Kyle Gustafson

7 Things I Don’t Like About The New Flickr

Kyle Gustafson — Wed, 22 May 2013 03:15:07 +0000

I’ve been a Flickr member since 2005. It was where I really came into my own as a photographer, allowing me to grow, network and learn all sorts of things along the way. I mean, I went from this to this. It’s also a community I outgrew and left behind as I waited in vain for an update to the service. I stopped regularly uploading photos sometime in 2011. But late last month I decided to re-engage with the service as part of a larger experiment with social media and that seems to have been good timing with Monday’s long awaited redesign. This redesign has fixed some of what ails the site and will hopefully re-enegerize and reinvigorate the user base, but as I explored the new layout and functionality, there were some things that stood out as big misses to me.

1) The lightbox at the top of the page for the photo is too big. Let’s be frank, the new layout is an improvement from the old version, but it’s not perfect. Here’s a screenshot of a recent upload that is 1000 pixels wide and is still swallowed by the black lightbox portion at the top of the page.

Look at all that black space! Flickr is the anti-Google! Instead of wasted white space, they have wasted black space. What’s the point of all of this padding around the image? It goes without saying that smaller images look even more ridiculous. Look at how Instagram photos look in the new layout. Ugh. I get that Flickr wants you to upload full res images (the make use of your free 1TB of storage), but there should be a setting that allows you to set the default display size you want for your images. This would also help with the next item.

2) All the photo info has been pushed too far down the page. Look at that same Kendrick Lamar photo in a full screenshot:

Keep in mind I am on a 27-inch iMac with a screen resolution of 2650 x 1440. Who took this shot? You can barely see my name! Only one line of the caption is visible. When you elongate your screen, the only thing that expands is this lightbox section. This is just poor design. Comments, favorites, copyright info, metadata info and tags are all below the fold. Again, I’m all for photo first, but there’s no reason for this. Shrink the lightbox section and move these sections up the page.

3) The EXIF data link has been buried in a menu and the info has been moved to another page.

This may not bug other people as much as it bugs me, but part of the reason I fell in love with Flickr when I was starting out as a serious photographer was that I could look at the EXIF data from a photo I liked and see what the settings were. This helped me understand depth of field and so many other photography concepts. This info started out on a click through page and eventually migrated onto the photo page itself, which was ideal. When I’m looking through photos on a band that is coming through town, it’s great to be able to quickly tell what type of lens was used to shoot a particular photo. Now that info is yet again relegated to a separate page, assuming you can find it buried in the menu that’s hidden in the lower right corner.

4) I already hate the three dot menu and the way it hides functionality I used on a regular basis.

I can’t speak for you but three little dots on a page does not scream out VERY IMPORTANT MENU to me. Why the empty space in the menu bar after Photostream, Sets and Favorites? Why not populate that space with some of the choices in the three dot menu? Why is the link to my profile buried?

5) The thumbnails on the Sets page were cropped poorly. Look at my page of photo sets. I can barely tell what half of them are and I took the photos.

When I make a new set, I don’t even get to choose the square crop! The system does it automatically and it obvs. does a horrible job. This is a big fail. This should be a page showcasing my best work. Instead I have a photo of two tuxes and bow ties and no faces and a big white orb with an arm sticking out of the frame.

6) Enough with the cover photos.

Facebook and Twitter have done a good job with cover photos (unlike Google+) and other social networks want to copy this functionality. I’s an easy way to personalize your profile or account if done correctly. This was not done correctly. No one takes photos with that height and width ratio, which means you either crop the shit out of a good photo or make a collage out of smaller photos. This shouldn’t be so hard. Can we all agree that full screen cover photos don’t work?

7) I want slideshows in the photo feed from my contacts when I log in.

I really like the new photostream from my contacts when I log in to Flickr. I also really like that it shows me groups of photos so if a contact has uploaded five photos, I see one full sized photo and four thumbnails. That’s cool. But if I want to see a bigger version of one of the thumbnail photos, I have to click away to that photo’s page. I can’t view a larger size right there in the photo stream. I want to cycle through a contact’s new photos right there on the log in page just like a slideshow. That way I can see the new photos on one screen instead of clicking around all over the place.

Lastly, I couldn’t help but notice that there was no update on image security on Flickr. I was going to address that here (security was a big reason I stopped uploading photos to Flickr in 2011 – I was tired of people stealing my images) but I feel like that’s a separate blog post.

What about you? What do you like from the updates? Any other dislikes or improvements?

Luke Bryan @ Jiffy Lube Live

Kyle Gustafson — Tue, 21 May 2013 03:21:06 +0000

It takes a lot to get me to make the trek to Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, VA. All-day shows on Saturday where the crowd arrives nice and early is a good start. I arrived at 8:30 for a 9p.m. set time and didn’thave to deal with traffic and nabbed a prime parking spot to boot! I was there for Luke Bryan’s headlining set for the 2013 WMZQ Fest. I shot Bryan last year opening for Jason Aldean but that’s about all I know about him. His show was fine, but could have been better. See below.

Shooting Notes: We were allowed to shoot songs 3 and 4 for this show, from a small pit at the end of the extended stage. There was a T-shaped platform leading out from the stage and we were positioned on the stage right side. It was actually a good vantage point, allowing for both long and wide shots, but Bryan was (OF COURSE) more active on songs 1 and 2, which we couldn’t shoot. I will note he played guitar for the first half of song 4, so it was nice to get a few shots of that, but all four songs would have been nice. Lights were great, exactly what you’d expect from a large-scale country show. Two bodies with a 70-200/2.8 and the widest lens you have is what you need to shoot this show.

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Luke Bryan @ Jiffy Lube Live – Images by Kyle Gustafson

Father John Misty @ 9:30 Club

Kyle Gustafson — Tue, 21 May 2013 02:00:05 +0000

J. Tillman, aka Father John Misty, is nothing if not entertaining. He’s quite charming on stage and an able and willing frontman. He had a sold-out crowd at the 9:30 Club eating out of his hand last week in no time at all. And best of all, he lets photographers shoot his entire show! Due to my deadline and not wanting to edit any more photos than I needed to, I only stuck around for five or six songs before I left, but having that option is REALLY nice.

Shooting Notes: Tillman moves around the stage a lot, so be prepared. Lights for this show were pretty good by 9:30 Club standard, but Tillman’s hair had a tendency to fall down in his eyes while he was singing. Be sure to bring a wide lens if you want full body or 3/4 shots as he stays near the front of the stage for the most part. As I said before, you’re allowed to shoot the entire show (or at least we were).

Father John Misty @ 9:30 Club – Images by Kyle Gustafson

2013 Sweetlife Festival

Kyle Gustafson — Mon, 20 May 2013 02:55:41 +0000

This was my third year covering the Sweetlife Music and Food Festival and this was the first time I enjoyed myself, despite the third straight rainy day (this fest has horrible luck with the weather). The fest’s previous lineups had a lot of downtime built in but that was not he case this year. The mainstage was PACKED with great acts, inclding Phoenix and the Yeay Yeah Yeahs. Check it out…

Solange

View all my photos of Solange at the 2013 Sweetlife Festival.

Gary Clark, Jr.

View all my photos of Gary Clark, Jr. at the 2013 Sweetlife Festival.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs (!!!)

View all of my photos of Karen O and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at the 2013 Sweetlife Festival.

Passion Pit

View all of my photos of Passion Pit at the 2013 Sweetlife Festival.

Kendrick Lamar

View all of my photos of Kendrick Lamar at the 2013 Sweetlife Festival.

Phoenix

View all of my photos of Phoenix at the 2013 Sweetlife Festival.

Treehouse Stage / The Fans / The Food / The Weather

View all the rest of my photos of the 2013 Sweetlife Festival.

Treehouse Stage @ 2013 Sweetlife Festival

Kyle Gustafson — Mon, 20 May 2013 00:41:23 +0000

The Treehouse Stage was the second stage at the 2013 Sweetlife Music and Food Festival and I was very excited about some of the acts that were playing. Unfortunately between filing photos and the early afternoon rain, I didn’t make it bck over there after the first three acts. But I was very happy to finally be able to catch one of the DC’s buzziest bands, Shark Week. And I’m happy to report they were aces.

Next up were Knocked Up Kids. Um…the less said about them the better.

The last band I caught on the Treehouse Stage was Twnety One Pilots. They were this weird mix of gansgter rap and Ben Folds Five. Very schizophrenic. Their stage shows was pretty great and the crowd ate them up.

The crowd had a lot to deal with at this year’s festival. For the third straight year, it rained. But this year, it rained HARD for about 45 minutes late in the afternoon after a day of mostly perfect weather. In fact, lots of people were using their umbrellas for the sun at the start of the day.

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Treehouse Stage @ 2013 Sweetlife Festival – Images by Kyle Gustafson

Kendrick Lamar @ Sweetlife Festival

Kyle Gustafson — Tue, 14 May 2013 03:28:58 +0000

I was very excited to see Kendrick Lamar at the 2013 Sweetlife Music and Food Festival but ultimately I left wanting more after the first three songs. I like his style and his flow, but Lamar’s stage presence needs some work. He basically walked back and forth across the stage for the first three songs, not unlike Michael from Passion Pit. He wasn’t performing so much as walking around on stage and reciting his lyrics. But he’s just starting out, I’m sure he will get it together. I will say that I loved that it was just him and a DJ up on stage. No entourage.

Since I couldn’t find a spot that gave me the angle I was looking for, I shot Lamar mostly up close with my 70-200/2.8, focusing on grabbing my shots when he started to walk toward me from the far side of the stage.

Gary Clark, Jr. @ Sweetlife Festival

Kyle Gustafson — Tue, 14 May 2013 03:16:37 +0000

Gary Clark, Jr. is a badass on the guitar and was a perfect act for an early afternoon slot on the Main Stage at the 2013 Sweetlife Music and Food Festical. He’s got the goods. I bet most of the people on the lawn had no idea who he was when his set started, but they were all chanting his name by the time he was done. Respect.

Gary Clark, Jr. @ Merriweather Post Pavilion – Images by Kyle Gustafson

Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ Sweetlife Festival

Kyle Gustafson — Tue, 14 May 2013 01:16:16 +0000

Karen O is the alhpa and the omega of photo subjects as far as lead singers go. She is everything you could ever want to photograph and her intensity and exuberance blow me away every time I see her perform. The 2013 Sweetlife Music and Food Festival was the second time I’ve been lucky enough to shoot the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and she did not disappoint. She’s on full blast the entire time she’s on stage and never lets up and that energy gets returned to her from the crowd. All I want in life is to travel the world and shoot her whenever she performs. I’m gushing, so I’ll stop.

I got a prime spot in the middle of the pit for this set and just sat there and tried to keep up. Honestly, I’m not sure these photos really do a good job of portraying just how KINETIC Karen O is on stage. It wasn’t until the third song was alomost over that I thought to myself, “Oh shit, I just took 900 photos of Karen O, I better get a shot of Nick Zinner too!”

Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ Merriweather Post Pavilion – Images by Kyle Gustafson

Phoenix @ Sweetlife Festival

Kyle Gustafson — Mon, 13 May 2013 02:52:25 +0000

I’ve been a fan of Phoenix since the release of Alphabetical back in 2004. It’s been great to watch them slowly climb up the career ladder and then reach the mountaintop after Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. I was also very excited to get the chance to shoot them again since the lighting at DAR the last time they came through town was not very good. Unfortunately, that was the case once again at the 2013 Sweetlife Music and Food festival. The first song was pure red the entire time and the next two songs were sporadically lit by spotlight, sometimes resulting in a a 3 stop difference between Thomas Mars and whoever was standing next to him. It was tough sledding.

I was able to grab a spot directly in front of mars and I ended up staying there for the three songs. The pit was pretty crowded and since Mars only went to the other side of the stage once, I didn’t see the point in moving. As a result, I got a lot of shots of Thomas Mars leaning on his stage monitors with my 24-70/2.8.

Phoenix @ Merriweather Post Pavilion – Images by Kyle Gustafson

Passion Pit @ Sweetlife Festival

Kyle Gustafson — Mon, 13 May 2013 01:05:29 +0000

I was floored by the HUGE crowd that Passion Pit drew at Coachella. It was easily one of the biggest crowds of the entire festival. So it was no surprise when the same thing happened at the Sweetlife Music and Food Festival last weekend. Kids love them some Passion Pit. I think the band still has some work to do on the stage presence front.. Frontman Michael Angelakos basically spent the entire set walking back and forth across the stage, right and left, back and forth. He stopped every so often to play to the crowd and threw in a jump every now and then, but other than that, there wasn’t much variation.

Passion Pit @ Merriweather Post Pavilion – Images by Kyle Gustafson