnerability - in her subjects. Strong poses, powerful lighting and great post-production - take a look at the rest of her portfolio as well!

See Disappearing by Brigid Marz in full res on Flickr

45 - Brooke (plage 2) by Pascal Renoux

Pascal Renoux' work often has a sense of wonderment about it - a playfulness that goes far beyond what many other photographers are able to offer up. There's an intimacy in that playfulness; an incidental, rather than elaborate, sense of nudity, which makes his work stand out. Fantastic stuff.

See Brooke (plage 2) by Pascal Renoux in full res on Flickr

And finally, a few words about copyright

Most of the images used in this post are used without explicit permission from the photographers, however, they are used under the 'criticism and review' sections of UK copyright legislation. The photos in this article are used in reduced resolution, and I warmly recommend that you visit them in their full-resolution glory in Flickr. Remember to comment and favourite images you like on Flickr to show the photographers your appreciation. If you are the photographer of any of the works in this write-up, and you had rather I didn't include your image, please let me know.

GRID: keeping track of all your social media photos

How many different places do you post pictures? On Flickr, perhaps? Maybe to FaceBook? How about on Twitter? I could on listing sites, but you’d get bored. I don’t want that. But the point is that people post different pictures to different places, and keeping track of them can be a bit tricky. How would you like a site that tracked all your images by date and displayed them on a huge grid?

Guess what? Someone’s thought of it. It’s called GRID, it was inspired by Mike Harding’s Coffee by week, and it’s being developed by a start-up called vvall. Right now, it can only track images uploaded to DailyBooth, FaceBook, PicPlz, and TwitPic. They’re working on Flickr, Instagram, and the like. With so many different platforms to share pictures, and so many ways to get them there, it’s taking a bit of time.

I don’t actually make that many of my pictures public, and I’ve a favoured place for those I do unleash on an unsuspecting world, but I do love the idea of being able to see all your pictures in one place organised chronologically. It might be the historian who likes organisation in me coming out, but I doubt I’m the only one.

GRID: social photos displayed chronologically.

(Headsup to TechCrunch.)

Very pretty science

We’re used to taking pictures with our Nikon D5000s, our Olympus E-PL2s, and our Canon S95s. But there are some highly talented scientists out there making images with CT scanners, electron scanning microscopes, and confocal microscopes; astonishing pictures of moth wing scales, fish embryos, cells dividing, and plant stigmas. It’s not the sort of thing that you’ll find on Flickr, but you will find some of them – in fact a lot of them – at the Wellcome Collection.

Every year, the Wellcome Collection acquires thousands of images that document scientific exploration, development, and discovery. They’ve been doing this for a long time, but for the past 11 years, they’ve awarded prizes to the ‘most informative, striking and technically excellent’ images submitted to them that year.

Zebrafish retina, Kara Cerveny, Steve Wilson's Lab, UCL

The winners, all 21 of them, of the 11th Wellcome Image Awards have just been announced. It’s worth taking a look.

It’s also worth knowing that all of the images held by the Wellcome Collection are freely available for non-commerical personal and academic use. If you’d like to use images commercially, contact them to discuss fees.

Wheat infected with ergot fungus, Anna Gordon, National Institute of Agricultural Biology, AND Fernan Federici, University of Cambridge

If you can’t get to the Wellcome Collection to enjoy the exhibition, you can also peruse the gallery of winning images. You can also find out more about Wellcome Images in general.

Wellcome Image Awards exhibition runs until 10 July 2011 at the Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BE.

(Featured image: Honeybee, by David McCarthy and Annie Cavanagh.)

Money for nothing, and your pics for free

Generally, I’m not a huge fan of sites that give away photos for free: They’re in direct competition with several of my streams of revenue, after all. But some times, as I get stuck in the ever-lasting cycle of knocking heads together in order to protect my copyright, I realise that the internet doesn’t always work like that…

There will always be a minority of people who decide that they want to steal other people’s pictures (Or, more precisely, who do not want to pay for their photos). The next time I catch someone nicking one of my photos, I know where to point them…

photo © 2009 Aleera | more info (via: Wylio)

Enter the Creative Commons

Wylio is a website that does one thing, but does it well: It’s a Creative Commons search engine, which takes the trouble out of searching Flickr’s Creative Commons pictures.

I know what you’re thinking: “But.. It’s not as if it’s that hard to search Creative Commons pictures on Flickr as it is!”. And you’d be right – but I’m starting to understand that any barrier to finding legal-to-use free images is too much… And it’s easier to send someone a single URL than a set of instructions for how to search the Commons.

The second advantage Wylio gives you is that they’ll resize the image for you, and provide you with the HTML code to insert the image into your posts where relevant. Great, except they give you an impenetrable mess of a HTML block that most savvy bloggers will dislike strongly.

Anyway, head over to Wylio and give it a whirl yourself!

The image in this post was found & embedded via Wylio.

Facebook updates photos features

Recently, I wrote an article about Flickr reaching the five billionth photo milestone. What I didn’t mention in that article was how Facebook is seeing monthly photo uploads at 2.5 times the pace of Flickr’s annual uploads. That’s right… Facebook users upload approximately 2.5 billion photos per month. With that many photos circulating the Facebook community, it’s no wonder that the social media giant has just decided to roll out some new features regarding user photos.

Hi-Res Images

Facebook has always been a place where users can share quick snapshots of their lives, usually taken with point-and-shoot cameras or mobile devices. After all, most people don’t even own a dSLR. The standard resolution for Facebook photos is currently 720 pixels, so you can see why it’s a big deal that they’ve just upped the resolution to a whopping 2048 pixels.

Users will now have the option to upload images in either standard or high-res quality. But that’s not all. There will also be a “download” button located underneath each photo, allowing users to download any of these high-res images in JPG format. Before, anyone with half a brain could have just as easily right clicked and saved as, but this extra button makes it that much easier for people to download your photos.

Light Boxes

While increasing resolution to 2048 pixels already does wonders for the quality of user photos, Facebook has gone one step further and will be implementing “light boxes” as well. This means that every time you click on an image, the photo will load on top of a darkened version of the content you were looking at, giving each photograph (especially the high res ones) an elegant feel.

Tagging

Another feature that Facebook will be implementing is bulk tagging. Currently, you can tag a friend in a photo, but each image must be tagged individually. Bulk tagging is just what it sounds like. Now, you’ll be able to view a list of thumbnails of all the pictures in an album where you can tag your cousin Larry’s goofy mug in multiple pictures, all at the same time. This definitely makes tagging less of a hassle and much more efficient.

Flash Uploader

Last, but not least, Facebook will now use a Flash-based uploader when adding pictures. This should increase reliability and speed. Users with newer computers and fast internet speeds may not see much of a difference, but it should be noticeable to those with older computers and crummy connections.

How does this affect photographers?

Well, you’ve probably heard this many times over the last year or two, but Facebook isn’t quite the ideal place for photographers to set up their portfolios anyway. Their terms of service have a history of not being entirely photographer-friendly (although they have improved a bit), but allowing users to upload high-res versions of their photos sounds like trouble to me.

Of course, if you only have a small tight-knit group of friends on Facebook, then realistically you don’t have much to worry about. Personally, I feel safe in saying that my friends don’t quite have an interest in “stealing” my pictures so they can sell or misuse them in any way whatsoever.

But like any other online community, a photographer always takes a risk simply by uploading his or her work, whether it be Facebook or Flickr. There’s always going to be that slight chance, and the only way to prevent it is to not put any of your work online at all. Strong arguments for either side can be made, and I’m sure this topic will be up for some heated debate. It will definitely be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few weeks as Facebook rolls out its new features to the rest of the planet.

(via Inside Facebook)

Found photographs

No, I haven’t found a stash of mysterious photographs in the attic of the Small Aperture Mansion. (Although, it is altogether possible there are heaps of photos up there. I should take a look.) I suppose it was more a question of, if I were to find a suitcase bulging with prints of no known provenance, what exactly would I do with them? I got thinking about this when I used a Polaroid print quite randomly as a bookmark. (My usual bookmark of choice is a train ticket.)

You see, I follow a blog called Forgotten Bookmarks. The guy who runs it owns a secondhand bookshop and he documents the postcards, the recipes, the newspaper clippings, the receipts, and all the odd things that turn up amongst his stock. Unsurprisingly, the largest category of forgotten bookmarks is photographs. And some of them can be very sweet indeed. Go take a peek.

But you can probably follow my train of thought.

So, what to do with these hypothetical found photos of mine? There are quite a few websites out there devoted to cataloguing found photographs. Let’s start with a big hitter. Flickr has not one, but two found photo pools: Found Photographs and The Museum of Found Photographs. How much information you get with each picture depends on who submits it, but it’s a fun way to while away some time!

Look at me was started by Frederic Bonn and Zoe Deleu when they found a few photos lying in a Paris street in 1998. From those few pictures, there are now 634. It hasn’t been updated in yonks, but it isn’t exactly as if things have gone out of date on it.

Time Tales was a project started by Astrid van Loo, a photographer, and Dick Dijkman, a webdesigner. I love the design on this site. It’s arranged according to the suspected decade of the photos, and whatever information that can be gathered from the picture is displayed, but nothing that amounts to speculation. You can even send a small selection of the images as e-cards.

The picture that started it for Lost Photo Gallery

The Lost Photo Gallery all started when a guy found a passport photo in the street. And then another. And then another. The site has grown from just passport photos, but it still reminds me of the film Amelie.

There are other takes on the found photo ideal out there: some guy has catalogued his finds from filesharing at Found Photos, and someone tried to set up a forum to help learn more about found photos at Lost-and-Found-Photos. That seems quite dead, though. Somehow, though, letting these pictures just be seems okay, too.

If you’ve ten minutes to spare, go for a browse and let yourself wonder who these people were and the kinds of lives that they lived. (But be careful, because some of the pictures aren’t always entirely safe for work.)

Dealing with negative critique

It is relatively self-explanatory that doing a photo critique is quite difficult. What few people stop to think about, however, is that receiving a photo critique can be as difficult – if not more difficult: When you move beyond mere snapshots and start putting more of yourself into your photographs, you are a lot more intimately involved with the work you are putting out there.

Putting your photos up for criticism – whether it is at your local photography club, via a site such as DeviantArt, or even when asking a good friend to give some feed-back – is like putting your own head in the guillotine and taking a chance.

Nonetheless, it’s one of the best ways to improve as a photographer, and one of the best lessons you’ll learn is to discover how to deal with negative photo critiques…  

Hayley in the 1950s by Photocritic.org, on Flickr

1) It may come across as crass, rude, or wrong, but there may be a kernel of truth in it.

If someone tells you “LOL learn how 2 autofocus, you dweeb”, you need to do 2 things: Live in the happy knowledge that whilst your camera might have had an off day, at least you know how to string a grammatically correct sentence together.

And perhaps that picture is a little bit blurry, now that you look at it closely…

Take a step back, and take commentary on face value. If you honestly can’t say you agree with a piece of criticism, that’s perfectly fine, as long as you are objective enough to be able to try and see it from their viewpoint.

2) They might disagree, but they are your audience.

Ultimately, you are the photographer, and what you decide is how the final result gets done. Nobody can tell you what to do, and if you like your photo, then you’ve won one of the huge battles.

At the same time, it’s quite possible that the people ripping your photos to shreds are the people you were trying to target: whether you’re thinking about selling them as microstock, as art works, or just to give your mum a present is irrelevant.

Your photos are out there for interpretation, and if you care about the message you are sending, you’ll have to go the extra mile to make sure that they aren’t getting misinterpreted.

3) As soon as you let ‘em go, you no longer own ‘em.

It’s the curse of all writers and poets: They spend months – years, even – crafting their masterpiece, and then nobody ‘gets’ it. They all ‘get it’ wrong. Tell you what though, that’s where part of the beauty comes from: If you are taking a photo which you meant to symbolise the innocence of youth, and your first 10 commenters feel it’s a strong commentary on, say, child abuse, then they are per definition right.

It is not your job to interpret your own photographs, it is your job to take them. This is a good thing: if people can make up their own story to go with the photograph – their own connotations and bias, as it were – they are much more likely to connect emotionally with the photograph. If this is achieved; if someone is caused to feel something because of your photo; your mission is complete.

4) They talk. You shut up.

Remember that, just like you are not there to interpret your work, you’re not there to defend it either.

In a way, the best thing you can do is to never respond to any criticism. Let’s be honest – you will never be able to re-create the EXACT same image ever again anyway. Take the criticisms on board as points of reference for future photographs.

Learn from your mistakes, learn about what makes your audience buzz, and learn from your own opinions of your work.

5) Remember that the best works might be universally hated: Be thick-skinned.

Technical aspects of your photographs might be objective: A photo can be accidentally over-exposed, blurry, or have some rubbish in the background which makes your photograph less-than-perfect. Once you start killing the technical foibles of your photographic work one by one (don’t go too perfectionist on it though, it’s not useful to end up deleting all of your photos because of every little detail), the actual creative work starts shining through, and this is where the worst potential for getting hurt comes from.

You can kick yourself for small technical mistakes in your photographs (and you’ll continue making them for the rest of your photographic career), but if people start critiquing your artistic choices, it’s a different thing altogether.

The important thing here is to believe in your own work 100%: If you feel you’ve done it right, and if the image is an accurate representation of what you were trying to do, then all you can do is to shrug off their comments and move on.

Just think about it: Pink Floyd, The Decemberists, Pendulum, Metallica, Billy Joel, Leonard Cohen, Zero 7 – they’ve all been called ‘the best band ever’ by reviewers at one point or another, and yet it is never difficult to find someone who doesn’t care about – or even actively dislikes – them.

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