So with spring well and truly upon it’s easy to see the dramatic change in the landscape outdoors. You get a real sense of the rising temperatures when you take a closer look at some of the creepy crawlers that are emerging from their winter hide-aways. It’s at times like this that if you are into your photography at all you may want to consider a macro lens. A macro lens will open up a whole new world of photography, and even subjects which perhaps looking dull and uninteresting using a normal lens will come alive under the treatment of a true macro lens.

If you are considering a macro lens then you could do a lot worse than looking at the Sigma 105mm (this one is for the Canon mount) The 105mm zoom is particularly useful if you are interested in taking shots of bugs, especially those such as dragonflies which are easily spooked (remember when positioned on a digital SLR body this 105mm will actually become closer to 160mm). A maximum aperture of f/2.8 will allow for greater control over your close ups without having to always resort to using a tripod.

I find autofocus on a lot of macro lenses to be notoriously slow but most reviews show this one to be useable under normal circumstances and although not silent, it is not so loud as to be annoying (again useful when you are trying to get a shot without scaring your subject away) I’ve also held this lens myself and it’s lower price perhaps hides the fact that this is an extremely well put together bit of kit, feeling quite solid in ones hand.

If you are considering getting into macro photography, and I for one would recommend it, for the upcoming warmer months then this would be my lens of choice.

So as you may be aware I’m quite into my photography and find myself using up quite a lot of my spare time heading out on photo walks. I first got into photography about 18 months ago after I realised I had taken over 10,000 photos with my little point and shoot. It was time to upgrade and I’ve since had a Canon 350d and now a Canon 40d. Before I go any further I just have to say the Canon 40d is a fantastic camera and in my opinion really does feel as though you are using a proper grown up camera compared with the entry level models, without having to pay for the likes of a Canon 1d. The screen is fantastic, integrated cleaning system a nice touch, and the photos are vibrant and alive. A great choice, especially if you are thinking about an upgrade but can’t face paying 4 figures for the top of the line models.

Anyway I digress from my original thoughts, which were of course to do with Flickr, and especially to do with the algorithm they call Explore, or Interestingness. So far I’ve had 5 of my photos featured on Explore, the highest being in the low 50s. Over the past few months I’ve been trying to work out what makes a photo interesting and this is what I’ve come up with.

• Don’t spam groups with your photo, at least initially- if you want to try to get your photo into Explore then limit the amount of groups you send it too, especially those which force people to comment on your photo. I find around 8-10 groups is fine.
• Choose your tags carefully - if you photo is a building, then try and be descriptive about that building. I’ve noticed every time I’m on a site that is connected to Flickr people search for tags rather than just browse the photos, and you want yours to be picked up.
• Time of day - Flickr bases its top 500 photos in a 24 hour period. Now I’m not too sure when that time starts, but your photo will have more time to build momentum if you put it in closer to (after) 12.00 at night, rather than 11pm the night before.
• Get peoples attention - I quite often find myself heading to the Explore page and from this I add a few additional contacts, especially those who have an outstanding photostream. Given that Flickr is such a friendly place they will quite often add me back, meaning more eyes on my photos.
• Keep your best until last - if you are uploading a batch of photos, then keep the one you would like to get into Flickr Explore to last. Quite often your contacts will have their settings to display only the last photo you uploaded.
• Quality of the photo - last, but by no means least, make sure you take a good an interesting photo. At the end of the day this is what will drawn peoples eyes to your photo and from there the Explore magic can start to happen.

Let me know if you have any other tips for getting your photos into Explore, add me as a contact or if you have any other questions let me know.