flickr and guesswheresf

I stash photos on flickr -- not all the photos I take, obviously, but some. My "pro" account expired today and I need to get around to renewing.

"pro" accounts cost $24.95/yr and a subscription gets you an infinite archive of photos, infinite uploads, infinite ... and the free version gets you a far scaled down version, but enough to see why you might want to spend $24.95/yr for the complete deal.

The time I spend roaming around on flickr, looking at other people's photographs (oooh, look at all the photos labeled 'Lake Baikal') is a joy and an education, but most of my time on flickr is spent in one of their interest groups called GuessWhereSF in which the members (1213 at last count) upload photos taken within the city limits and the other members guess where the picture was taken.

I am amazed at the esoteric knowledge of the city and its back alleys some of these folks have. The group also has handy helpful tools like a list of "unfound" photos for those who are looking for the challenge of identifying a photograph that has so far gone unidentified and a comment searcher so you avoid, as much as possible, uploading a picture of somewhere that's been photographed and uploaded ten times before. (Search for the street name of the place you took a picture of for the best results.)

Pictures that show up again and again and again eventually are nominated for "Hall of Fame" status. Scrolling through the Hall of Fame is a primer into how different photographers can photograph the identical location with widely varied results.

Fun? You betcha.

Like this: Sleepy lion. 3690 Washington @ Spruce, uploaded a day or so ago. (The address was added after the location was identified.) (Identified in like two minutes, I'll have you know. Sheesh.) Comments follow.

Read the rules before playing!