Essay About Photography and Flickr

Photo: My teachers reply to the essay

My favorite thing to do is photography.  I started being interested in photography about a year ago, and really got started around Christmas when I got my camera.  I was so excited when I got my camera because it was much better than the average digital camera that I had prior.  This camera was big, black, and had a large lens.  With this camera I was able to actually focus on objects, which allowed me to be more creative with my pictures.  When I first started taking pictures, they were kind of boring, and simple.  I started with only nature, like flowers and leaves.  A few months later, I found the website “Flickr”.  Flickr completely changed my picture taking life!  If you don’t know, Flickr is a photo sharing website where photographers can upload their photography, and other photographers can comment on them and favorite them.  At first, I had no idea how to use Flickr.  I got less than ten views on each picture, and I rarely got a comment or favorite.  After a few months, I finally understood how to use it!  I had no idea that you could add people as “contacts”.  Adding someone as a contact is like bookmarking their photos. So when you click the “contact button”, the five most recent pictures from each of your contacts are shown.  This allows you to easily comment or favorite them.  As of now, I have about 300 contacts.  Also, I have people who regularly watch my photos.  Now, instead of 3, or 4 views on each pictures, I get up to 100 on each, or more!  Also, I’ve gotten up to 20 comments and favorites on one single picture!  A few days ago, I actually reached 20,000 views!  This made me so happy and proud of myself.  Recently, I’ve started Project 365, a project where every day I take a picture, and put it on my Flickr.  The title of the picture would be the number day you’ve reached, slash 365.  For example, if I’m on my 50^th day, the title would be “50/365”.  I’m up to picture number 63!  Lastly, my style of picture has changed dramatically!  This is mostly from viewing other people’s pictures and getting inspiration from them.  I now do many portraits of people (like my friends, family, and even myself!), objects, and scenery.  I still do nature pictures, but just not as often.  I love photography so much, and getting a Flickr has been such a big part of my growth in taking pictures.