Tagging. Flickr Style.

In this article Tomas Webb discuss how and why to tag your images for flickr.

What are tags? Specifically, tags are describing words, or keywords, that relate to a photo (or photos). While there are numerous ways you can manage tags with external software, this post will be dealing primarily with tags attributed to photos through the flickr interface.

You can add a tag to your photo at the time of uploading (and if you use flickr’s basic Uploader you can add tags for a group of photos), or after, on the individual photo’s page. You can even add tags to other peoples photos if they have given permission for this in their account settings.

So why should you bother with tags? Because tags act as a describing word for your photo, they help others find your photo in a search. Depending on your account settings, the tags might mean that your photo will show up only in an internal search through flickr, or it could mean that you end up with the top search image through google or a similar search engine.

When I first started using flickr I didn’t tag my photos with much more than the immediately obvious elements present in the photo, but then I started using flickr’s search facilities to try and develop my skills. I started by searching other people’s photos for the camera model I was using. I quickly found inspirational shots that opened my eyes to the usefulness of tags beyond just simple describing words. Tags offer insights into why the photographer took the image and also offer a launch point for the development of the skills of others.

I shoot a lot of film, with my aim being to try out as many different types as possible. Obviously it would be cost prohibitive to keep buying film in individual rolls just to see the unique characteristics of a particular film. While a search in a search engine reveals a few different results, it can’t compare to the results from a “tag only” search in flickr. By searching people’s tags I can see in an instant the many different results available from the film I’ve searched for, while at the same time being able to compare similarities between users of the film. Occasionally, such as today, I’ll try a “tag only” search and only come up with one or two results. The great thing about this is that I know that the person who took those photos will have information gained from their experience. Before wasting a roll of my precious stock, I was able to email the user and ask for any advice he/she might have to offer. The same technique can be used if you’re searching for a new camera.

Another use of tags is searching for locations. Perhaps you’re traveling to a new place with the intention of capturing some frame-able results? Or maybe you think you might have exhausted a particular location for photographic opportunities? Try searching other users tags for that location. I often find that other peoples photos give me ideas that I can build on once I arrive, or cause me to see an old location in new ways.

Occasionally groups will insist on group tags as a prerequisite for submission to the group, such as the flickr companion group to this blog. Not only does this allow the moderators and admins to search through flickr for group submissions, it allows everyone a way of looking for similar results. For the most part people join groups because they align with their interest. If the group has an “official tag”, it allows flickr users who are interested in that group to perform flickr wide searches for images that belong to that pool. As these searches can be organized in a variety of ways, (Most relevant, Most recent, Most interesting), it opens up opportunities for discovering older photos that may have been buried in more recent submissions.

Now that it’s clear what role tags play in the flickr realm, what is the best way to fully utilize this indispensable function? Here are a few ideas from which to build from:

- Your camera make and model
- If you’re using film, the type, speed and developing method
- I record all my exposure details in a notebook, so I list the f stop and shutter speed. While this is recorded in a digital camera’s EXIF data, there’s no reason why you couldn’t add it into your tags.
- Any filters you used
- The processing program such as Photoshop, The Gimp, Paint.net and so on.
- The location of where you took the photo
- The time
- Compositional elements. Does it have a tree? Put it in the tags. Sky? Clouds? Roads? Put it in the tags.
- Perhaps you feel that the Depth of Field is particularly important? Note it in the tags. For example, shallow Depth of Field, or even DoF.
- What about the format? Landscape orientation or Portrait?
- The main subject style. Landscape, portrait, macro and so on.

I think you get the idea now. The main thing is to look at your photo critically and note down every single thing in it. While at first it may feel silly noting the obvious, you never know when someone will find your photo through a tag, and find in it the inspiration they need to get back out there and keep photographing.

One final thing to note is that when entering your tags they will all come out as separate words unless you group them together with quotation marks. For example, if you enter in Your Photo Tips in the tag box, it will result in your photo being tagged with Your, Photo and Tips. A search for the phrase Your Photo Tips may not result in your image being displayed as the search tools will try to find all these words together for a Most Relevant result. However, if you enter in YourPhotoTips as one word searching for Your Photo Tips will definitely bring up your photo in the list of photos with those tags. You can also enter in “Your Photo Tips” (note the quotation marks) in the tag box, when adding your tags, and it will appear in your tags list next to your photos as that phrase without the quotation marks, though flickr will treat the whole phrase as one tag.

Photograph A ghostly self portrait with the unexpected bonus of a light trail. by the wolf brigade

For more on Tomas Webb visit his blog The mediation of life and you can find him on flickr as the wolf brigade

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