Are you obsessed with flickr yet?

Pam Garnett — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 23:24:06 +0000

If you’re not, you’re missing out! In my occasionally humble opinion, flick is the single best thing a modern photographer can do for their art. Flickr is simple to navigate, a pro account is affordable and a few hours a week spent browsing, commenting and sharing on flickr can get more eyes on your work than you may think!

And did you know The Hideout has a flickr group? With the recent departure of The Hideout forum, I offered to set up a flickr group to give us somewhere to share our work and chat that didn’t require the admin workload of the former forum. As we get more members and action, we’ll do fun themes and challenges and feature the winners here on the blog! So you get some fun, conversation and a chance to get a little attention for you and your fabulous work!

In the meantime, here’s some tips for getting the most out of flickr!

Tag, tag, tag! Tag every image, with every word you can relate to it. Tags help people search flickr and can even bring you some print sales!
Can the IMG_874 and title your images. Titles and descriptions take your image from a random image to a piece of work. It shows you care about the presentation of your work.
Be picky. Display your best work. If you’re iffy on an image, skip it.
Be organized. Use sets to group your related images and then group your sets into collections. This will help viewers navigate to the work that interests them the most and makes it much easier for you to find images quickly.
Comment, favorite and make galleries! Flickr users love comments and will often return the favor. It’s a great way to get feedback, make new contacts (people whose work you like, friends, etc) and get more visits to your photostream. Click the little “favorite” icon when you see work that knocks your socks off and you’ll eventually have an enormous inspiration pool. I like to watch mine in slideshow form when I’m feeling uninspired. You can also do that in groups…anywhere! Galleries allow you to curate your own gallery of work you love on flickr. This does great things for networking, inspiration and keeps your art eye sharp!
Fill in that profile! The often-overlooked profile page is crutial! Don’t be a faceless drone, let people know a little about you, link your website and have friends write you testimonials.
Have fun. Flickr is my ultimate fun work. You’re spreading your images around, getting inspired and staying on top of trends and techniques. You just can’t beat it!

Selfie Contest Winners!

KinaWilliams — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 23:34:22 +0000

Thank you to EVERYONE for your participation. This was NOT an easy contest to judge. So difficult in fact that we have decided to award 2 “runner up” awards as well. There are instructions for the winners at the end of this post on how to collect your prize!

Introducing the Hideout Magazine’s self portrait contest winners!

1st prize goes to Aaron Norton with his image: “Lemon-y Little Jack Horner”. A brilliantly executed conceptual self portrait. Cheers Aaron!

2nd prize goes to Katelyn Demidow for her entry: “Hippie Soul” This image told a great story and is a timeless classic. Awesome lens flare too

3rd place award goes to Corrie Traxler for her image: ” :X” Composition, mood, intensity and nice color pop on the eye makeup bringing focus right into the windows of the soul!

I put all the rest of the entries into a hat (yeah…I worked it old skool LOL)…and our random lucky winner is: Lauren Wainwright!

You will all receive 1 week as the Featured Photographer on The Hideout Magazine! When your week is over, your images will be moved over to the Hideout Facebook page in an album with links to your portfolio(s). Your Featured Photographer page will then be archived on the blog with a viewable link at the bottom of the page.

And now to announce our runner up winners!!

Congratulations to: Natalija Brunner. The colors and movement in this image are really great!

and Will Gortoa! The mood in this image is very powerful!

Our “runner up” winners will each get up to 6 images in a FB album with links to your portfolio(s). One of those 6 images will be your winning self portrait image! You get to pick 5 more of your awesome work to showcase!

To claim your prize:

Please email me (Kina Williams)at this email addy: thehideout@kinawilliams.com and I will give you specific instructions on how to get me the content needed to make your page. I will be posting the winners in the order that they have won…so email me ASAP and we’ll start getting folks featured!

Thanks again to everyone who participated! This was a fabulous contest! Stay tuned for more in the future…

Cheers!

Kina Williams

Photo Contest! Win a week as the Featured Photographer!

KinaWilliams — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:24:04 +0000

In the 2 years that I have been doing self portraits, I have felt great personal and emotional challenges. I have felt guilt over the egocentricity of the artform. I have felt horrible about how I look in the images. I have been forced to confront my feelings about my own face and body, and it’s perceived “imperfections” as well as how I see myself, and how I present myself to others through this art form. I have had to DO what I ask of my models on a regular basis…which is no easy task. Aside from the personal and emotional challenges, I have experienced MANY technical and operational challenges around my equipment and the planning that goes into creating a self portrait.

Psalms 11:06 On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot.

In the 2 years that I have been doing self portraits, I have become a better person. I have gained a sense of confidence and strength in myself…that came from myself. I believe that this is the biggest gift that selfies have given me. And in fact means that I have been kind to myself…rewarded myself…believed in myself!!! The line between egocentricity and confidence is very thin. To me its all about approach and motivation. Superficiality vs. Genuineness. I create self portraits so I can learn more about myself and how I interact with my world. I create self portraits so I can practice conceptualizing. I create self portraits so I can express my thoughts and beliefs and hopefully be understood by my community.

Deuteronomy 11:26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;

I would like to encourage YOU to create a self portrait!! EEEEEK!! how scary! Need a little motivation?? check out Michelle’s article on creating self portraits! Need even MORE motivation?? There’s a REWARD for this selfie session!! Submit your self portrait(s) for a chance to become the Featured Photographer for one week on the Hideout Magazine!!

**The rules/details** You can submit up to 3 images for your chance to win! Submit by leaving a comment at the end of this article on the blog with a link to your self portrait submission(s). You don’t have to create a new selfie to enter, although it’s HIGHLY encouraged! 3 winners will be chosen and then the rest of the submissions will go into a “hat” for a random drawing winner! 4 brave (and lucky) people will each win 1 week of being the Featured Photographer on The Hideout Magazine. When your week is complete, your featured content will be permanently displayed in an album on The Hideout Facebook page with up 2 links of where people can see more of your work. Winners will be notified via the blog, and the Hideout Facebook page with information on how to collect your prize! Please do NOT submit through FB..submissions will only be accepted through the blog. This contest is open to EVERYONE! Submission closing date is August 10, 2010. Winners will be announced on August 12, 2010.

“Believe that with your feelings and your work you are taking part in the greatest; the more strongly you cultivate this belief, the more will reality and the world go forth from it.” ~Rainer Maria Rilke