olivieri_paolo RE your statement on Reno's image this week (Week 692)

"Crop advices seems to have become they main focus on weekly these days."

I'm finding myself in agreement with you but think it has been this way for some time now. But why? Is it just that cropping is the easiest way to make an alteration?

Technically, on Flickr, a note/crop box is the simplest way of making a constructive suggestion. Easier than illustrating how one would lighten this or clone out that or how the eye should travel across the photo.

Also, authors are stingy with their pixels. They see everything as contributing to a general feeling of the photo as they experienced it. While audiences, who have little chance of feeling the photo the way the author had (unless the latter is extremely masterful or lucky) tend to concentrate on the aesthetics.

Cropping someone else's photo is easy. Cropping one's own is hard. Crop suggestions are as annoying to the author and spectators as they satisfying to the cropper. They are also useful. But annoying. I will add a crop suggestion even as I tease the previous crop suggester for suggesting too many crops.

I think they are just a thing that we have to acknowledge, use judiciously and accept gracefully.

So Flickr will be limiting 1,000 photos for free account holders. There goes more than half of my photos since 2004 :-/ Sorry off topic...

Stitch: not off topic ... this is what the chatterbox is for

Jimmy Hilario I don’t think that’s an inevitability for anyone. While our feelings maybe hurt for believing in fairytales of free 1TB storage, the reality is that Flickr is asking for $2.92 a month. That’s slightly more or less than a cup of coffee, depending on where one lives. I personally make pretty good coffee at home and can skip a trip to Starbucks once a month.

$2.92 implies a 30% off the first year, available through Nov 30.

My biggest concern is not forgetting to switch to Pro on Nov 29. Trying to maximize the free run. The wise thing may be to pay now. I just know I’ll forget.

Lets keep in mind that $50 may feel like $500 or $5000 in certain countries. Stitch is in the Philipines. Maybe this is an important detail flickr marketing department didn't take into consideration

I (we—free loaders hehe) have a little over 3 weeks to think about it ;)

Well, you can open a 2nd (or even 3rd) account - or do some thorough weeding ;^)

I'm sitting at 989 photos in my stream since 2007 but I've only posted to Weekly for the past several years, so that's about 50 shots a year. I could shitcan a bunch of stuff but will probably give them the $35 for the first year and see what they do w/ it.

This was published on another group:

From Don MacAskill, the CEO of flickr about big free accounts with a lot of content:

"...less than 3% of the Free accounts, who are largely storing vast quantities of *private* photos, not public ones, aren't contributing to the community but *are* making Flickr more costly to run and harder for us to build great things for you. It's not fair that loyal Flickr Pro customers are supporting those types of accounts."

Flickr's free model was only possible under Yahoo, subsidized by Yahoo's other income sources. But it was never profitable.

If the new owners (Smugmug) are going to be able to continue providing the current feature plus catch up with years of lack of development ... they need to clean up the stream of revenue.

I have always been a pro member even when I have less than 600 photos. I'm not in a position to throw money away but I am understand that flickr costs money, if I don't pay others have to. Its either advertisers or pro members.

I do not want flickr to become a new facebook. I do not tolerate money getting in the way of everything. Flickr still breathes clean air and remains pure, photography and art centered. That has tremendous value to me and I gladly pay my subscription to preserve it.

I support a free option for those who can't afford it. But $50 a year won't break anyone's economy. Not in most countries anyways.

Free memberships are supported by pro members. More pro subscriptions should allow to keep that cost down.

We've been concerned for years about flickr going away ... this group going away.
Maybe is time to tell Smugmug "we're here to support you, give us back your very best"

I'd probably turn pro in a day or two ;)

Nice to see more entries in the group ;)

19 Entries this week !!!
And tons of comments in each and all of them !!!

This means a lot to us admins guys ... THANK YOU !
and keep it up !!!

ferlopez: awesome...

Let's rant about the sad state of online photo communities.

Instagram is devoid of any meaningful conversation, though there seems to be some engagement there.
Flickr feels like a mausoleum nowadays.
Tumblr has been long dead, and not the last nail (banning what they call adult contention) arrived.

Is there anything alive and vibrant?

ello has communities but I have not really tried it yet. It's about art in general but photography has been growing in size and quality in the past year or so. It's the only one I see "evolving"

There's no image protection though ... whatever you upload can be downloaded and appropriated. Same as tumblr

tumblr is full of porn

google+ is on death row, never took off unfortunately

instagram and facebook are about money and how to get to your money. Particularly I believe facebook killed the world wide web ... but facebook will eventually die and the web will become interesting again.

But ... I'm a true believer that flickr will come back stronger than ever. The quality of content is still here. SmugMug is taking a step in the right direction by making sure its profitable. Development will follow and a more modern interface with better features will bring public interest and new members back in. Wether the content will be good or full of noise and nonsense only time will tell us.

You are right, flickr feels like a mausoleum because there's no young people here. You know how that ends. So they key for SmugMug is to make it attractive to they younger photographers.

If you have patience to navigate through old fashioned forums, PHOTRIO is interesting and has a loyal community. Its the former APUG - Analog Photography Users Group

Wanted to say hi and thanks for the welcome backs in my discussion thread.

Nice to have you back ;-)

Indeed, nice to have you back Bill!

If somebody asks for more DOF in one if my images, now I have an answer: bokehlicious.
fstoppers.com/originals/portrait-photographer-surprised-d...

Youpic.com and viewbug.com seem to be attracting some good photographers. But they might die a natural death since their campaigned to get paid users isn't taking off. They don't have provisions for groups or forums unlike flickr, hence interaction is limited in photo comments.

nimblephotons:

hahaha..perfect!

Stitch:

After a quick look, viewbug seems just another photo sharing site but Youpic's utilization of blockchain technology (like cryptocurrency) is apparently unique in the photo sharing world. Wondering if that will help them grow?

Signed up for youpic, we will see I guess

ski 9: I still don't quite get the concept or application of blockchain in youpic.

On a different note, I finally turned flickr pro (yay me) when I got this threatening note that I can't add any more photos by January 8. It's a good thing a client paid me this week haha

Merry Christmas to everyone! This is the only Flickr group I'm active in. I wonder why haha

Merry Christmas to you Jimmy, and to everyone. Much love to all !

Happy Holidays to All!

The magnum art of street photography is pretty good.

nimblephotons: Magnum offers photography courses online. I'm thinking of enrolling in street photography. Just waiting for a windfall from a client ;)

In ponzü's entry, there was a discussion about shooting in film. I know where the person who commented is coming from as I used to shoot film and have a good number of weekly photos in film and a handful of "explore" photos shot in film. Why am I not shooting film anymore? Several factors: film is expensive, takes to time to develop and my favorite film camera broke down. Another factor is timeliness. In this day and age of social media, you want your photos out there immediately specially if it is a time-sensitive event. You shoot with film, chances are you get to post it a week later; it's not so relevant anymore. How many times have I shot pictures of Christmas decors but have the roll developed in January. I don't get to post the photos anymore (in social media) no matter how good they are, well, because Christmas is over. Just rambling here ;)

Well ... my goal for this year is to be able at some point to start shooting film ... and keep doing it consistently. I got everything except time ... developing at home is part of the motivation.

It's not a matter of film vs digital, that has always been a misleading way of looking at things. Different mediums for different things ... paper or metal prints ? acrylic or canvas ??? ... for most people today, neither ... just a cameraphone is more than enough to become King of the Blind in the virtual world of social media. Waste of time for me ... all of it.

There's a place for everything I think, and film is alive and well. The rest is a matter of interpretations and personal workflow amongst many other things.

Why film photography is less work (and more fun) than digital

This ... for example ...

Feature: Diving with Ilford HP5 and a Nikonos 5 at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory

I killed my website over a year ago ... sharing only in flickr and this group in particular. I will have an online portfolio eventually ... no rush though

ferlopez:

I really liked your post especially since it fits with the advice I received on my photo "Don't like taking too many photos? Shoot film." I took the bait and replied, again as a comment on the photo, but the discussion, if any is to develop, properly belongs in a group, such as WEEKLY, where people are as knowledgeable as they are sincere.

The point of my writeup on the beach proposal photo is, briefly, as follows: I hate taking too many photos, I resolved not to take too many photos on that day's outing, I took too many (560) photos, I have no regrets, because I ended up taking a series of photos that are precious to a couple of nice strangers and meaningful to me.

Shooting film moves one into a different state of mind and a different space in photography. Shooting film, to me, is about producing fewer bad or meaningless images. However, I do not see myself producing as many good images either. If anything, it could be fun to combine film shooting with normal (I am using the term deliberately and without quotation marks) photography. I tried it, but it did not work out exactly as hoped. You can read about it in my comments on the photo, or we can try starting a thread about it.

Actually, I stopped by the Chatterbox for an entirely different purpose. I wanted to thank you for consistently rotating the group banner. It keeps things fresh and gives members a sense that their work is seen and appreciated.

Do you run into the issue where once you pick out and position the banner, after saving it, it slides off to the topmost or another random part of the photo? I see that all the time in another group. I think it has to do with the photo's resolution.

I also want to get back to film photography. I just need to find a good working film camera. Most of what I used before has broken down. A bit frustrating. You have repaired, and it breaks down again. That's why I shifted to digital. You get to do more, and workflow is simpler. Of course, it doesn't have the charm of film shots but you make do with what you have. And with digital, you focus more on the subject and work less about your gear.

I would also like to ask what is your workflow or routine with flickr. As of the moment, I'm limited to checking photos from Weekly and hardly browse through the rest. Since I went pro, I think I should utilize it more but I've lost the flow unlike the early years when I was all over the place.

Analog cameras have become super low cost, e.g. at online auctions, so you shouldn't have much problems in finding a really good one easily.
As for flickr: I am more or less limited to WEEKLY and a handful of contacts.

Thank you but I don't really handle the banner images myself so I don't know what to say. Maybe Ski9 can share his experiences, he deserves the credit

Regarding film ... so much's been said on the topic and yet so little seems meaningful to me. I don't want to talk because I don't really have much to show yet.

My short answer to "film vs digital" is "film AND digital"
They're different, not exchangeable, not replaceable.

Film has given me some aesthetic results that please me and I find I prefer over digital ... in some cases ... and the oposite is also true and I'd say for most situations.

I find extremely hard to justify the expense of $3500 on a new digital camera ... and that is a healthy feeling. My cameras are probably 7 years old and I don't really need anything better. And camera-phones keep getting better each year.

My life is a bit upside down still, but I do have a room that I'll build into a wet & digital darkroom, enlarger and all ... time will tell ... but time is scarce.

Here's two examples of similar subject, if you're able to see the difference and that matters to you, you'll understand what I mean


Digital




Film

There's also 2 technical reasons where I find film can be much superior than digital.

- Digital abruptly clip highlights. Film gradually and smoothly fades into white.

- Noiseless shadow detail recovery, even in extreme cases like the example below




Here's the digital capture of the negative ... hard to believe ...

That's film for you. It has continuous tones. Digital is prone to banding, well, because it's digital. Nice samples Fer...

Boo.

Regarding film, I simply can't afford it (and don't have resources for a darkroom). But I still treasure my film photography much more than my digital.
Perhaps I will make some more images soon and rejoin the conversation more productively...

Michael-D(new works):
we miss you Michael !

Good grief the mobile site is clunky

Flickr - you suck

ferlopez:

"Thank you but I don't really handle the banner images myself so I don't know what to say. Maybe Ski9 can share his experiences...."

Just saw this after being away for knee surgery. For Admins, a small pencil icon pops up when you hover over the banner and/or the group icon. Clicking on them opens the group pool so you can select a replacement photos. Let me know if you have problems w/ it.

Changing the banner is tricky. Sometimes it works, other times the image "sticks" and moves with the mouse (or trackpad) pointer and gets trimmed randomly.

On another note, we have 403 members and only a few are active. I think that's how it is in other flickr groups.

Slow art? It will 'blow your mind'




www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-47699001?utm_medium=1...

ferlopez:

Wouldn't mind working as a tour guide in art galleries and museums ;)

How do you add "crop suggestions"? I used to do it but forgot. Is it a hack?

click on the image where one of the corners of your crop will be,
hold and drag in diagonal until you reach the oposite corner
then release
you can adjust later too
Write a note and click "Save"

FYI - Flickr did a shutdown (overhaul) a few weeks ago and, apparently, a lot has gone wrong since then. (see the flickr help forum thread - www.flickr.com/help/forum/en-us/72157691537882093/page1 ). One of those things is an inability to change group cover photos. I'll keep checking as i can.

I've been very busy and have not had time to post and critique lately but hope to get back in the not too distant future.

It's good, as it is now, no?

Another glitch is renaming photo locations with "A mysterious place with no name." :(

Something with how Flickr is working on my phone is making it hard to look at the photos this week

That’s why I haven’t commented

Sorry

And ps Flickr really sucks

For years and years they’ve been breaking and rebreaking and breaking the platform again and again

Bill(iudshi8uf):

Can you really judge a picture on your phone?

Yes

Great idea ... maybe other cities will follow ?

www.urbanarchive.nyc

A question for mods/admin: How do you change group icon using photos of other members of the group? I tried doing it but it doesn't work. It only changes if I use a photo from my stream :(

Stitch: Thanks I just learned something!

For weeks I've been trying to change the group icon.... without success. Up until SmugMug took over, I could insert any member's photo into the icon...just the way I can w/ the group's header. Your post let me know I can now only insert my own photos there....so you get Georgia the dog for now ;-)

Wondering why SmugMug made the change and why they decided to allow non-members to do it too? Can you also change the group's header w/ one of your own shots? If so, will save us Admins some work ;-)

Stitch:

I just tried myself - While I can select and resize any of the group's pool images, the new icon flashes like trying to replace the old one but the old one remains in the end.

This looks like a bug to me. I'm sure they'll fix it eventually
The functionality is still there or they wouldn't offer the option to select images that won't stay. There's gotta be some internal permission settings.
I'll try to find out how to report it.

When you switch back getting out of "groups beta" and select to change the banner image, you get a pop up allowing you to select any of the group's images.

When selecting to change the icon, instead of a pop up it links to the administration section with instructions on how to change it and only the option to select an image from your own photostream. That's why its not working ...

www.flickr.com/help/forum/en-us/72157709967550302/

ferlopez thanks for reporting. We'll see what transpires.

Thanks a lot Fer!

So how does the "Weekly" group change the group icon (love your choices btw)? You download the image of the group member and upload it in your own photo stream (so it can be selected)?

Stitch: ski 9 updates the banner and icon images. The banner can be updated using any image from the group's pool. The icon is not being updated until the issue is fixed. Ski used one of his images of his dog.

We are not downloading and uploading member images for icon or banner purposes.
We wouldn't do it without the member's consent and its so much work I don't think its worth it.

We love Georgia (the dog) !!!

"Woof" says happy Georgia ;)

Free film anyone ?

www.freefilmusa.com

ferlopez:

Nice, but only in the USA :(

omg

I don’t think I voted this week

I’m really sorry

Shame on you. Go to your room. No supper for you tonite!

Sorry for the late opening ...

Thanks, thinking on it. They will be in town at the end of the month. Well, next door anyway. Funny enough, they are leaving (Oct 6) the day after the Worldwide Photowalk (Oct 5). If ever there was a chance to kill two birds with one stone...

I've spent some time in this thread today, interestingly started exactly a year ago.

Good stuff. Kinda gave me the personalities of some of the group members.

I'm gonna wait a while before posting again to get a better feel for how each of you vote, which I should have done before I posted quickly after an invite.

It's an nice break from adminning the cat rodeo that now takes up much of my free time.

Rog in AZ: hope to see your posts again here soon!

Season's Greetings to all! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year too!

Blessings all and a very Happy New Year ! 2020 Cheers !

Happy New Year to you all and let's hope that 2020 will be the year of many new mebers joining in and many old ones start posting again.

Happy New Year everyone ! Cheer's to a wonderful 2020

ditto, ditto

Happy 2020, Weekly friends. It's been too long . . .

Happy 2020 to you too jibba! Great to have you back. I miss your beautiful images and the group needs as many people as we can. Please stick around.

Many thanks! Been busy with life and bored with photography the past 2 years . . . but I came to miss the shooting for myself, and the discussions here, not to mention all of y’all’s images. I’ve gone mirrorless last year! (Canon EOS R) Exciting to be able to take photos silently, finally.

Are we now posting 2 images per week, if desired?

Hi Jibba. Great to have you back! Yep, since the number af active members has gone down quite radically in the last couple of years we decided to increse the number of images from 1 to 2 a week. Hopefully you will take full advantage of the oppurtunity!

Activity had largely tapered off here well before I disappeared . . . I haven't been following flickr's fortunes very closely, but to read some of the threads here about SmugMug and the future of this site, it sure seems like the writing's on the wall. I wish there were a way to archive the Weekly comments, for that day when Weekly is no more.

Silver lining to low participation: it doesn't take a big time investment to comment on every photo. :-)

Completely agree jibba!

every silver lining has a cloud

www.facebook.com/groups/223693438667140/

Started a new fb photo critique page (link above) as a backup to this Flickr Weekly Group....just in case. If needed, will work out the particulars on posting/critiquing later. Invite any Weekly members who you are friends with on fb. Hopefully, this won't be needed but, like my father's friend said when he built his bomb shelter in 1961.....better to be prepared 📷;-)!!

Hello to all! Hope everyone is well. Hope no one here (and your family) is a sick with covid-19 but everyone is affected by this one way or another. Freelancers like me have less work. Since many offices have cancelled their events and have scaled down their work hours. Some of my clients are schools and they are closed for a month (for now). These are uncertain times and I hope and pray that this period is shortened, and the contagion resolved by the powers that be.

So how is everyone coping? I might study a language or practice my drawing and calligraphy skills ;)

Stitch:All the best to you and I hope you can cope. Life here is pretty much reduced as well - with its advantages and disadvantages.

Hi Stitch. As you probably know Italy is in a lock down, soon to be follow by the rest of Europe I think (with the exception of the UK who seems to think that 80% of the population should be infected!). We are all fine so far and hope to stay like that. On the positive side plenty of time to keep Weekly going with a flood of images from everybody! :-) :-) :-)

Hi Dappsull and Olivieri. Thanks for the encouragement, and yes, there's a silver lining in everything that takes place ;)

Stitch, Things are OK here in New Hampshire...thus far anyway. Almost everyone is expecting an escalation....except, perhaps, the numb skull in the White House ;-)

Hang in there , and keep us informed...same for the rest of the Weekly crew!

Thanks ski. Hope it stays that way in NH. Take care!

Only 9 cases in Hawaii so far ... all arrivals from the mainland who were quarantined immediately. Hoarders are depleting the stores just like anywhere else ...

I'm actually hoping I'm asked to stay home for 14 days ... as long as I get paid ヽ( ツ )ﾉ

Jokes aside ... stay home ... stay safe ... and sure look at this time as an opportunity for personal projects that have been forced into oblivion by our busy lifestyles.
Hey ... I may even be able to grab my camera and make some photos !

There, I've finished rating everyone. Please keep me in mind, I had slight fever in the morning and my throat is itchy. I hope it just the initial onset of the common cold and won't develop into something else...

Sorry to hear that Stitch. Hopefuly ii''s just an odinary cold and nothing to worry about. Will be thinking of you. Stay well and keep warm. :-) :-)

Stitch: Take good care of yourself...err on the side of caution. Check in with us when you can, to let us know how you are doing.

Stitch: wish you all the best