Today I uploaded my shot #600 to Flickr, and I felt like its time to reflect the quiet long time it has been and to summarize how Flickr helped develop me and my photography.
600 images, that equals about 3 1/2 years of actively shooting, processing and sharing.
Many things changed over the time.
Changes
My Photography evolved from the snapshots of a Beginner to something at least amateurish with a bit of composition and creativity and will hopefully improve even more in the future years.
My cooperation with Getty Images, one of the worlds leading stock image agencies, lifted my expensive hobby to a revenue source that gave me the chance to let my equipment pay for itself.
In September 2011 I will finish my second year of selling through Getty, and I am still very happy with the sales I am having and the share I am getting.
Personally I discovered travelling as my favourite second hobby (not really through the influence of Flickr but certainly through the impact of photography on my life) and through Flickr I met many many people from the countries I visited, who showed me around their city, who I showed around mine.
I am still very good friends with many of them and this influence is really opening my mind.
I also met several people from Berlin there who are sharing the same hobby.
A big thank you to everyone who I met through Flickr, you are awesome guys and girls!
I see Flickr as an old friend who I know for a long time, and who introduces me to some of his friends every here and then. Its incredible and incomparable how people from all over the world, people of every belief, living condition and political attitude meet here for sharing the love for the same passion.
This really changed my view of the world, and it makes me love photography even more.
Photography makes it so easy to get in contact with new people, even for this single purpose, I wouldnt like to miss Flickr as a means of communication of like-minded people.
Also photographers usually know special spots in their cities that are actually…special.
By having a locally experienced guide, you can really discover places that are probably not interesting to the average tourist, but which are definitely photogenic and unique.
I had this luck several times and can only recommend it.
Yeah, Flickr really helped me a lot developing as a photographer, and it has always had a big influence on me.
I did not only shoot for me, but also for my followers. This made me shoot more regularly, gave me a kind of rythm, and delivered a constant flow of exposure and feedback, which definitely had a huge influence on the photography that I am doing today.
Hard Facts
Some of you may probably want to know some hard facts, numbers etc.
Here are some my Flickr Stats, dated August 30th:
I registered on Flickr in December 2007, and am actively using the service since March 2008.
Up to this point I call 669 people a contact, in return 7805 people call me a contact.
This is an amazing number, and I am proud that so many people are interested in my photography.
I am also using Flickr as a private image storage, I have amassed 128.844 private images that I store there.
In terms of visitor stats, I received a total of 1.358.375 clicks, which I am very proud of.
I usually get around 1.000 to 1.500 clicks a day. A bit more on days that I am publishing a photo.
My most clicked image by far is the Sick Fearless Bastard, with over 200.000 clicks.
This image got impressively viral, and still receives around 250 clicks a day.
In the Flickr search it ranks within the top 10 most interesting for the terms “cat” and “kitten”, which gets me a couple of clicks every day.
Interesting fact: The owner of the cat and balcony is a Flickrite, that I am now very good friends with.
I met him in Berlin and he invited me over to stay in his apartment. Big proof for everything I said in the last paragraph.
Surprisingly the Sick Fearless Bastard is not my most commented one, even though its the most interesting (Flickrs opinion), the most clicked and most faved shot.
The most commented shot of mine is this (quite old) shot, that I still love a lot.
I will write an article about the Sick Fearless Bastard in the close future, so if you are interested, keep an eye on this blog or simply subscribe to my Feed!
OK, thats it from my side-
what feeling are you having towards Flickr?
Whats your Flickr stories?
I would love to hear them.
BTW: I am always interested in a joint shoot in Berlin, so if you are coming anytime soon simply contact me.
Yours,