For those of you who don’t know, Flickr is an “online photo management and sharing application.” I first joined Flickr in October 2005, and I initially used it as a dumping ground for all of my pictures.
When my little joy of photography turned into something more like a passion, I began to WANT to be a better photographer. I want to work on my photography every day – and it’s not taking pictures…it’s looking at other photos, reading some of my favorite photography blogs, and taking photography courses.
I Heart Faces has definitely challenged me to work on my portrait skills. I think we all can say that we’ve learned so much about composition and focus, not to mention photo editing.
But did you know that Flickr has groups? Lots and lots and LOTS of them. Everything from groups for professional children photographers to groups for pictures of goats.
Here are my top five favorites & why they are in my list of groups:
1. Bench Monday is the most fun group I’ve ever been involved with. You stand on a bench and take a picture (preferrably on Monday – which is the challenge!) and post it to the group. The rules state: one photo per person per Monday. Add photo to the group only on Monday. This group has really challenged me to be creative and explore picture opportunities that I never would have taken otherwise.
2. Bokeh Wednesday Too: first, there was Bokeh Wednesday, but then they closed that group down to new members, so a whole bunch of other groups were created so that other people could join in. I just happened to join one called “Bokeh Wednesday Too” – but there are a gajillion other bokeh groups that you can join.
If you don’t know what bokeh is, here are 2 examples …
There are well-defined little round circles of bokeh (left), and then there is creamy, yummy, smooth bokeh (right). It’s all just perfectly wonderful in my book. This group has inspired me to really look for bokeh, which is super easy to find if there is a sun in the sky!
3. Flare Fridays is a sun-filled group started by an amazing photographer (and friend) named Kristin. She has a flare (ha!) for shooting sunflare, and this is definitely one of those out-of-the-comfort-zone groups for me. I always thought that shooting into the sun was bad, but this group really opened my eyes to the beauty of vitamin d.
4. The Maternal Lens has quickly become one of my favorites, because it’s a group for women and mothers shooting beautiful images. I tend to think that women make amazing photographers solely based on the fact that we can see souls. We have this ability to see things that men can’t — women’s intuition, you know? As a mother, especially, I notice sadness and hurt a lot more than I used to. I love looking through the photos in this group and seeing the world through another woman’s eyes.
5. Another favorite group is called 52 Weeks, and it is for those of us who are doing one self-portrait a week for a year. I just recently started this project, because I failed miserably at my project 365 and wanted a project that would still challenge me. If you are a mom, you might notice that pictures of yourself pretty much stop happening after your first child is born. It’s not something we plan, it just happens. We want to capture every moment of our children’s lives, and that usually means shoving the camera in front of our face and becoming invisible.
However, this project challenges me to step in front of the camera. Show my face every once in a while. After all, I didn’t disappear after Emma was born.
There are so many groups on Flickr that are worth joining, but I didn’t have the space to mention them all. Don’t forget the I Heart Faces group and the I Heart Faces Pet group!! So get over there and take a peek for even more inspiration.
Keli Hoskins is a wife, momma, pianist, photographer, web designer and chatterbox. I think I might be addicted to organizing and coffee, which, lucky for me, go hand-in-hand…and I blog at Kidnapped by Suburbia.
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Thank you so much for the information. I worked in a photography studio for a long time, only I was on the client end and not out taking pictures, I have always had a love for photography but it always goes on the back burner for some reason. I have had my new camera for 5 months and I am getting better about having it in my hand everyday. I love the photo challenges -inspires me to continue to think out of the box and try new things. Such a fun frustrating journey! I appreciate you sharing!
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