UKC

I remember getting into photography about a year ago and being really impressed/blown away by some of the photography on Flickr Explore. I look at it these days and a lot of it seems really average at best and a fair bit downright poor!

Has it gone downhill or do I just perhaps know a little bit about photography now and don't get jazzed so easily? It seems like a lot of folk on Flickr just "fave" and "follow" anything/anyone by the tens of thousands with a view to being "Explored."

In reply to mudmonkey5:

I would say you just don't get jazzed as easy. The more you get in to photography, the higher your expectations become. I would completely agree though, with some exceptions most of the images are fairly average but it has always been like this imo. What are the requirements to getting photos explored as it tends to be the same people and other stunning photo's don't get noticed.

In reply to Chalk:

I see a lot of photos on Flickr that are average at best, which have the saturation or contrast turned up all the way to produce a truly awful picture.

For some reason, these often receive a lot of praise.

In reply to mudmonkey5:

I think the quality of the explored photos has gone downhill a lot in the last year. My suspicion is that those photos that previously ended up on flickr are now to be found on 500px instead.

In reply to mudmonkey5:

Agreed. I'm also rather underwhelmed by the Explore selection. It's a shame, it used to be a good source of inspiration!

In reply to mudmonkey5:

Flickr is a popularity contest, you need to pump a lot of time into 'building up a network'. There are a lot of great photos that get missed. However with the sheer volume of photos that get uploaded every day I wouldn't be able to come up with a solution... (A panel of 100 judges working full time wouldn't be enough).

I'd have a look at somewhere like http://www.viewbug.com if you want some well selected photos.

In reply to mudmonkey5:

I think more favouriting and following goes on just to generate hits for their own galleries, rather than favouriting it for genuine reasons!

In reply to mudmonkey5:

Explore was always just an algorithm anyway so its selection can be somewhat random.
My understanding is the fave everything in sight doesnt tend to help in the explore algorithms. Some people take trying to get into it very seriously though.

I always assumed Flick Explore was driven by popularity, hence the same people often getting multiple Explores.

But then I had my first Explore last month (https://www.flickr.com/photos/durbs/14328775579/)
I only have 50 followers (mostly friends) and my highest view was something like 700 - so no idea why it suddenly got Explored.

Did give me a warm feeling inside though - photographic vindication

In reply to Durbs:

A lovely photo it is as well, very deserving.

In reply to mudmonkey

Yep, seems like the standard on 500px and bugview is much higher. Nice shot Durbs, I may criticise but will similarly take it as a recognition of my true photographic genius if I am ever "Explored!"