Street snippets - Putting your images out there

I'll quickly remind you that you're joining me on my journey from enthusiast to veteran street photographer and we're still very near the beginning. I don't have all or even many of the answers and on the subject of editing your own work and deciding what and where to publish I have mixed feelings.

From reading other blogs and articles the general consensus is that you should only publish your best work, this will build a branding and set an associated level of quality that can only enhance your reputation. It's hard to argue with this and as I move forward it may be something I can get onboard with, at this stage though it throws up some issues for me.

When you get your first batch of street images, they are laced with the thrill and excitement you had when you took them and you'll want to share them, but in the main they'll be pretty ordinary. Seasoned street photographers won't give them a second look but my guess is that they'll have a bundle of similar images either backed up on their computer somewhere or in the darker recesses of their Flickr account.

When your faced with your new Flickr account and all its bare walls, you'll probably be like me and upload many of your earlier shots. As the quality of your work improves you'll look back at the earlier ones and want to remove them from public view. I did go back through my early images on Flickr and start removing them but then I thought I'd leave them as they will hopefully show my growth as a photographer over time.

One of my earlier images

I still take my fair share of 'ordinary' images and some of them still get published to my photo stream, this is in the main because I don't really know which of my images are the best.

One of mine I really like

I always try to take images that I like and not ones that I think everyone else will like and it may just be that I have unusual or naive tastes. In general, the images of mine that I really like don't get a lot of traction on Flickr whereas some of the ones I consider borderline generate some activity. I think this is partly down to the culture of the Flickr community and the feedback you receive there can be flattering but often unwarranted.

My 'most viewed' on Flickr, as of 15/06/2012

I have dabbled a little in the photography groups on Flickr where you get critique from a smaller group of 'like minded' members, this sometimes goes the other way and and can be overly critical without being constructive. Entering your photos in these groups too early may knock your confidence a bit and I'll be waiting awhile before I dip my toe again. To be a respected member of these groups you also have the responsibility to provide a well balanced, constructive critique of other peoples images and that is a skill I'm still working on.

There are of course other platforms on which to display your work and 500px is a fine example. The level of quality on that site is incredible and the culture is definitely to only publish your very best work. I have yet to publish to 500px, when I do I want to be confident that I'm putting my best foot forward.

So my current thinking on publishing photos is that on Flickr I'll post all that I consider worthy at the time and give the benefit of the doubt to any borderline images. Once I feel I'm producing work of a high enough standard I'll look for some constructive groups to join and fine tune my portfolio. I'll leave 500px until I have a selection of excellent images that will not be out of place in that environment.

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