Umbrella on Black–More Motivation for Minimalist Photography

Over the last few days I have been browsing the photography on 500px.com that have been recognized as either popular (peer rating), editors choice, and the “upcoming” photography that is gaining recognition.  I was very happy to find a number of excellent photographs using a minimalist approach to subject and composition.  I was even more pleased to find quite a few within this minimalist collection that focused on seascapes – a particular appeal to me.

The reason I mention my browsing and admiration is the value I find in studying the photography of other photographers.  In addition to the inspiration and the ideas for my own photography that can emerge, I find it a good way to judge my own photography in comparison.  With the emphasis 500px.com places on showcasing only your best photography, it is fertile ground for inspiration, ideas, and comparison. 

My only hope is that 500px.com is able to maintain these standards of excellent photography.  At present, the only mechanism employed by 500px.com to ensure these standards is an appeal to our competitive nature through the rating system which might also be viewed as playing on our egos.  However, over the long run, I am skeptical this will be sufficient.  Without some level of editorial control or oversight, it is quite possible, and even probable that 500px.com will go the way of Flickr and become a dumping ground for family photos and stupid animal tricks.  There is nothing wrong with silly cat photos – but they should be kept in their place – like Facebook.

Have fun, and go make some great photography.

Craig

Craig Corl Photography on 500px.com

I recently heard about the photography gallery site 500px.com.  This best comparison for this site is Flickr.  Actually, it is nothing like Flickr, but with Flickr being the default photo sharing site, it is a good point of comparison.

500px.com actually predates Flickr.  Flickr skyrocketed in popularity for everyone from the mom shooting happy snaps of the kids to professional photographers.  500px.com has taken the slow road to gaining our attention, but I believe it will soon be a strong competitor to Flickr, particularly among serious photographers.

There are a number of points of departure for 500px.com and I will talk about a few that are important to me.  First, 500px.com caters to and encourages serious photographers.  The folks at 500px.com encourage photographers to upload only their best photography and discourage use of the site as a repository for everything on your hard drive.

Second, they have a highly customizable portfolio/gallery function that is very elegant and looks like a professional online gallery rather than the less than elegant hodgepodge offered by Flickr.  You can check out my gallery at http://craigcorl.500px.com/#/0.  Related to this benefit is the ability to easily view relatively large photos that highlight the quality of your work.

Finally, 500px.com employs a set of algorithms that rate your photography based on views, comments, and ratings of other photographers that is biased by age.  In other words, the rating of a particular photo decays with time.  This encourages photographers to update their portfolio with new work and thereby ensure continued refreshing.  It also promotes some healthy competition and regular feedback regarding how your photography stands up to other excellent photographers.  I encourage you to checkout 500px.com and of course, visit my gallery as it builds.

The final note for today is a change I made to this blog over the weekend.  Back in February I decided to give Google Ads a shot.  This program permits Google to place adds on your blog in exchange for revenue gained from viewers following those links.  My first impression was that the ads cluttered the page.  While not enamored with this clutter, I proceeded to give it a try in the hopes I would gain a few bucks to support my photography habit.  Since February, my Google ads account accumulated a grand total of $5.  My conclusion was that the payback was not worth the clutter.

Over the weekend, I disabled the ads, and added a donate button (top right of the page) that would allow readers to support my work.  The donate button is back-ended by PayPal’s secure exchange system so you have confidence it is legit.  I don’t plan on following the NPR semiannual fund drive model, but if you like what you see and read, a small donation to support the many hours I put into this blog would be greatly appreciated.

Have fun, and go make some great photography.

Craig