The Octopus’ Garden

What good are your photos for if all they’re doing is just gathering electronic dust in your harddrive? That’s a question I frustratingly ask some of my friends who have shown me really stunning photos in their cameras and in their computers. Some of them simply refuse to upload it elsewhere for people to see. Some are just too lazy to do so and some would want to but don’t know where to start, while some simply have a very misplaced inferiority complex. Would you happen to be one of them?

Why do it in the first place?

This is a no-brainer. Photographs, like poems, novels, paintings, are works of art that need to be shared. What good is art when there’s nobody else except ourselves is able to look at them? They should be let out into the air and their beauty shared with the world, to tell stories, to invoke emotions, and to potentially inspire another.

But, based on experience which are both my own and others’, there would be several reasons why one can become a closet photographer, and, of course, there are ways that could help work around them.

1. An inferiority complex.

   Some people seem to have this constant need to compare their work with others. Sure, there are more than a thousand photos better than yours. If anything, just let these other works inspire you. Upload your photos anyway and let us be the judge. My photos and my writing are not that great either but I learn a lot from other people’s comments, and it’s these comments/critiques that I try to improve myself on. Wanna hear something interesting? Some of the photos I considered to be the worst happened to be liked by a lot. And it’s these surprises which make it more fun.

2. Photos are too many one wouldn’t know where to start.

   Self-critiquing may be one of the most difficult part in photography. Sifting through a lot of photos and picking the best ones may be difficult. But with a good workflow and a tool that supports that, you can get this done less painlessly. Bottomline is, you will have to do it anyway. So just do it!

   I personally use Apple’s Aperture and it certainly has made my life easier. I understand iPhoto can be fun to use too, especially, with its built-in face-recognition feature, among others. For Windows, Picasa is always a good choice. There are a lot of other choices out there which wouldn’t cost you a cent. So, why don’t you download one and just give it a spin?

3. Dunno where or how to upload.

   Getting an account on an online photo sharing service is always the easier way to go. Like software, there are many choices to choose from. Social networking services like Facebook, Multiply, Friendster each have a feature wherein you can easily create albums and upload photos. If you’re already a member in these networks, you’re almost halfway done. What’s good with these networks is you already have a ready audience in your friends.

   If you want to be more serious in showcasing your work, you might wanna consider Flickr which features a rich set of capabilities from tagging, to per image statistics. Since Flickr is a Yahoo service, you can easily link your YahooID to it and get going in no time. Besides, its interface is one of the most useable ones out there. My experience since I started using it years ago has been very effortless.

   And if you’re already inclined, why don’t you start your own blog in WordPress, BlogSpot, Tumblr, or in Posterous, and start writing about your photos too? These blogging services also have multimedia capabilities where you can upload your photos easily.

So, can’t you see already? Art is being enabled by so many services and solutions already. What’s still keeping you from sharing your work?