Today I received my copy of the photography book I’ve published, Eric Mesa’s Top 40 flickr Images. It’s a great feeling to finally have the book published after having worked on it since April. There were a few false starts with the publishing process as I figured out how to make sure my final PDF could be printed on Lulu.com’s printers. But the journey is finally over and I was able to make the book available to the public today.

flickr’s servers suffered some kind of meltdown last night and they continue to run extremely slow into this morning.

The most important thing for me when it comes to sharing my photos is getting them seen. After all, there’s no point in publishing my photos if I didn’t intend for others to see them. I could have kept them on my computer for that purpose. The desire for others to see my work intensifies with photos I’ve put any kind of significant work into. Whether I’ve converted it to black and white and then spent some time burning and dodging or have created a complex composite work of art, I really desire for others to see the outcome of my labors.

As I have often claimed, Creative Commons is of most benefit to unknown artists. Bands, photographers, and painters (to name a few) will remain unknown if they charge for their work. Why? Because human nature is not to purchase something if you are unsure if you will like it. When an artist places their work under the CC license, they allow others to experience and use their work and share with others without financial risk. Later, the happy customers will very likely donate money or pay for that which they receieved and enjoyed. (Just ask Magnatunes)

flickr unleashed a new version of their website today. I am completely lost! Darn these UI upgrades! Why do they do these things? Hopefully things are better now.