Flickr fixation

I discovered a new toy over the weekend: Flickr.

OK, so I didn't *just* discover it, but I did start to use the site for the first time -- and got hooked on monitoring my "views" and how Flickr rates "interestingness". (But, then again, I thrive on positive feedback.)

Most Interesting

What determines a photo's "interestingness" seems to be based on some complicated algorithm. For me, it seems that the algorithm likes photos that have more complex textures and a lot of tags describing their content.

Currently, Flickr ranks this photo as being the most interesting of all the photos I've posted. It was taken shortly after sunrise on Trinity Beach in Queensland, Australia.

What I like about the photo is the layering of the clouds over the sun, over the water, over the beach. Each layer has a different texture and slightly different colors, especially the layer with blue sky poking through the clouds.

Most Viewed

I've only posted photos from my Australia trip and of my dogs so far, and the dogs seem to be winning the race for most views.
Coming in right behind, though, is the sunrise photo above and several of my photos from the Pixar exhibit we went to in Melbourne. Cute seems to go over really well.

What's interesting to me is that these views are from random strangers based on their own searches -- I haven't until now shared my Flickr link with friends or family.

Photo Sharing Sites

Of course, now that I've started using Flickr, that makes three different photo sites I've been using regularly. All three are free to use, although Flickr does have a "Pro" option.

I like Kodakgallery (formerly Ofoto) for sharing with my sister and some other friends and family. This site is mostly geared toward photo printing. I've been using the site for years and have albums dating back to 2000, and I love the fact that I have that archive available (password protected) through the Internet.

I've been using Photobucket for basic photos that I want to share through this blog. What I like about Photobucket is the ease of sharing, but I wasn't so sure it was the best forum for me when it came to making my photos public.

Flickr seems to be a good compromise of a free site with a lot of quality photos. My philosophy for posting to Flickr has been to choose photos that I think would be interesting to people who don't know me -- photos that perhaps are not so personal and have a more artistic bent.

Please, go ahead and check out my photos on Flickr. I'm curious to see what photos move up in popularity now that friends and family know about them. I have three different sets you can browse through: my Australia trip, my dogs (Loki and Thor), and a collection of some favorites that I've taken.