Flickr: eBοb

Hooray, I finally was able to figure out a way to make my screen name here "match" the user name I use on a few other sites. No more of that "1977" nonsense. (I still don't know where that came from. It was suggested when I couldn't sign up as simply "eBob".)

I'm just a guy trying to make the best of things. The eBob comes from the first letter of my first name and the short form of my middle name. Most of my pictures are of places I go and things I see. If you are reading this because I added you as a contact, don't panic. I probably commented on one or more of your pictures, or admired them without commenting, or you added me as a contact first (thanks).

Although I am not a Pro member, I do have more than 200 photos on Flickr. You can see all of my pics here www.flickr.com/groups/ebobs_public/. Yes, it wouldn't be a budget buster for me to pay for a "Pro" account, but there are larger issues here:

1. For one thing, the service is very much still in beta testing. Although Flickr no longer has the "Beta" (or "Gamma") label, it still has the "hiccups" far too often. It is slow, inconsistent, and buggy. I know that there are other services available, but none of them have the community that has coalesced here. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't even bother.

2. While the fee might be reasonable for most western users, there are a lot of great photographers who live in parts of the world where that is a rather large outlay of cash. I'm not saying that there should be a "break" given for people who live in other parts of the world. What I am saying is that in an overall context it is awfully expensive.

3. My photos hardly even qualify as amateur. I use a simple point-and-shoot digital camera or my cameraphone. I don't do any processing other than reducing the size to the "Large" format used by Flickr.

4. I know of too many cases where people have had their accounts closed for no apparent reason. I'm not sure if it is some sort of bug or if there is something more nefarious going on, but it seems that my membership here could be lost with no warning at all and with no recourse available to me.

5. I have no need of the additional services offered by paying for a "Pro" account. The only thing that would be nice to have would be the ability for people to view my entire stream without having to go through such subterfuge as creating a group just for my own pictures.

http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/map.php