ONE MONTH AT IPERNITY... MY THOUGHTS
I was a happy, long-time member of Flickr... until the bubble burst in May of 2013. (I returned a month later for a peek, and it appears that Flickr is certainly in no rush to improve things for their millions of members) It's still a mess... but I digress. I must admit that I had never heard of "Ipernity" before the last week of May. Like thousands of others, I first stumbled upon this unusual name while reading through some of the tens of thousands of complaints that were quickly filling up the Flickr "Help Forum". Curiosity got the best of me, and like so many other unhappy Flickr users, I really liked what I was seeing; a photo-sharing site that looked remarkably similar to Flickr as we remember it... before things over there began to unravel, that is.
I promptly transferred my images over to Ipernity, and just as quickly proceeded to delete my Flickr account. My one lingering concern was over my loss of such an immense wealth of information in those countless Flickr groups. They contain so much knowledge that cannot be found elsewhere. In contrast, I noticed that Ipernity's groups were as quiet as a tomb; whether from a much smaller membership or sheer lack of interest, I wasn't really sure, but it was obvious to me that not many Ipernity members were frequenting these groups. In fact, participation on the discussion boards was pretty much nonexistent; many boards have not had a single entry posted in years! Anyhow, I decided to take matters into my own hands and start my own group. By this time, (about a week into my new Ipernity experience) my Newfoundland landscape work was beginning to get noticed, and many members were adding me to their list of contacts. My new group, entitled "Fine Art Landscape Photography", is solely for serious photographers to post only their very best, you guessed it, "Fine Art" landscape photographs. For the time being, I have decided to invite only those members who have me listed as a contact, and are very capable landscape photographers.
Well, it has now been 8 weeks since I first discovered Ipernity, and just 50 days since I started the new group. Within these few weeks, we already have a membership of about 1,200 outstanding photographers, with over 3,000 beautiful landscape images posted in the gallery. An astounding 4,700 Ipernity members currently have me listed as a contact. I have in this short span of time made lots of new friends; many who share my love of landscape photography, vintage cameras, film photography, and my latest passion, pinhole photography. My previous concern that Ipernity's groups might not make an adequate substitute for those at Flickr was completely unwarranted. As it turns out, all that the groups here really need is a healthy injection of energy to get them back on track. I believe that in time we will see more and more larger, active groups.
So we tip our hats to the wonderful people who run Ipernity. Just the fact that a group of only seven individuals is doing what requires hundreds of employees over at Flickr, speaks volumes of their dedication and integrity. Thank-you so much for easing the pain of being forced out of Flickr! There is indeed no turning back!
Glen
My Group: www.ipernity.com/group/fineartlandscapes
I promptly transferred my images over to Ipernity, and just as quickly proceeded to delete my Flickr account. My one lingering concern was over my loss of such an immense wealth of information in those countless Flickr groups. They contain so much knowledge that cannot be found elsewhere. In contrast, I noticed that Ipernity's groups were as quiet as a tomb; whether from a much smaller membership or sheer lack of interest, I wasn't really sure, but it was obvious to me that not many Ipernity members were frequenting these groups. In fact, participation on the discussion boards was pretty much nonexistent; many boards have not had a single entry posted in years! Anyhow, I decided to take matters into my own hands and start my own group. By this time, (about a week into my new Ipernity experience) my Newfoundland landscape work was beginning to get noticed, and many members were adding me to their list of contacts. My new group, entitled "Fine Art Landscape Photography", is solely for serious photographers to post only their very best, you guessed it, "Fine Art" landscape photographs. For the time being, I have decided to invite only those members who have me listed as a contact, and are very capable landscape photographers.
Well, it has now been 8 weeks since I first discovered Ipernity, and just 50 days since I started the new group. Within these few weeks, we already have a membership of about 1,200 outstanding photographers, with over 3,000 beautiful landscape images posted in the gallery. An astounding 4,700 Ipernity members currently have me listed as a contact. I have in this short span of time made lots of new friends; many who share my love of landscape photography, vintage cameras, film photography, and my latest passion, pinhole photography. My previous concern that Ipernity's groups might not make an adequate substitute for those at Flickr was completely unwarranted. As it turns out, all that the groups here really need is a healthy injection of energy to get them back on track. I believe that in time we will see more and more larger, active groups.
So we tip our hats to the wonderful people who run Ipernity. Just the fact that a group of only seven individuals is doing what requires hundreds of employees over at Flickr, speaks volumes of their dedication and integrity. Thank-you so much for easing the pain of being forced out of Flickr! There is indeed no turning back!
Glen
My Group: www.ipernity.com/group/fineartlandscapes