Flickr

[deletedpenguin]

I think if I lucked into a shot they liked I'd be willing to split some money off of something that I would most likely never earn a penny from otherwise... something is better than nothing and all that... any of the pros are already going to be out there trying to make money anyway. This project will likely be like a photographic American Idol - a few good ones that can succeed, some so-so contributions, and the rest a lot of wasted time... only not as funny as William Hung.

I agree, it exposes people as photographers that wouldn't have otherwise been published. It's almost like the lottery though, as there are so many good (and bad) photos on Flickr, I would imagine the photos picked are still few and far between.

Seeing as that the odds are about the same, I'd rather win the lottery. $5 million is better than getting a photo published.

 

[bob100]

my Flickr pics are as good as National Geographic !

why I haven't heard from the The Getty image editors yet?
maybe they are just sorting out which ones they want to publish

 

[Experiment_626]

my Flickr pics are as good as National Geographic !

why I haven't heard from the The Getty image editors yet?
maybe they are just sorting out which ones they want to publish

Obviously, they're trying to decide how many editions to publish and how large the coffee table books will be when printed. They face similar questions with my work!

SSB

 

[Geoff_M]

"Thoughts?" Beware of the hype... Another viewpoint on the announcement: "How Getty Is Killing The Stock Photo Industry"

 

[deletedpenguin]

"Thoughts?" Beware of the hype... Another viewpoint on the announcement: "How Getty Is Killing The Stock Photo Industry"

A very valid argument. I'd have to agree with this.

 

[bob100]

A very valid argument. I'd have to agree with this.

I'm not that familiar with the issues (and not a professional photographer) but it sounds like Photoshelter.com is one of those stock photo agencies where the photographer gets a greater percentage and they are upset "iphoto"/Getty is offering to buy photos at a cheaper price - so what? if a business wants a certain type photo why not buy it at the lowest market price ?

 

[handicap18]

Flickr has already been allowing other web surfers to do this, but up until now have been doing it without flickr users permission. Many users have found their pictures showing up on other web site's advertising. Those users had their images marked "all rights reserved". To flickr this really hasn't meant anything.

So now it looks as though they are trying to make up for their mistakes.

Did you ever hear of the story about the 15 year old girl who had a friend take a pic of her. The pic was put on flickr. Then some months later it was found that the pic was used in an advertising campaing in Australia. The company that used it never got permission from the person who took the pic nor from the 15 year old girl to use her likeness.

There are many types of software out there that will search flickr for tags, groups and names for different things, then it will just take the pic and give it to companies without telling them about any copywrite issues.

I have taken all my pics out from any groups I was in and also removed ALL my tags. I have had a few people email me about using one of my pics for different websites or books or something. I can only imagine how many didn't email me, but still used a pic without asking my permission.

I no longer upload images to flickr and once I get my smugmug account up to date I will remove all my images from flickr and cancel my account.

 

[Geoff_M]

I'm not that familiar with the issues (and not a professional photographer) but it sounds like Photoshelter.com is one of those stock photo agencies where the photographer gets a greater percentage and they are upset "iphoto"/Getty is offering to buy photos at a cheaper price - so what? if a business wants a certain type photo why not buy it at the lowest market price ?

To understand Getty is to understand the problem. They've grown not by beating the competition though pricing and superior offerings. They've done it primarily snapping up the competition and negotiating exclusive deals that have frozen out others. They've also become an "800 lbs. Gorilla" to both clients and photographer. The Flickr move, as stated by Getty, isn't expected to kick much money to Flickr users... it's to lock up another "library" so another company can't access it. It's the standard Getty playbook. In the press release it's made to sound like it's a wonderful thing, but it isn't going to amount to much to shooters selected and they'll lose control of their images in the process. And the squeeze continues on the photographer's incomes. Photoshelter is a recent "upstart" that has expressed an interest in serving both the clients as well as photographers and doesn't keep a lion's share of the royalties in the process. They aren't being hurt by Getty, they've taken business away from them.

 

[sherry7]

Hello all.

For the last couple of years, I've had a free Flickr Pro account, as a part of my Verizon DSL service. However, I just found out that little bonus is going to be discontinued soon. In order to keep my Pro account, I'll have to pony up $25 per year.

I'm debating whether I'd rather pay the $25 to Flickr, or change to another photo hosting service. I do like the social aspects of Flickr however.

My needs are fairly simple I suppose. I only download JPG files, since I don't shoot in RAW.

Any suggestions for other photo hosting services? As long as I'm going to pay, I'd like to get the best bang for my buck.

Thanks!

 

[bob100]

I'm debating whether I'd rather pay the $25 to Flickr, or change to another photo hosting service. I do like the social aspects of Flickr however.
Thanks!

why not continue with the free Flickr ?

 

[sherry7]

why not continue with the free Flickr ?

Well, I thought about that, but the free Flickr accounts are quite limiting. For example, you can only post 200 photos.

Any other suggestions? Thanks!

 

[handicap18]

I had the pro flickr account. When I first started using flickr I really liked it. I liked the idea of the groups and the comments and stuff. Then I started getting requests from people about using my photos for different publications which I though was cool. Then I started reading stories about images being taken from peoples accounts with out their knowledge and showing up in publications they didn't know about. The more I read the more I didn't like it. I can only imagine how many times my pictures have been taken without my knowledge. Even though flickr has one of those "all rights protected" things, they don't follow it and they don't enforce it. In fact they've sold their lists to outside companies to freely search for keywords in flickr so those companies can find images even quicker.

I have since removed ALL my tags, removed ALL my images from any groups and have started to delete all my images from flickr.

I now use smugmug (though zenfolio is just as good). Their privacy and security is worlds better than flickr could even think about being. I have a number of galleries on my smugmug account that are listed as private, unsearchable and password protected. I can choose whether people can purchase pictures from a specific gallery or not. I can limit which size they images can be viewed at. I can also (with the Power account) put a right click protect on galleries I want (my sister got mad at me earlier this week because she couldn't copy any of the new pics of the kids I uploaded there). With the Pro account you can also add watermarks and set prices on pictures if you wish.

I find it easier to set up galleries and arrange things how I want.

Now even with most of the security steps smugmug takes people can still find the images and download them, but it is much more difficult and much less likely to happen than with flickr. Flickr has some privacy measures, but I've found their customer service to be poor and based on ariticle I've read they don't want to change a lot of what they do.

This was the article that finally drove me to move away from flickr.

Others may have other opinions, this is just mine. Take it for what its worth.

If you do go with smugmug, I can save you $5 if you use this code: eeWMM89aMx1lc

Good luck with your decision.

 

[JoeDif]

If you do go with smugmug, I can save you $5 if you use this code: eeWMM89aMx1lc

Good luck with your decision.

I'm considering using Smugmug......how long is the code valid for?

Thanks

 

[JR6ooo4]

Have you looked at www.smugmug.com ?

they have unlimited uploads and great communities as well.

If you like it you can use this code for a $5 discount. EDfLfDAAygNVM

I also get a little somethin' for referring you.

But a pro account is about $100 a year. IT has its own features like I can set my prices for photo sales.

the standard account at smug may be equivalent to the pro account at other places.

Mikeeee

dang, I'm too late! hheheheee
the code is permanent and anyone can use it.

Your photos look better here

Gorgeous online albums.

Your fans will tell you how great your photos look here.
We fit their display area perfectly from iPhones to jaw-dropping SmugMungous sizes, if you enable them. Example.
Choose from an ever-growing list of themes with a click.

Unlimited storage.

We'll never ask you to choose which photos or videos matter most, because storage at SmugMug is unlimited.
So is traffic. Become a rock star and invite millions to view your amazing self.
Use us as safe backup and retrieve your photos anytime.

Privacy when you need it.

No photo sharing site offers as many privacy controls SmugMug does.
Hide photos, galleries, or your entire site from public view. Add passwords to individual galleries or your entire site.
Prevent your photos from being embedded in other sites. Block downloading of higher resolution sizes.



The best prints and gifts.

SmugMug lets you buy the most exciting products from the best merchants.
Buy professional prints and gifts at competitive prices from our lab, or from a growing list of the most popular makers of cards, photo books, posters and framed prints.

SmugMungous video.

Power and Pro subscribers can add video that looks far better than the small, grainy videos of YouTube.

SmugMug on your iPhone.

Shoot, geotag, upload in one shot.

SmugMug in your apps.

Add photos directly from Picasa, Photoshop, Lightroom, iPhoto, Aperture and many others.

Complete customization.

Power and Pro-level subscribers can make their SmugMug sites completely unique. Remove SmugMug's name and logo, choose fonts, colors, layout and graphics. Examples.

Themes.

All subscribers can choose from a growing list of amazing themes. Go elegant, funky, or fun in one click.

Web 2.0 goodness.

Indulge your geekiness with feeds, APIs, tags, and ajaxy conveniences.
Join communities and be discovered by people who love the photos you do.

No ads or spam.

Your friends will thank you for letting them see ad-free pages without registering.

Silky-smooth slideshows.

Our Flash slideshows can be made any size, up to full screen even on huge monitors. Embed them in blogs, forums and web pages.

Your photos on Google Maps.

If you or your camera knows where your photos were taken, we can display them on Google maps for you.

White glove support.

Real people who respond quickly to every email 365 days per year.
We fuss over more than 300,000 mostly fanatical, paying customers.

 

[handicap18]

I'm considering using Smugmug......how long is the code valid for?

Thanks

The code is good for as long as I have a smugmug account. I don't plan on leaving anytime soon.

 

[handicap18]

Oh yeah, for an additional $10 a year I got my own domain name and have it parked to my smugmug account. This makes it a lot easier when giving friends and family my photo gallery. They just type in www.kylegendron.com and poof.... it goes right to my smugmug account. I haven't played around with the different front pages. I'm just using the basic one. I know others have made some real night front pages. There are a bunch of regulars here that also use smugmug. I've also had prints made right from the site, as have many friends and family member. Some say zenfolio is better because they use mpix, but I've had no issues thus far. Everythings been great.

 

[alan]

While I can understand your anxiety about not wanting photographs to appear in publications, I do find anti right-click javascript to be one of the most childishly annoying things I come across on the web.

Anyone with any knowledge of PCs can easily hit "print screen" and copy the picture. Anyone with any knowledge of HTML can read the source file and find out the URL. Anyone who disables JavaScript is not affected by it (and has a far more secure web browsing experience).

So since it's so easily circumvented, why does anyone insist on doing it? It makes legitimate users have a harder time in doing legitimate things, and it presents only the most minor of hurdles to anyone who knows that they're doing.

Sorry for the digression...

regards,
/alan

 

[handicap18]

While I can understand your anxiety about not wanting photographs to appear in publications, I do find anti right-click javascript to be one of the most childishly annoying things I come across on the web.

Then its doing its job.

Anyone with any knowledge of PCs can easily hit "print screen" and copy the picture. Anyone with any knowledge of HTML can read the source file and find out the URL. Anyone who disables JavaScript is not affected by it (and has a far more secure web browsing experience).

True, but at what file size are you getting the picture and how well will that image then be printed.

So since it's so easily circumvented, why does anyone insist on doing it? It makes legitimate users have a harder time in doing legitimate things, and it presents only the most minor of hurdles to anyone who knows that they're doing.

Sorry for the digression...

regards,
/alan

What "legitimate" things would you be doing? Viewing the EXIF data? That is readily available on the smugmug site by moving your mouse over the larger image. Even then the owner of that account has the option of having that information displayed. If your browsing though someone's gallery on smugmug, what "legitimate" thing would you need to be doing by right clicking on the image other than wanting to "save file" to your own computer? And at least there are hurdles. Flickr has NO hurdles.

 

[cerberus]

Check out these discussions, it might help

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1033&thread=25947805&page=1

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1033&thread=26904715&page=2

 

[sherry7]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

I'm not overly worried about anyone stealing by photos, since my skills aren't that good, lol.

From the choices I've looked at so far, I like the smugmug option (and thanks for the discount codes). If I end up changing from Flickr Pro, I'll probably go that route.