My favourite subject area is landscape but I like a challenge. There is some fantastic and inspirational stuff on Flickr and it doesn't desrve some of the negative criticism out there. A lot of people still get a lot of satisfaction from Flickr.

 

On Groups

Too many forced comment groups like post one comment on 5 when it takes half an hour to find five you like, I have left most of these groups. Instant banning also seems to be more of a thing these days for minor infringements, it takes a lot for me to do this in the groups I admin for. Above all though when it comes to images and information about them I can paradoxically be a bit of a pedant and I do believe that we need some rules. Even the groups that say they have no rules actually have some rules.

 

I like accuracy so if you see anything inaccurate in my descriptions or geotagging then please let me know, I won't be offended.

 

For me context is important and I apply this in all of the groups I admin for so images need to be accompanied by a Title and Description locating the image in all dimensions. I don't mind if your title is a bit arty but please give context in your description including the location where your image was taken. In all of the groups that I admin for without this your image is highly unlikely to get in so please observe the respective group's rules. If your image is rejected then please don't take offence. Given the volume of contributions even today I am looking at pending queues of maybe 300-500 in a day for all of the groups I admin for so can't always give individual responses and certainly not by return.

 

General rule, I don't accept images of minors into the groups unless it is obvious that the parent gives their permission. I've heard too much about the use of AI and the manipulation of child images to include many/any in the groups I admin for.

 

Military is out and only the exception will get in for all of the groups that I manage. I grew up in an area with a heavy US presence and nuclear weapons bases and at school they used to try and scare us shitless about nuclear war suggesting we hide under a table in the middle of the house if it happened. Like we would be home, and yet we were also told locally that we would be blown off the face of the earth if the Soviet Union attacked due to the sheer volume of nuclear weapons in close proximity, and the nuclear power station of which we are up wind. Nothing much has changed apart from the US base going. So all in all I'm not pro any kind of military images in the Groups. Paradoxically I think our armed forces are great, it's not about them.

 

I also have an aversion to close cropped images of buses, trains, planes, cars etc and given most of my groups are of the UK few of these are UK made so don't generally feature in the Groups that I admin for.

 

On Scotland

Oh yes, and the light in Scotland is every bit as good as you have heard. City scenes may change constantly with the comings and goings of people but the countryside changes constantly with the comings and goings of the light (aka the cloud). In Scotland, in winter, the 2 golden hours almost, not quite, merge to become one sometimes giving a fantastic light for the landscape photographer. Now people are referring to the Blue Hour which is a thing but perhaps less prized? We've got plenty of that and that's just the ends of my fingers on a cold morning.

 

A Word on Copyright

 

One last thing, in spite of what some people may think all of these photographs here in my collection are mine, not yours and as such I assert my full rights to protect my intellectual property. This will include pursuing people that copy these illegally and pass them off as their own or make money from the rights to my photographs. I only post low resolution these days as they are of less consequence when copied but still annoying.

 

If you want to use any of my photographs either for personal or commercial use then please contact me in the first instance via Flickr Mail. If you share any of my photographs please ensure that they are fully attributed to me and linked back to the original on Flickr.

 

Thanks for respecting my rights.

 

I'm also on Instagram: instagram.com/nickd58a.

 

Nick