Well, I jumped onto Google+ quite early, but it took me a while to really get the hang of it and start sharing content in a meaningful way.
I was honoured to be notified today that I am now a "verified" user and that Google South Africa has placed me on the "Featured User List" (or "Suggested User List") for South Africa.
You can check out my profile HERE.
You can also check out the featured "circle" HERE
If you are not yet part of Google+ and would like to check it out, drop me a message and I'll send you an invite! It's quite an interesting social network and very much geared towards us photographers.
Until later!
Morkel Erasmus
For those of you who don't know about Wild Eye yet - where have you been? They are a new startup company catering to all things photographic and travel in Africa and are run by a team of experienced professionals.
Among other things, they are currently running a Photo Competition with some amazing prizes up for grabs...the main prize being a superb safari to witness and photograph the Great Migration.
I was fortunate enough to be the winner for the month of March, and my image will go into the final draw at the end of the year. Congratulations as well to all the other winners and commended photographers. I look forward to the results of this competition in the coming months...
This is the image I entered:
And to crown it all, another of my images was selected among the Top 10 for the month:
You can check out the winning images for the month of March 2012 HERE...
Cheers!
Morkel Erasmus
So the buzz on the photographic-web is the photo-sharing site 500px. I had seen the tweets flying about for a while but was honestly too busy to really check it out. When I eventually headed over there I was pleasantly surprised...
At first glance it looked a bit like a merge between the better functions of Flickr and the aesthetic appeal (image-wise and layout-wise) of 1X. An interesting rating system keeps the best images of the pack at the front of the display and also keeps them rotating so that older pics eventually fall back in ratings, making way for fresh work to be displayed upfront.
I share some concerns listed by my friend David Lloyd on the "weight" of the "dislike" button (you can either 'like' or 'dislike' a photo). One "like" seems to increase the rating of a particular photo by very little, while one "dislike" greatly reduces the rating so that it takes quite a few more "likes" for the photo to get where it was initially. The obvious effect of this is that people can sort of "manipulate" the system when their photo is just not at the front of the display...they can simply click on a few images which are ahead of theirs and "dislike" them...mmmhmmm...
Anyhow - I have created a profile and uploaded some initial photos. I already linked up with many of my photographic acquaintances worldwide, and it seems like it's a vibrant community with some of the cream of the photographic crop posting there. I am still deciding whether to dive in full-on and upgrade to an "awesome" account (their lingo for a fully privileged user account). They also allow you to build a portfolio site where others can go to your individual portfolio "outside" of the normal 500px system. This can be linked from your own homepage and customised considerably once you go "awesome".
One thing though - don't expect another "photographic critique community". There are many good ones out there (I am a participant in a few and a moderator on Birdphotographers.net) where you can get insightful, invaluable and sometimes harsh critique on your images. Not on 500px...and quite frankly I don't think this was its design function. 500px is all about "eye candy", getting a "visual fix" so to speak. The website design is smooth and aesthetically pleasing (I am no expert on effective and efficient web design so take it where it comes from), activity levels are high and climbing, and the images in general are of a high quality. I can definitely see 500px being a part of my online photographic "presence" in the future.
Why don't you head on over there and see for yourself???
My profile within the site is located at:
www.500px.com/morkelerasmus
My portfolio created by 500px for outside viewers is located at:
www.morkelerasmus.500px.com
Until next time...
Morkel Erasmus
