To me it is so sad to hear of photographers who go out shoot amazing photographs and then do nothing with them. I feel it is a sin against art to have brilliant photographs sit inside of a computer where nobody else will ever see or appreciate them. Today There are just so many great ways to share photo's that this never needs to happen. I thought I would go over some of my favorite ways of sharing them with the world. Art should not be kept a secret.

Above Photo taken in the San Francisco, CA Mission District

Photo Clubs: There are photo clubs all over and a simple internet search can find many of them. I also found chatting with other photographers can turn you onto some of them as well. Photo clubs are all different so I have found that asking to sit in on one before joining is the best way to go about it. Some photo clubs tend to be more of a social gathering for photographers to chat and share while others are more instructive and yet others tend to be more dedicated to competitions with awards and judging. It is important to find which works best for you and what you want to get out of the experience before handing over your membership fee's and joining. A good resource I have found for finding groups is meetup.com

The online world: Flickr is by far my favorite venue for sharing photo's online. The site is a great palce to post photo's and the relationship with Getty images further enhanced that for those interested in selling images. It is easy to comment and share photo's and a great way to meet photographers from around the world who share a common interest. I am always inspired after visiting my many contacts there. Face Book has also become popular among many photographers though it is not as user friendly as Flickr is in my opinion for sharing and commenting on Photo's.

Showing prints: Many local coffee shops and galleries love to show off local artists works and are a great opportunity to show your stuff. This can involve a bit of upfront cost to you as you would need to print and frame the photo's but if you are looking at selling or just demonstrating your works this is a great way to get noticed. I would suggest checking with your chamber of commerce or tourism offices to see if they have a list or ideas of places that seek out new artists to display most of them are more than happy to help. Many towns also have an Arts Association that would be a great resource for this.  Often if you join the arts association in your community they host special member exhibitions.

Inside Local Color

Above Photo toaken at "Local Color" in Seattle, WA

Online Portfolio's: Having a dedicated online portfolio is a very good idea for several reasons. First it is a great place to show your work in a controlled environment where you can choose the look and feel of the website. Second it serves as a great back-up to protect your photo's from fire, theft or other problem with your PC at home.

Printing your own Books: Blurb, Shutterfly, Costco... many places will provide you with options to create your own books to share. My favorite is Blurb as it allows you to download the software so you can work on it when you want and offers great flexibility and quality. Blurb also allows you to sell them via it's website should you choose to do so. I make several books per year now and no longer deal with bulky photo albums that take up so mauch space.

Do you have some other good tips or resorces for sharing Photo's? I would love to hear them please feel free to e-mail me.