A brief review of @500px.com, an alternative to Flickr for photographers

Last night, I came across an article discussing some flaws in Flickr’s design. It mentions that some users are starting to check out alternative photo-sharing services, such as 500px. So naturally, I figured I’d review it myself and see what the hype was about. I was definitely not disappointed. 

500px.com was founded in 2003 by Oleg Gutsol and Ian Sobolev. It’s currently run by a team of four, based out of Toronto, and has a user base of 67,000. Around 27,000 of those joined in the last two months alone. Obviously, word of mouth is starting to kick in.

I’ve only spent enough time on it to edit my profile and upload about 50 photos, but from what I’ve seen, I’m pretty impressed. The overall feel of the site is just so nice. Everything is sleek and they don’t skimp on features. With a pro account for $50 a year, you can create a customizable portfolio, which is compatible with Google Analytics for checking your traffic. Standard features include a wall (think Facebook), a blog, and an “activity” page where you can see who’s commented on your photos or added them as favorites. There’s also a rating system where users can like or dislike another user’s photos, which directly affect the rating that’s posted in big numbers on your photo. I’m still not sure about that feature yet. It kind of reminds me of “Hot or Not." 

At any rate, the site is pretty solid and I think Flickr finally has some decent competition. With only 0.14% of Flickr’s total user base, 500px has a long ways to go, but they’re definitely on the right track. They seem to have focused on the right aspects in developing this site, and the users that are currently signing up seem to be legitimate photographers of the professional sort. It kind of reminds me of Vimeo vs. YouTube. 

So check it out and see what you think. It’s free to sign up, after all. 

Here’s my 500px page.

Three weeks at the beach

Inna and I are down in Destin, Florida for the next three weeks, just livin’ the life. I’m planning on using this trip to hone some time-lapse skills before our trip to Lithuania in May. In the meantime, here are a few random photos from the last few days. 

Sorry... All beach-related pics for the next 3 weeks

Taken at Destin, Florida

Photos from my 2009 trip to Japan, Part 2

Due to the current situation in Japan, we unfortunately had to postpone our three-week long trip in April to visit family. And with all the emotion involved in having a tragedy occur in a place so close to my heart, I found myself browsing through all of my old photos from my last trip back in 2009.

One thing I’ve noticed is that a lot can change in two years. I came across quite a few shots that I passed on the first time around, partly because I have a different workflow and editing habits these days, but also because my eye is different and I’ve noticed that some of these photos weren’t too bad in the first place. 

We’re going to try to visit Japan this fall instead. Hopefully, things will be much better by then and I’ll be able to take some more photos of my most favorite country in the world. 

 

Georgia Aquarium

So I live literally five minutes from the Georgia Aquarium. I can see it from my 18th floor balcony in Midtown, Atlanta. And as the world’s largest aquarium and the only place outside of Asia to house whale sharks, I figured it would be a waste not to head over there and shoot some video. 

Now bear with me… this is only the second video I’ve ever shot, so I’m still learning the ins and outs. In fact, I’m heading over to the Canon Filmmakers Live workshop tomorrow in Roswell, hosted by Philip Bloom. There are still tickets left, so if you’re in the area, come on by. Should be a good time!

Anyways, here’s my video of the Georgia Aquarium. Enjoy!

Georgia Aquarium from David Smith on Vimeo.

Went to the Bahamas. Got engaged. Oh, you know, just another typical weekend.

So after being with my beautiful Inna for a year and a half, I decided to pop the big one this past weekend. I booked a trip to Atlantis in the Bahamas a few weeks ago as a “Valentine’s trip.” Little did she know! 

Everything worked out perfectly. Didn’t lose the ring on our way down there, had an amazing sunset with an unexpected visit from the moon in the background, and we even got a nice little engagement jackpot from the Wheel of Fortune slots. Overall, I’d say it was a pretty damn good weekend.  

Oh, and I took some photos while we were down there as well.

To my amazing fiancee and future wife, I love you with all of my heart!

V-Day Fail by @1800FLOWERS

So four weeks ago, I placed my Valentine’s Day order with 1-800-FLOWERS for three dozen roses to be sent to my loved one’s office. I figured that ordering so far in advance, I wouldn’t have any issues in getting them delivered earlier in the day. Or at all, for that matter.

Well, it seems my optimism fell short of reality. And it looks like I’m not the only one that’s been made to look like a dick on this loveliest of lovely days. Thanks, 1-800-FLOWERS. 

Now let’s hope the restaurant actually brings out the food tonight. 

Quora: a goldmine of information for photographers

Maybe you’ve heard of Quora. It’s been raved about all over the web lately and has completely exploded in recent weeks.

Launched to the public in June of 2010, Quora is a question-and-answer site co-founded by two former Facebook employees, Adam D'Angelo and Charlie Cheever. It’s a place where people go to ask questions about anything they want and “experts” answer them. Think of it as Yahoo! Answers. But with legitimate questions. And knowledgeable answers. In fact, it’s not like Yahoo! Answers at all. The “experts” that answer the questions are actually experts. It’s not uncommon to see the CEO of a major tech company answer a question about how it got started.

So how can this benefit you as a photographer? Well, first of all, it can be an amazing resource for photography-related information. You simply create an account and begin following topics that you’re interested in, such as “Photography” or “Digital Photography” or even “Travel Photography,” if you want to get more specific. Any question that’s been tagged under that topic will appear in your feed. The ones that have been answered most recently will appear at the top, followed by all other questions in a reverse-chronological order. 

Say you need some good suggestions for places to shoot while you’re in Rome next month. You might get an answer from a professional who’s been shooting in Rome for 20 years. Or maybe you’re in the market for a new Nikon lens for landscape photography. Why not ask on Quora and let the landscape pros tell you themselves? 

Yes, of course there are other resources out there where you can find answers to your questions. Blogs and forums can always help, but the point of Quora is to incorporate the knowledge of professionals and experts, and so far it’s doing a good job. Furthermore, questions and answers are heavily moderated. Self-moderated by other Quora users, but moderated nonetheless. If your answer is sarcastic and lacks any useful information, it will get down-voted by other users. It’s a great setup to ensure that the information found on Quora has substance behind it. 

It’s also a good way to assist the photography community for those of you with a wealth of knowledge and experience. Maybe you’re a professional sports photographer and wouldn’t mind sharing a few pointers to an up-and-comer. 

Whether you’re there to learn or to teach, Quora is a goldmine of information, not just for photography, but for any topic you can think of. And it’s growing every day. In fact, the influx of new users in December was so great that it slowed the site down drastically for a while. Thankfully, they’re back at full speed and the new users keep coming in. So head over there, check it out, and see what the hype is all about. And maybe you’ll learn something, or quite a few somethings, that you didn’t already know. 

Pure creativity, the old-fashioned way

As a kid growing up in the 80s, the opening scene for HBO movies is something I’m very familiar with. I remember it vividly and how cool I thought it was. I’ve also been fascinated with miniature models as far back as I can remember, so this scene has always been embedded into my head. Someone sent this to me earlier today and I had to post it.

It’s amazing how much work went into things like this before computers took over. It’s kind of lengthy at just over 10 minutes, but if you remember this intro scene, it’s definitely a nice nostalgic piece of video to watch. 

via @innulia

Preparing for 2012

I told @innulia that I want to be an international assassin when I grow up, so she bought me some flying lessons at Aviation Atlanta for my birthday. She said it was the first step. And at the very least, I will now have the skills to save my family when the ground caves in on 12/21/2012. 

My first D7000 video... or any video, for that matter.

My friends Matt & Jen asked me to shoot their daughter Acelyn’s birthday party for the second straight year. I just got my D7000 the day before the party, so I was super stoked to test it out. I’ve never shot video on a DSLR before, so I was really just playing around and hoping for the best. Now I know why everyone uses stabilizers. It’ll definitely be one of my next purchases. Anyone have any suggestions?

The party itself was a lot of fun. They hired Jen MacQueen from ToddlerPalooza, an Atlanta-based children’s entertainment company, to come out and sing songs with the kids. She brought a plethora of colorful toys and the kids seemed to have a blast. Definitely made for some good photos and video. 

Anyways, here’s my first attempt at video. *drumroll*

Acelyn’s 2nd Birthday from David Smith on Vimeo.

City bug

(Taken with Instagram)

My neighbor...

…posted this note on her door. For some reason, I’m not too worried that she’ll ever come across this picture on the Internet. Just a hunch.

Christmas in October?

So today, I went to my local Best Buy and picked up the new Nikon D7000. I had pre-ordered one from Amazon, but they hadn’t even begun to process my order yet. Rumor has it that they won’t be shipping until November. At least for the people who weren’t sitting by their computers when Amazon began taking pre-orders a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, the Best Buy D7000 only came in a kit with an 18-105mm lens. I didn’t want the lens, but I also didn’t want to wait till the end of November to start playing with this bad boy, so I went ahead and dropped the cash for it. Amazon pre-order… canceled. 

Now, I’m not going to write a review on this guy. There are enough reviews out there already, and there will be double the number in the next week, once everyone gets their hands on one. But I will tell you that I played around with it for an hour or so and it’s pretty slick. It’s smaller than my D300, but not by much. I’m just pumped to have 1080p video. 

So now I have a new toy to play with until my unicorn of a camera appears. Come on, Nikon. Give me a full-frame with 1080. In the meantime, anyone need an 18-105? Anyone? Bueller?

Flying lessons

Today, I had my first pilot class. Other than almost crashing, it was amazing. No really, I almost crashed the plane. I thought that kinda stuff couldn’t happen on your first attempt, but apparently it can. According to my instructor, we were “two seconds” away from complete misery. It happened during take-off when I lost control. But the rest of the flight was smooth and amazing. So bring it on, 2012! Just please make sure the ground falls out underneath me so taking off will be a bit easier.