Recently I have been using Flickr as a repository for new photographs posted at this site and elsewhere, and I’ve been trying to engage and understand the Flickr community. There is a lot of good stuff there.

There are also a few things that strike me as odd or which raise some concerns. Read a post by a person describing one of these issues:

Flickr = Censorship

Rebekka is a single mom and art student living in Iceland. She’s an artist and a talented one at that. She does amazing things with her camera. Recently she discovered that a gallery Only-Dreemin had been ripping her off. They’d sold thousands of dollars worth of her images and when she caught them and tried to make them give her the money that they stole from her they refused. So Rebekka did what anyone with a following on the internet might do and she posted about her frustration and plight on her flickrstream. And her story resonated loudly with the flickr community. Her story made the front page of digg and by days end she had 100,000 views on this particular photograph with hundreds of supportive comments…

Please follow the link and read the rest of the post.

Before Flickr deletes it.

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G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

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From Photo Business News & Forum by John Harrington:

Flickr and the Law

Recently,

I was having breakfast on a travel project with a colleague of mine. He

asked of me “what’s the big deal with Flickr? I don’t get it. I don’t

see the benefit of being there, of taking the time to be on it. It’s

just for people to share their family photos, right? What does it help

we professionals?” I reponded, telling him that Flickr is not just

that, and that friends, prospective art directors, and so on, can make

you a “friend”, and then, whenever you post new photos, they turn up on

their Flickr page. It’s friends and these prospective clients are choosing

to want to be alerted when you add photos, and it’s all automatic and

shows up on their own page straightaway! Further, properly tagged

(think Keywords, Check here,

for Stan Rowin’s insights on this and a link to a report with even more

information), people can find the photos, and get in touch with you,

or, maybe, mis-use your photo.

Stan has other insights on Flickr here,

but how do we, as professionals, not only leverage the value of Flickr,

but also encourage fair and just use of our work there?

(Follow the link to the full post.)

I’ve begun experimenting with Flickr (www.flickr.com/photos/gdanmitchell/) as a repository for my photographs, and I’m trying to get my mind around the whole contacts, friends, etc. business.

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George Barr (at Behind the Lens) posted a message at his blog that made me think about a recent experience photographing one of the classic views in Death Valley, Zabriskie Point.

A frequent occurrence is to come home with a good shot that has nothing to do with what you went out to take, that the spot you anticipated would work well doesn’t, but 10 minutes later you stumble on something really good.

I had gotten up very early to photograph the sunrise at this spectacular location. Ultimately I did get some landscape images that morning that I like but, much to my surprise, some of the images from that morning that please me the most are not the landscape photographs that I went there to create.

After setting up near the other photographers – and there are almost always other photographers shooting this scene – we waited and watched for the right light. At one point, it occured to me to turn my attention to photographing the photographers instead of the scene. I moved my tripod back a bit and ended up with several photographs that I like a lot, but which are not your typical Zabriskie Point landscapes.

Two Photographers, Zabriskie Point. Death Valley National Park, California. April 4, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (Sales)

Afterwards, I did turn my attention back to the sublime early morning landscape, and I came away with some landscape photographs that I like as well. Then, having finished (or so I thought) the morning light, I headed back down the paved path toward the parking lot.

Along the way, I happened to look at a scene that I had walked past on previous visits – and pretty much ignored as I walked on to get in position to photograph The Obvious. To be unsophisticated in my description, this scene was essentially some small mounds of dry mud with a secondary dirt ridge in the background. I almost didn’t bother, but something made me take a few additional minutes to set up my equipment there on the paved walkway a few seconds up the hill from the parking lot.

The resulting photo, which I’ll post soon, has surprised me by becoming one of my favorites from my early April trip to Death Valley.

—–

George Barr (at Behind the Lens) posted a message at his blog that made me think about a recent experience photographing one of the classic views in Death Valley, Zabriskie Point.

A frequent occurrence is to come home with a good shot that has nothing to do with what you went out to take, that the spot you anticipated would work well doesn’t, but 10 minutes later you stumble on something really good.

I had gotten up very early to photograph the sunrise at this spectacular location. Ultimately I did get some landscape images that morning that I like but, much to my surprise, some of the images from that morning that please me the most are not the landscape photographs that I went there to create.

After setting up near the other photographers – and there are almost always other photographers shooting this scene – we waited and watched for the right light. At one point, it occured to me to turn my attention to photographing the photographers instead of the scene. I moved my tripod back a bit and ended up with several photographs that I like a lot, but which are not your typical Zabriskie Point landscapes.

Two Photographers, Zabriskie Point. Death Valley National Park, California. April 4, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (Sales)

Afterwards, I did turn my attention back to the sublime early morning landscape, and I came away with some landscape photographs that I like as well. Then, having finished (or so I thought) the morning light, I headed back down the paved path toward the parking lot.

Along the way, I happened to look at a scene that I had walked past on previous visits – and pretty much ignored as I walked on to get in position to photograph The Obvious. To be unsophisticated in my description, this scene was essentially some small mounds of dry mud with a secondary dirt ridge in the background. I almost didn’t bother, but something made me take a few additional minutes to set up my equipment there on the paved walkway a few seconds up the hill from the parking lot.

The resulting photo, which I’ll post soon, has surprised me by becoming one of my favorites from my early April trip to Death Valley.

—–