So long flickr (pro anyway)

comments 9
Photography

My flickr pro account is expiring soon. Very soon. Usually when I get the email telling me that that’s happening I renew straight away. This year though, I’m stalling a little bit. Flickr’s failing a little bit for me recently.

It’s just that the rest of the interwebby world is getting more connected. I’ve practically Google-ified my online life. Heck, I have an Android phone. It would make sense if I were to be using Google’s Google Photos rather than flickr. Then everything would be all the more integrated and easier for me to access.

Flickr’s not doing so well with integration these days. I still think the interface is a little clunky and they’ve got a way to go to get up to speed with their competitors. The communities aren’t what they used to be and to be honest, I’ve pretty much stopped using flickr for that aspect of it. I know it’s still seen as the place for photographers

I just want a place where I can share my photos and then view them from wherever I am.

The one big thing that’s causing me some aggravation with Google Photos is that it’s album-ing isn’t very sophisticated. Y can’t do sub albums/folders. Trying to sort the photos manually is a bit of a pain as you can’t see any of the photos meta data (I wanted to sort by time photos were taken, but couldn’t see the time they were taken in Google Photos!).

Then there’s the other issue of me using Lightroom and RAW photo files. Publishing RAW files to my flickr account is as easy as flicking on a light switch. With Google Photos I can upload the RAW files using the desktop Picasa client, but they don’t have the changes I’ve made to them in Lightroom. I call that annoying.

But then again, sharing anything from Google Photos is the easiest thing in the world. And I trust Google’s data centres and servers and know that my photos will be safe with them.

I don’t think I’ll renew my pro account. I’m going to attempt to move over to Google Photos and see how that goes. If anyone’s using Google Photos or has any tips or advice, I’d really appreciate it! Then again, if you think I’m better off sticking with flickr, tell me why!

9 Comments

  1. I’m going to start using google+ more for my photographs, but I will still keep flickr. The new design changes flickr are making can’t come fast enough. They’ve had a slow rollout so far, but it looks like flickr/yahoo have woken up a bit. Personally I’d keep the flickr account just to see if the proposed changes fix the issues you’ve raised. As for the comms ? I think they’ve fallen down slightly, but that happens to most sites after a number of years. The Oxford Flickr Group is pretty awesome, met a good bunch of people from that. We are currently in the planning stages for a new exhibition which I’m taking part in. This video may help somewhat, it’s google+ tips but may be of some help – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7njrValbHQ

    • Cheers Kevin – I’ll take a look at that vid.

      I’m going to keep my flickr. Mostly because I’ve got so many photos linked to it from here! Hope they still work. Also, comment on friends photos.

      I’ve started using Google Photos for my photography and I’ve already had a good amount of decent feedback.

      • They will still work, all you lose when you don’t have flickr pro is the ability to upload as many photos as you like, I think the limit is 100 photos a month. Google+ is where it’s at for photographers in terms of social media. It’s something I need to exploit more.
        Which means sifting through my backups and uploading the good stuff, when I’d rather be outside with my preciousssss Canon L lenses or my nifty fifty.

        • Going through that process at the moment too. Sifting through and sorting all my photos. Only thing with Google Photos is having to export photos as jpegs from Lightroom then uploading. Just adds an extra step in there.

    • Well, I’ve seen the films so I know what happens! I’m picking my side early on. Who knows. Maybe I’ll have a Terminator that looks like me in twenty years time.

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