I'm a Better Photographer Because of Flickr

I first joined Flickr many years ago because I used to see photos from the site displayed on Yahoo!, loved what I saw and wanted to be part of it. I aspired to take wonderful photos like the ones I was seeing.

It seemed like a good fit for me because I love to take photos, and I love sharing them with other people. It’s a great way to allow people to look at the photos I’ve taken without having to send them individual files. Since I’ve been known to take upwards of 100 photos in a single outing to a park, it’s really handy to have them all in one place that I can direct people to.

Having my photos on Flickr also makes it easy for me to see how I’ve changed and how I’ve stayed the same, as well as to easily see my older photos. In one way it’s like a scrapbook.

I love looking at photos other people have taken, and Flickr is a great platform to do that, as there are more photos and photographers on there than I could ever look at, no matter how I tried. I’m often awed and inspired by them.

I think it makes me a better photographer. It spurs my creativity, inspires me to keep shooting, and even helps me technically, as I see how other photographers compose and shoot their photos.

It’s amazing to me some of the creative things I see in those photos—I’ve seen images I never would have considered on my own—and some of the beautiful scenes photographers from all over the planet have taken.

I’d like to say I don’t post my photos on Flickr to get praise, but I guess I do, at least in a way. It’s nice if someone marks one of them as a favorite. I’m not “like” addicted, though, and I don’t obsessively look at how many followers I have, or views, likes, and comments I’ve received.

But, I am human, and the praise—and likes—does feel good. The first time one of my photos was “Explored,” I didn’t even know it until someone left me a comment that said congrats on Explore. I was thrilled. Validation feels good.

The candle photo above is the first photo of mine that was Explored. I took it one evening at home, just playing around with low-light exposures. I remember being pleased that it turned out as well as it did.

It being Explored puzzled me a little bit, because this wasn’t a photo that I thought was all that special or unique. It was just a picture I took when I was just playing around.

I was Explored two more times, and each time it was thrilling, but like the first time, a little confusing to me, as neither of those photos seemed to me exceptionally wonderful either. But then, I’ve been known to be too critical of myself, and being on Flickr has helped with that.

I took this photo of the orange berries at a park near my house. It’s one of my favorite places to take my dog for a walk, and it’s always good for lots of photos. These berries are plentiful there, and on the day I took this photo, I did so because I loved their vibrant color.

Since I don’t take photos to get Explored or receive likes, but rather because I love how alive and in the flow I feel when I’m looking through the view finder, I take, and post, photos that I like. I sometimes think that I have a “weird” eye, since the photos Flickr seems to like, and those I think are my best usually aren’t the same. My most popular photo on Flickr is another that I think is just a nice photo, and my favorite photo didn’t garner much attention at all.

So while I may not always understand how Flickr works, at least in the Explore department, I love being part of it.

I took this photo of the tree with the oh-so-interesting trunk at another local park. I took it just because the texture was so interesting, and it seemed to jump out at me as I walked past, refusing to be ignored. It turned out to be the third photo of mine that got Explored!

I love looking at the beautiful photos other photographers have taken, being inspired by them, and even learning from them on occasion, when I see how they captured or treated a certain subject.

Flickr has helped me be a better photographer, and to look at my photos in a new way, while also giving me the opportunity to share my photos and my vision of the world.