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Flickr is a popular website for various forms of photo-sharing, storage and inspiration. Some people assume that it is merely a place to store and share photos online. Trust me, as a long-time Flickr "lovr," I can tell you that it's so much more.
Storage and Back-up
But, yes, it is a great resource for storage and backup. Digital photography has changed how we handle the “back-up” of our photos. We no longer print every photo we take, and that can create some clogged hard drives. More over, as hard drives can fail, many of us have back up CDs or DVDs with our precious images. Some choose to backup via external hard drive as well. Think of Flickr as your very own external hard drive, accessible from any computer with an Internet connection. As an aside, I have over 27,000 photos on my Flickr account at this time. Space saver much?
Share Photos with Friends and Family
And, yes, it is a great way to share photos. Flickr offers more flexibility than other photo sharing sites. Even if you have not-super-tech-savvy family members, they can sign into Flickr and view pictures with any security setting you so choose.
The best thing about photo sharing on Flickr is that you can control the levels at which each individual photo can be shared. Don’t want Great Aunt Gertrude to know about your new snake tattoo? Share that photo with friends only. Don’t want your friends or general contacts to see how dorky your family photo turned out? Share that with family only. Don’t want to share those super private photos? Mark them as private and only you see them when you’re logged in. Want to share your best photo ever with the entire web? Mark it public!
Inspiration
Flickr is known for its ability to inspire. The process of sharing and viewing others' photos, either on their own accounts or via the various (and many) groups Flickr has to offer, is nothing short of inspiring. There are groups specifically formed to inspire other photographers, designers and other forms of artists. Inspiration Boards, Webdesign Inspiration and The Inspiration Tree are just three of the many various inspiring groups on the site.
Of course, you can find inspiration on Flickr even if you’re not a photographer, a graphic designer or a physical artist. You can search through galleries dedicated to things like beautiful cupcakes, balloons or fashion. Whether you’re looking for decor ideas, fashion help or just something pretty, Flickr offers inspiring photos.
Show Photos On Your Website
I have always uploaded my photos to Flickr and then shared them in posts on my blog. Some people upload straight to their own blogs or websites, but I’ve found this works for me. Why? I don’t have to upload multiple times so that my family can see it on flickr, my friends can see it on Facebook and my blog readers can see it on the blog. One upload, three (or more) places. (Flickr is now attached to Facebook and Twitter!) It also cuts down on the size of my website.
More over, Flickr automatically resizes your photos to thumbnail, small, medium (now with two sizes, 500 and 640), large and original. No resizing needed to be done by me via Photoshop to feature a photo on my blog. Time saver, for the win!
Speaking of time savers, there are some great WordPress plug-ins that work with Flickr. Crissy recently talked about five plug-ins that moms should be using and mentioned Flickr Photo Album.
I use Flickr Photo Album primarily for the little Flickr icon that it adds to my WordPress edit screen, that allows me to insert my Flickr photos into posts with a simple click. This is wonderful for mom bloggers who enjoy uploading their favorite family photos to Flickr, and saves you a lot of time in posting. As a mom who takes a LOT of photos, being able to skip double uploading is a major plus! This plugin also gives you a simple Flickr widget so you can show off your recent images in your sidebar.
See? Saves time all around! I use the plug-in the same way Crissy does. As a note, it only pulls public photos.
Find Photos for Your Blog Posts
Flickr allows for photographers to share their photos so that others may use them via Creative Commons licensing. It can
