well flickr have added video sharing which seems like a good idea. the videos can be up to 90 seconds and under 150mb – i suspect it won’t be long before that gets lengthened. it will be interesting to see if this takes off…
on the subject of photos has anyone tried blurb yet? it’s another web 2 self publishing company that enables you to create your own books with photos included. it looks good, like it gives you plenty of creative control…
i have done books with lulu and myphotobook and qoop, all of which came out pretty well…
Hi Jonny,
Not come across blurb – but have been looking for a good company to do a photobook with… experimented with photobox.co.uk recently but their prints weren’t that good. Which of the ones you mention did you find the best for photobooks?
Matt
My concern with the adition of video at flickr is that it may become another place for silly videos with little content. For that we have youtube. Do we really need to dilute the great community that flickr is with a bunch of happy slapping videos?
Like anything, it can be a force for good or evil [can’t beat overstating the case]. Tutorials and time laspe photography are clearly a good thing. It is also a better resolution than youtube – but still not good enough for many of the art uses. But then is 90s long enough for some tutorials?
Funny you mentioned blurb, I came across it for the first time today too. Looks much better than the other ones, and fairly reasonable. I used qoop before and it was OK, but overpriced. Let me know how you get on if you use blurb.
I share Robbs concerns over video on flickr – flickr does what it does well (a photographers hub), I don’t want it to degenerate into something like youtube, but not as good.
As for photobooks, I’ve never done one myself but am planning on doing some when I come back from Uganda in August. What do you think of the ones you’ve used, which would you recommend?
Have a good time in Uganda. I spent a month in Kampala a year and a half ago. Make sure you buy a T-shirt that says Mzungu on it 😉 I just wish I was a better photographer when I was there.
If you can’t find the ca$h or time to go see the gorillas, make sure you go to Entebbe wildlife education centre. It is technically a zoo but effectively you are roaming around with the animals. Also, go to the source of the Nile at Jinja and get a boat cruise to the bird island. All told it will cost you about a tenner. On the island they don’t speak english but their fish and chips is an experience.
A pro photographer I know recommends mypublisher. He says that the dollar vs pound makes it very cheap and he ordered 3PM friday and they arrived 6PM monday by fedex – all the way from New York.
I made a book of our boys first year on his birthday using Blurb. I was really pleased with the result. Very easy to use, pretty reasonable and a professional, quality finish.
Me missues used it a few weeks ago for a photobook she’s done to try to get into the family photo game
the quality is pretty good
the customer service is good too
the first print came with a few coloured paint spots on a few photo’s
she emailed them and they mailed out a replacement straight away.
Cheers for the advice Robb! Planning to head to Jinga at some point but probably wont go gorilla trekking. Will check out mypublisher.