geogphotos Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 The owners of Flickr are appealing for new subscribers to keep it afloat. How does Flickr impact on stock photographers and stock photography? Do you use it for storage ( maybe not so safe after all!)? Would its demise be a loss or gain or irrelevant to you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Harrison Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 (edited) I'm not part of it but had thought about joining, I see this is the wording of their announcement: Now Flickr needs your help. It's still losing money. Hundreds of thousands of loyal Flickr members stepped up and joined Flickr Pro, for which we are eternally grateful. It's losing a lot less money than it was. But it's not yet making enough. We need more Flickr Pro members if we want to keep the Flickr dream alive. We didn't buy Flickr because we thought it was a cash cow. Unlike platforms like Facebook, we also didn't buy it to invade your privacy and sell your data. We bought it because we love photographers, we love photography, and we believe Flickr deserves not only to live on but thrive. We think the world agrees; and we think the Flickr community does, too. But we cannot continue to operate it at a loss as we've been doing. It's owned by Smugmug, so not quite sure how it was ever going to fit into its paid-for website offerings, here's what they said when they bought it: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/apr/23/flickr-bought-by-smugmug-yahoo-breakup Edited December 20, 2019 by Harry Harrison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geogphotos Posted December 20, 2019 Author Share Posted December 20, 2019 (edited) Yes, I read about the owners of SmugMug being altruistic wanting to save Flickr because of its community importance etc. But clearly it all costs money, and they haven't found enough people willing to subscribe. In my mind Flickr was the powerhouse behind Creative Commons and the 'everything should be for free' attitude to photography. I'd be quite tempted by the unlimited storage but knowing that it is at risk puts me off making the effort. Mind you I have helped myself to a few public domain pics from there 😉 Edited December 20, 2019 by geogphotos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Harrison Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 A few photographers whose work I like ('street' rather than stock photographers) have Flickr Pro accounts and I like the clean interface much more than Instagram, hadn't thought about the security aspects. Smugmug are on a rather slippery slope with it now, their message doesn't actually inspire much long-term confidence for any potential new subscribers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Harrison Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 I genuinely don't understand this 'free stuff' aspect, is it easy to steal high res pictures from Flickr, rather than screenshots? Is it easier than on Instagram or does the same 'free stuff' criticism apply to that as well? How does it differ from your own personal website assuming one doesn't watermark pictures there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geogphotos Posted December 20, 2019 Author Share Posted December 20, 2019 7 minutes ago, Harry Harrison said: I genuinely don't understand this 'free stuff' aspect, is it easy to steal high res pictures from Flickr, rather than screenshots? Is it easier than on Instagram or does the same 'free stuff' criticism apply to that as well? How does it differ from your own personal website assuming one doesn't watermark pictures there? I think it goes back a while when people were pushing Creative Commons and there was a sort of attitude that anybody who wasn't willing to hand over their photos was somehow mercenary and uncool. So if you posted 'All Right Reserved' rather than 'Creative Commons - Do What Want' ( or whatever it is called) it was considered a bit naff by the Flcikr stalwarts. But that was long before Getty arrived and tried to monetise Flickr. Then there was all sorts of rows about who was 'selling out'. Ancient history now I suppose. The more recent versions of these community sharing sites seem much less averse to monetising content but still cover it all up with the community/isn't this exciting to be part of it all vibe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Harrison Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 Thanks, I wasn't aware of the history, I was just looking at it as a possible promotional tool I suppose, much like Instagram (which I don't have either!). I gather they are also offering a discount on Pro membership and so the cloud storage option and various other discounts (Smugmug, Blurb etc.) do sweeten the pill somewhat. https://www.flickr.com/account/upgrade/pro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geogphotos Posted December 20, 2019 Author Share Posted December 20, 2019 23 minutes ago, Harry Harrison said: Thanks, I wasn't aware of the history, I was just looking at it as a possible promotional tool I suppose, much like Instagram (which I don't have either!). I gather they are also offering a discount on Pro membership and so the cloud storage option and various other discounts (Smugmug, Blurb etc.) do sweeten the pill somewhat. https://www.flickr.com/account/upgrade/pro I see that some people link to their stock images and to print vendors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Harrison Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 (edited) Although I'm looking at web platforms I don't think I'm going to end up choosing Smugmug otherwise the offer might be tempting. Edited December 20, 2019 by Harry Harrison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geogphotos Posted December 20, 2019 Author Share Posted December 20, 2019 2 hours ago, Harry Harrison said: Although I'm looking at web platforms I don't think I'm going to end up choosing Smugmug otherwise the offer might be tempting. For what it is worth I use Photoshelter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Harrison Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 2 hours ago, geogphotos said: For what it is worth I use Photoshelter. Thanks, that's in the frame, veering towards Squarespace though, even though it's much lighter on features. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 (edited) 6 hours ago, geogphotos said: I think it goes back a while when people were pushing Creative Commons and there was a sort of attitude that anybody who wasn't willing to hand over their photos was somehow mercenary and uncool. So if you posted 'All Right Reserved' rather than 'Creative Commons - Do What Want' ( or whatever it is called) it was considered a bit naff by the Flcikr stalwarts. But that was long before Getty arrived and tried to monetise Flickr. Then there was all sorts of rows about who was 'selling out'. Ancient history now I suppose. The more recent versions of these community sharing sites seem much less averse to monetising content but still cover it all up with the community/isn't this exciting to be part of it all vibe. I felt much the same way and deleted my Flickr images some time ago. So I guess I'm in the irrelevant camp. Edited December 20, 2019 by John Mitchell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Harrison Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 (edited) Sounds like Unsplash is the new Flickr in that respect. Edit: By way of an explanation of my comment, this Photoshelter blog post. It actually rather puts me off Squarespace, and I think Affinity Photo and Adobe are partners also to some degree. Blog post Edited December 20, 2019 by Harry Harrison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geogphotos Posted December 20, 2019 Author Share Posted December 20, 2019 34 minutes ago, Harry Harrison said: Sounds like Unsplash is the new Flickr in that respect. Edit: By way of an explanation of my comment, this Photoshelter blog post. It actually rather puts me off Squarespace, and I think Affinity Photo and Adobe are partners also to some degree. Blog post I love this for the competition rights grab: “All categories winners will be automatically entered into a draw for a chance to win 1 of 3 free flights from Hopper, valued at $600 each." The prize is a ticket for a lottery!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Harrison Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 Don't get me started on the U word! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Harrison Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 42 minutes ago, John Mitchell said: that anybody who wasn't willing to hand over their photos was somehow mercenary and uncool ....but your statement seems to sum them up perfectly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 15 minutes ago, Harry Harrison said: ....but your statement seems to sum them up perfectly I think you meant to quote Ian (geogphotos). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Harrison Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 1 hour ago, John Mitchell said: I think you meant to quote Ian (geogphotos). Sorry, yes, snatched it from your quote from Iain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Laidler Posted December 21, 2019 Share Posted December 21, 2019 23 hours ago, geogphotos said: I see that some people link to their stock images and to print vendors. I'm one of them. I upgraded to Pro a year or so ago because such accounts allow you to advertise. https://www.flickr.com/photos/mpsimages Almost all the images on there (except those which are screenshots of pictures being used on BBC Look North) have a link to a POD site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geogphotos Posted December 21, 2019 Author Share Posted December 21, 2019 38 minutes ago, Richard Laidler said: I'm one of them. I upgraded to Pro a year or so ago because such accounts allow you to advertise. https://www.flickr.com/photos/mpsimages Almost all the images on there (except those which are screenshots of pictures being used on BBC Look North) have a link to a POD site. So the obvious question - are you getting POD sales via Flickr to cover your subscription? And is it laborious set uptake link for each imager can it be automated? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Laidler Posted December 21, 2019 Share Posted December 21, 2019 8 minutes ago, geogphotos said: So the obvious question - are you getting POD sales via Flickr to cover your subscription? I know of one in the pipeline which should produce a decent commision shortly because it will probably be for the largest canvas possible from that source, and that one will cover this year's Flickr Pro subscription with change. I regard that as a bonus though and view an annual fee of US$50 as very reasonable for unlimited photos. Its certainly less than I pay for my own website (www.middletonphotos.co.uk). 8 minutes ago, geogphotos said: And is it laborious set uptake link for each imager can it be automated? I don't find it particularly laborious and yes it does need to be done one at a time. I tend to upload in very small batches (say 6 at a time max) not least because of my broadband connection speed (about 6mb down, 0.75mb up). I'll upload to the POD site first so I have a unique URL for each image. Having done so, I use the following HTML Code snippet (opened in notepad) to paste in that URL over the top of the bold blue text , then copy and paste the whole thing into the description on Flickr: <a href="INSERT FULL URL TO IMAGE PHOTO4ME" target="_blank"><b>Prints Available</b></a> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickfly Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 I have had quite a few infringement payouts from images stolen from my flickr account. I am no longer pro and will probably pull my images soon as I haven't put anything on there for ages. The one thing I did like was their IMAGE MANAGER which for years has been miles in front of the Alamy one... and still is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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