Thanks for the tips.

Tags are easy to add or edit- just click within the tag area. It's not so easy to weave "CNJ" "Jersey Central" "New Jersey Transit" "train" "locomotive" "railroad" "railway" "depot" "station" into a readable caption.

I added Ron as a contact, now that I know he is on Flickr.
I just select the better photographers as friends, and view the 5 most recent downloads from them so I don't have to look thru all the photo's of the people in my contact list.

Another reason I love Flickr, Sam Botts has done a superb job creating and maintaining a Flickr account of the late J.J. Young Jr's. excellent B&W work. Something you won't find on RP.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jjyoungjr/

Mike

Been following the JJ Young postings since they started, excellent stuff from a bygone era.

See, I'm so stupid...I never realized that photography was a competition. Unless, of course, I knowingly enter a structured Photo Contest. And yes, I have actually linked and promoted an effort in a Photo Contest that was competing for views. I didn't do a very good job in trying to rustle up views, though. :-(

The rest of the time, I just post my photos on Flickr or RP...caption 'em, tag 'em and let the chips fall where they may. If folks want to view them, great. If not, no worries...but the people who DO want to see my photos know where to find 'em.

Bo

Oh...and thank you Callduckfarm for the tip about JJ Young Jr's Flickr photostream! There are some real treasures in there!

Oh the strange new world of....
 

...Flickr. I avoided things like Facebook because I figured I didn't need a computer to find "friends"....and now suddenly I am getting "followers"....not many but just the term makes me nervous. Maybe I should change my screen name to Jim Jones. I may be too old and traditional for this sort of thing. RP (and trainorders.com) are looking better.

Not a competition? See the "I'm Speechless" thread! Looks like the MPI/MBTA guy is out to be #1 in RP views with a non-heritage roster shot. He will have a hard time beating the Aussie tram flood shot, though.

Those who don't want a zillion views, that's fine. My Flickr stream promotion is actually less than moderate. But if you do little or nothing, Flickr is just storage.

BTW, JJ Young Jr was always an inspiration in the pages of Trains. So many images on the web, so little time!

Even if you don't, there are people out there who make their livings on only their photography. That means it IS a competition to them, they have to get every referral or shared link they can in order to generate a sale. That money might be paying the electric bill, or the house payment.

There's a fella that goes to the train shows in Timonium, MD every time and his railroad related photos are his sole source of income and have been for at least 10 years, maybe longer. A few years ago, I'd have never thought for a minute that there was a sustainable market for railroad photography.

I have since learned that it's not just train buffs that are buying the photos. Parents buy for their kids bedrooms, relatives buy for family or friends who either do, or used to work for the railroad. You even get the type that could care less about trains but just think a photo with a train is perfect for the guest room or over the fireplace.

Case in point; I did this shot about 2 years ago. I took several of my prints (including this one) to a gallery showing last Fall, and guy who fancied himself a "contemporary art collector" offered me $200 for a 16x20 print. He never asked me what I was asking for the print, he just offered straight-up. When I asked him what he wanted the print for, he said that the locomotive paint scheme matched his home office decor "perfectly" and he thought it would make a great centerpiece for the room. Who am I to judge?

He took one of my business cards, and has since purchased 3 more 16x20's from me of other photos on my FLICKR page.

Point is, every chance you give your work to be discovered on a routine web search is potential to make money. If you're not interested in making money, that's fine too, we each get what we're looking for out of our chosen hobbies. If you can monetize it however, why wouldn't you?

I think they should have used the term "subscribers" more than followers. But not my website.

It's not (for many) a competition...

However - if you are posting pictures on public sites, your intent is obviously to have them seen. We obviously could simply e-mail our pics to much smaller groups. If you are doing more then that, you are in "competing" in the context being discussed.

/Mitch

Flickr is not a competition. Simply put, it's the best place for me to put my pictures, IMO. I really don't care how about views and all that. If people like it, great, if not, oh well. I don't upload much here anymore because I just don't care.

Then why post at all?

/Mitch

But you are still a member of Trainorders which is without a doubt the single worst thing on the internet... Well aside from Goatse... LOL:p

Trainorders is worse than goatse.cx

What's wrong with TO's?? And what the heck is goatse.cx?

/Mitch

Don't seek the answer! Ignorance is bliss!!! :D

Loyd L.

Seriously? Mitch has issues with everything else but not TO, my mind is blown.

And doesnt know about goatse apparently

http://media.boingboing.net/wp-conte...seolympics.jpg

Tribute!

Ah, I see now. It's all starting to make more sense. We don't seem to like the same sites...

From Wiki:

"Goatse.cx (/ˈɡoʊtsiː dɒt ˌsiː ˈɛks/ or /ˈɡoʊt.sɛks/; "goat sex" as the domain intends), often referred to simply as "Goatse", was originally an Internet shock site. Its front page featured a picture, entitled hello.jpg, showing a naked man stretching his anus with both hands, to approximately the width of his fist. The inside of his rectum is also clearly visible. Below his gaping anus, his dangling...."

As for TO's, been a member since my Eastern Rail News account transferred over long, long ago and have not in all these years had a single complaint. What's not to like? The site meets it's objectives and does so without loosing members.

/Mitch

Goatse is (was anyway) a tool, not something I would profess to liking, lol

It's a shock site in the same vane as tubgirl, lemon party, etc (dont look any of those up either). You trick people into clicking on it for shock value and/or to see their horrified reaction. Fun pranks to play on people at work.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shock_site

Bo, that's my philosophy to a "T." Nope, you're certainly anything but stupid. Good photography is to be shared and enjoyed---it's not a pissing contest.

I don't read TO. It's mostly drivel.

TO does nothing but praise mediocrity and promote the railfan as a slobbering doofus with no concept of the real world.

Good?

TO's is a lot like the Forums on RP except after you ask a question, you get a good answer and a thread that stays on topic. The answers are quite interesting as well.

You also get to see pictures long before the photographers figure out how to level them enough to get onto RP. Incidentally, today's image of the day is from an Amtrak employee who had long since removed his images from RP. One of the best pans I've seen in a long time. James Belmont also has many Big Boy shots not posted on RP.

It's a good place for heads up for those who don't leave their FB page open 24/7. What drivel? Do you read every thread or only ones of interest, lol?

/Mitch

GR8 SHOTS! When it is the worst image ever makes me want to punch babies.