Sunday's Spotlight - A Flick through Flickr

BY GUEST BLOGGER PETE

You, dear reader of this blog, may well know all about "FLICKR" and may have been using it for years.  However, there might be just one reader who has no idea what "FLICKR" is.

Ruth introduced me to FLICKR about 18 months ago and until that point, although I had heard of it, I didn't even realise that the spelling was "FLICKR" and not "FLICKER".  How backward can you become?

Basically, FLICKR is a site for showing off your photographs.  However, once you get started on it you'll find yourself picking up all sorts of photographic tips and improvement ideas.  The membership forums usually have someone who will answer your questions and be able to help you undertake all manner of adaptions to your photos.

You also make FLICKR contacts or friends quite easily.  FLICKR has, quite literally, thousands of groups open for you to join - each group offering a specific aspect of photography.  For example, I am interested in kaleidoscopes and there are a number of groups with large memberships who share my interest.  There are also groups for photos of cities, towns, villages, hamlets etc, all over the world.

I started and administer a group under the heading of "Cathedral and Church Flower Festivals".  It's one of the smaller groups - minute compared to most - but it has plenty of members' photos in its pool.

Opening a FLICKR account is straight forward.  It costs absolutely nothing and provides you with a limited amount of free storage for your photos on the internet but no restrictions on the number of groups you can join or other folks' photos that you can view.

For a small annual subscription you become, in rather pretentious FLICKR language, a "PRO".  Now you can upload as many photos as you wish as often as you wish.

There is also the possibility that some of your photos will be published.  A number of mine have been been.  The latest - last month - you will find on www.stepupfinance.com/down-town.  My photo is the rather weird one at the beginning.

You're also quite welcome to visit my FLICKR site - Peter 2010

and Ruth's FLICKR - Birdland Creations site as well.

Give FLICKR a go if you haven't already.  Basically its not going to cost you a penny or a cent!.