I started using Flickr to share my photos more than then years ago.
Flickr has brought me a lot of joy as, 11 years after, I have uploaded 16,165 photos which have been viewed 1,463,578 times in all (for an average of more than 90 views per photo which is not bad). Most of the viewers are members of my extended family and I thank them for that, even though only a few of them leave comments (most probably because they do not have an account on Flickr).
Yesterday, while browsing the Flickr website, I stumbled upon Flickr groups and this sentence caught my attention: “Flickr groups are a great way to share photos, post comments, and hold discussions around a common theme.” Of course, I knew that Flickr was a great social network for photographers but, up to now, I had neglected that part. So, I subscribed to some groups which I felt were interesting, both because of the quality of photo submissions but, first and foremost, because of the community of photographers participating and their level of interaction. Here are the groups I have subscribed to:
- Canon DSLR User Group (because I have a Canon EOS 60D camera)
- The Portrait Group (because most of my photos are portraits of family members, especially my wife, Christina, and my two kids, Anya and Kyan)
- Nature (because I live in Mauritius!)
- Landscape (same as above — because I live in Mauritius!)
- B&W (because of the inherent beauty of black and white photos)
- Macro (because this is something I would like to be able to do)
- Strobist (because I would like to perfect my off-camera flash technique)
- Night Images (because cameras have great high ISO performance now)
My intention is, initially, to visit those groups regularly in order to understand how they work, then start submitting some of my photos to them so that other photographers can offer constructive criticism. My intention is do discover like-minded people, talk with them, learn from them and, ultimately, become a better photographer.
If you want to improve your off-camera flash technique, I think you should Neil Van Niekerk course on Craftsy.com. He is a South African living in New Jersey. When I first started flash photography, I was very frustrated. His on-camera and off-camera courses helped me understand some very important basic skills. I found it easier to experiment once I mastered these “basic” techniques.
What remote flash trigger are you using?
Thanks for the tip. I’ve been reading the strobist website for some time now but I’m still quite bad at off-camera flash photography… Concerning the technical aspects, up to now, I’ve been using a Canon Speedlite 430EX II as external flash with the small flash in my Canon EOS 60D as trigger and this combination works really well.
Here is the relevant off-camera flash photography course by Neil Van Niekerk on Craftsy.
The combination you are using is fine for indoor, but harder to use outdoor.
There are a lot of tramistters and receivers out there, but I have been very happy with Phottix Odin. I can control flash zoom and power from the the transmitter rather than having to go to the flash.
Oops! Careful. By posting on flickr you are abiding by their Terms and Conditions. I read on petapixel that a photographer lost his case because he tried to sue flickr since someone published his photo without his consent and ended up losing his case.
Personally, I use 500px to monitor how I’m doing. The pulse goes up :) I’ve been doing landscapes, a few wedding and now I’m interested in doing macro. I use my 1:1 nikon 105mm AFS 2.8 VR :)
http://500px.com/yasirmx is my photos repo :)
I joined Flickr in 2005 when 500px didn’t exist and this is what I’ve been using since. I did try 500px a few years ago but I stayed on Flickr. As you can see, most of my photos are family-related. But, lately, I’ve been thinking of developing my skills, artistic and technical, by doing more macro photography, more landscapes, more low-light photos as well as more off-camera flash photography. Maybe these will end on 500px but, most probably, I’ll stay on my trusted Flickr ;-)
I’ve checked your photos and I have to congratulate you. Your macro shots are phenomenal. I would love to have a macro lens but I don’t have one for the time being. I would love to have a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM but I guess I’ll have to wait a little. Anyone selling one?
Ah, Check Buy/Sell Photography Equipment Group on facebook. The 100mm macro 2.8L USM is amazing. Even the MPE 65mm is awesome.
You can try bhphotovideo.com they do ship to mauritius using DHL/FedEX. I’m working on improving my macro skills though. Gerald Rambert, a friend of mine uses the 100mm F2.8L USM for his underwater macro shots. His fan page: https://www.facebook.com/geraldrambertphotography/
Pritesh, is also reputed for his amazing macro pictures. his fan page: https://www.facebook.com/MacrophotographyMauritius/?fref=ts
Both of them use canon except me lol
Thanks Yasir for the links. I like what Gerald and Pritesh do. Right now, I’m having a great time using my recently-purchased Canon 6D and marveling at its high ISO performance mostly all the time. Some of my latest shots are at ISO 25,000 and, with a little bit of DxO Optics Pro magic, they look stunning. The 6D is wicked.