What Does Flickr Say About 2019

I generally use Flickr as an external judging tool for my photographs. I post my favorite photos to mostly the same Flickr groups and see how they do. I know this may not be completely accurate as there may just be more Flickr traffic in these groups one day as compared to another, but it is my scorecard. So, this post is about my 5 photos that did the best on Flickr for 2019.

The first two photos received the same number of faves on Flickr, though I favor the second one much more. The first one is a reflection photo of Austin before dawn and I like it, but it is missing a better sky. Shot at 16mm with Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 lens.

Downtown Austin Texas in the predawn twilight
Downtown Austin Texas in the predawn twilight

The second one is one of my personal favorite photos from last year of some mountains in the morning haze at Big Bend National Park. Flickr didn’t love it as much as I did. Panorama merge of images shot at 85mm with Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 lens.

Big Bend Mountains Layered in the Morning Haze
Big Bend Mountains Layered in the Morning Haze

Then there is this photo of some wildflowers in the last of the afternoon sun at Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge. I worried that this picture looked ‘overdone’ as it is an HDR merge, but it does look very close to the real scene. And I actually sold this photo for money so perhaps that makes a bigger difference than Flickr faves. Shot at 38mm with Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 lens.

Wildflowers and Hiking Trails at Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge HDR
Wildflowers and Hiking Trails at Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge HDR

This next photo, I must admit that I truly love. I have sat and stared at this photo on my computer remembering how the evening felt when I took it. It is from a campground on the shore of Inks Lake at the state park. The clouds are really not that dramatic, but the cool scene broken up by the orange horizon and framed by the shadows and trees really works. Shot at 16mm with Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 lens.

Blue hour reflection at Inks Lake State Park Texas
Blue Hour at Inks Lake State Park

And finally, Flickr says that the following is my best photo of the year, though this is probably because it was lucky enough to added to Explore where it got more attention. Just an antique store in the morning light with a yard full of bluebonnets. This on a busy highway in my town that I drive every morning, so I couldn’t help but notice and stop for photos on a sunny morning. Shot at 35mm with Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 lens.

Bluebonnets and Antique Shop in Leander Texas
Bluebonnets and Antique Shop in Leander Texas

So that is the Flickr public’s opinion and it is probably pretty reliable. If you would have asked me without considering Flickr, I probably would have chosen the Big Bend hazy mountains panorama photo – I just love it and I want to be out at Big Bend. Maybe if it had been added to Explore.

Another interesting point is that 4 of these 5 photos were take relatively close to my house, so maybe it is a statement about finding the beauty of where you live. I haven’t been all that motivated to get out and shoot recently. There were to be some clouds Sunday evening at sunset, but they never appeared. It’s been either steady rain and gray or clear blue skies for me.

I like Flickr because they allow you to display your images the way you want, unlike Instagram which compresses and adjusts it to their format. You can display at full resolution on Flickr if you like. But I have noticed less traffic on Flickr recently. Flickr was recently bought by Smugmug and they have made a few changes in an attempt to make the site profitable, I guess. There is a limit to the number of images that you can have for a free account, though it is 1000, which is a lot. They also added ads in the feed, which I don’t mind as it is free. I hope it stays around, though it is hard to compete with selfie and influencer infested Instagram.

Thanks for reading.

22 thoughts on “What Does Flickr Say About 2019”

  1. They are all terrific, but I agree with Flickr on the first two. Though I really like that shot of the mountains, that Austin photo is terrific. Yes, it is interesting how if we really look, we can find lots of beauty close to home. Keep up the great work.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I sold a collection of local photos to a City tourism agency. I have yet to see their material that includes the photos. It was not a huge windfall for me, but nice to know that someone thinks they’re worth something.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Yes that one, it’s a good one. I’ve done that exact same thing, where I was waiting for a better sky. I’ve actually not shared perfectly good photos because I didn’t want to burn the spot on a shot with out an awesome sky haha.

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  5. Hard to choose a favorite but the lake wins! I understand why you stare at it, you should have it framed. The Wildlife Refuge and the bluebonnets tie for 2nd. 🙂

    I don’t know why the Reader seems to always be late in showing me your posts, but at least I find them!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks about the lake. That makes me think that I should go camping again soon.

      Hmm, I don’t know about the wordpress reader. Maybe it is actually your subconscious fear of puns. I usually don’t have puns in my blog posts, so rest at ease.

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    1. I can’t figure out the explore algorithm. I see a lot of bird pictures, posed toy pictures, and then just random kind of strange pictures. So, I obviously need to buy about $12000 of gear and become a bird photographer.

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  7. A tie for the first two for me.

    It’s interesting that you say that most of these photos were taken locally. It’s something that I’ve found as well and I think that it’s because if you go back to the same place over and over again you get a better feel for the location. I’ve now certainly got a better understanding of how the weather and season will affect the shots.

    Perseverance and local knowledge are much under-rated 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yes, I agree with what you say. I just have to fight a boredom with the same place repeatedly. I really don’t live in the most beautiful part of the country, but I live where career opportunities are. I try to pep myself up to try to find nice photographs around here anyway.

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