Getting featured on photography community websites

How to create a featured, winning picture on a photography website or platform?

In this blog I will share with you the best ways to showcase your photographs and to understand the way platforms select on featured posts.

Ask yourself the question, why are some photographers always being picked on websites such as 500px or zoom.nl ? I will try and show you some of the ‘tricks’ and key-features, a photography community website is basing its selection criteria on and how to positively influence the websites moderators and photography judges. You can also understand the possible algorithms used by these communities if they are using that, so you as a talented photographer have a bigger chance on getting your work selected and getting featured.

Zoom.nl

In the end of this blog I will share with you 2 examples on photography community website in the Netherlands called zoom.nl Zoom.nl has a very big community and outstanding photographers, so it’s a really cool place to get your work featured (Zoom.nl is not connected to the video conference app zoom.com). It also provides members a magazine. For the community it is also having price-challenges, where you can win some pretty cool prices if you are a winner, so it makes a lot of sense to participate and to understand their selection criterium.

Zoom.nl has got 2 main categories that are used to highlight featured images;

1. Foto van de dag ( picture of the day)

2. Gekozen door ons ( chosen by us)

They include all different kinds of theme’s such as Animals, Landscapes, Nudes, Portraits, Macro, Food, and many more. If you look at the history of the Foto van de Dag, you will be able to understand the kind of pictures being features here and it will give you a clear overview on the theme’s being used the most. Think about colors, lights, subject, season, location etc. When you reach the status of photo of the day, you are very likely to attract a lot of visitors to your photo, increasing the chances of people liking your work. ( for example, I tend to get 10-15 likes on a photo that wasn’t featured, and around 80-100 likes when you are featured)

Tip nr 1: Check the site’s history

So the first tip I will give you is to check the history of your photography community website and analyse the history of previous featured images, to see what categories get the most attention and what style of those images. Is your work suitable for this? Then you are having a much higher chance of getting featured if you post this kind of work.

Tip nr 2: choose the best time to post

Secondly it is of a very high importance to post your work on the right time. That doesn’t only mean at what exact time you upload a photo, it’s very important to understand the timing of your work and the theme’s that are more likely to be chooses. Think of Seasons, Holidays, but also think about the amount of people posting the same work all at once. During Halloween you are more likely to post halloween themed photo’s. But as everybody is doing that, does it make sense to try and win that spot amongst all the other photographers? Quickly scroll down to the bottom of this blog if you wanna know how i did it — >>

Tip nr 3: Only post your best work

Third and most important is of course to post only your best work. Only the best quality photography will be appealing enough for the critical moderators. There are a lot of hobby-photographers out there all posting their work and some of it may get a high amount of likes from their followers and friends; the community likes to like for the sake of getting likes back, and not critical about the actual work they are liking. But we all understand that, when you post really good work, you will get the attention anyway from those scrolling through the community. So if you aren’t posting any good work, try first to develop your skills, both on shooting pictures and on developing them in software, uploading your best work. We like to think we are special but before posting another random picture only, be critical about your own work and allow yourself to grow and get noticed.

Tip nr 4: Write a good short description and tags

Another aspect of getting chosen, is the use of a good description and the use of the correct tags. You can also share your work online because of the sharing buttons on the pages of the photography communities. Get more people to like your work and rate it. If you have a big followers base already, use it to your advantage. Tagging your work on social platforms such as Instagram, will also increase the visibility of your work and getting the community to engage.

Summary

Finally you are ready to upload your work and post it online! But before you do, check how I got featured; I will use 2 examples to explain how I got picked as photo of the day on Zoom.nl. (https://zoom.nl/foto/landschap/3524128/op-de-kade-in-portugal)

Check out the amount of viewers

Using the right tags, a good image, and the right timing is super important, especially on a page like 500px

Did you check:

• What is the theme the website is focussing on?

  • zoom didn’t use a specific theme and although I saw some landscapes, there wasn’t any travel or cityscape images. The perfect moment to add it.

• Are you posting it in the right moment?

  • I posted this image on a friday - the picture of the day was picture of the day all weekend attracting loads of visitors to the page and as I shared my website, I got a lot of extra visitors to my own page too.

• What is the quality of your work?

  • I believe this is one of my better pictures taken. I posted it already on 500px. To see the image and statics, go to the photo page. I also added a screenshot of it in the blog.

• Do you have the appropriate description to support the image and tags so people can easily find your work online?

  • On a late summer day (actually well into autumn) I found this amazing reflection on the water and a village perched on a hill next to an ancient bridge. ( right)

    This drop has a wonderful location on a quiet river that generates beautiful images with reflection due to its slow current. Tags:

    • amarante portugal

      portugal

      reizen

      reflectie

      water

      rivier

      brug

      dorp

      zonsondergang

      wolken

      herfst

      zomer
      

Example 2:

This is a post from a little while ago: Visit the beach waterfall on the island of Bali

This too has been picked as photo of the day. It’s unique scene, that hasn’t been shot before and the style is dreamy and speaks to a lot of people. It doesn’t need much explanation but still I used a good descriptive text to support the image. This images was also posted on a friday, so that is a good time for getting featured on Zoom.nl. Use it to your advantage next time your about to post something online.

Share this article to help others to understand the importance of the above tips and tricks to get noticed as a photographer.

Thanks and keep on shooting! Rudolfo Dalamicio

Reflection and Water

Blog - The Element of Water and its Reflecting power

The power of reflection in landscape and cityscape photography

Water is one of our main elements and I love to work with that. Its power in photography  can be seen in lakes, oceans, rivers, rain clouds and many other ways, where water is either the subject of the image or its the tool to create an even stronger atmosphere. 

3 Monks in Myanmar, strolling down the river banks of Mandalay, near the Ubein Bridge

Water has a powerful quality; it can create little magnifying drops that give a glimpse of the world

You don’t always stop and look at spiderwebs, to see the details of it, as they are everywhere and are not that special for our eyes to see, but when you have the right light, the right lens and the right moment, you can find the most astonishing effects made by morning dew on the threats of spiderwebs. I call this image Jinglebells as the light and color reminds me of Christmas lights.  The morning dew, anywhere in the world, can be used to play with this magical scene, created by pure nature. The spider spun its web and the fog or dew has the ability to put little drops of water on the threads, dancing and balancing as the wind blows through fields, rivers and landscapes. Capturing the light is essential for most photography and this is no exception; the morning sun rays, I used to highlight all the little water drops. This at golden hour.

beauty can be found everywhere, you just need to look

Another way of using water as a tool, for getting a great picture, is the movement of water. 

For this you will need a tripod or something else to keep your camera steady. The flowing water you see here in this picture is created by the falling water in a jungle in Azoren, Portugal. It makes the image look smooth and silky, like the water is a threat of textile that you want to hold on to. Because the water is falling, the movement is very strong and therefore the effect on the water even better. When you use this method on a river, ocean or another place where the water is maybe less flowing, you would need a longer shutter time to create the right effect.

Waterfall in Azoren, Soa Miguel. The water always flows

In my work, reflections are used to create a esthetic effect, soothing for the eye

I really enjoy finding those unique spots under unique conditions, and use reflecting of water as my tool to emphasize the uniqueness in that moment and frame it. By doubling the effect, the eye keeps holding on and wants to explore more of the picture. What better place to capture the doubling, reflecting effect from the water, than from a super picturesque place such as the Kinderdijk, near Rotterdam, The Netherlands. This particular reflecting image was shot during illumination week at Kinderdijk. The old mills are lined up next to this river of water, draining the lands behind them as that was their old purpose. The line of light goes all the way into the horizon, the way old dutch painters used to paint their landscape paintings. They too used reflection in their work, showing a moment in time where the water is calm, not moving and without winds.

Like from most landscape artist, hundreds of years ago, I too use the reflection, cloudy skies and the horizon as my tools

Conclusion

In most of my work I use to look at object, subject, and scenes, and try to find the right reflection by looking for water. Next time you are out walking around, wether its in a city or in nature, you can too, find water to help you improve your photography by using its power and to create a more compelling and interesting photo.