In Part 1 of this series, we covered the basics of setting up a brand new Flickr account, uploading photos, organizing them into Sets and Collections, linking to them and displaying them in slideshows. In this part of the series, we’ll cover some of the finer points of getting your images noticed and interacting with other Flickr members.

Contacts
When you add someone as a contact in Flickr, you are essentially bookmarking them, so you have ready access to their photostream and can see any new images they upload. When someone adds you as their contact, it’s considered polite to reciprocate and add them as yours.

You add a contact by going to their profile and selecting “Add as contact” under their name. When you do this, you also have the option of adding them as Friend or Family.

This corresponds to the “edit who can see what” options under Your Account, as well as the privacy options you set for your photos when you upload them. Using these options together, you can make certain images available to the public, or only to those you designate as friends and/or family.

Note that if you’re trying to get attention on Flickr, keep in mind that your contacts have the option of seeing one upload per person or five. This means anything you upload beyond the first five probably won’t be seen unless they take the time to actually visit your photostream. Upload the one you want to bring the most attention to first.

Faves
Just as adding a contact bookmarks that person’s photostream, “faving” an image bookmarks it so you can easily find it again. You do this by clicking on the star above someone’s photo.

When you add someone’s image as a favorite, they see that action in their Recent Activity, along with a link back to your photostream, so faving images can be a way to bring some attention to your own.

Comments
Flickr is a social photo sharing site, and commenting on images is a standard practice. It’s a great way to give or receive feedback and build relationships. To leave a comment, simply type into the comment box below someone’s image. You can include some basic HTML tags in your comment as well.

Groups
Groups are created to collect images from several sources into a single pool. One of the best ways to give your images some visibility is to join groups and submit your images to them.

When you find a group you like, go ahead and join it. In doing so, you are sometimes presented with a page where you have to ask for permission to join. If this happens, simply type in a polite request to join the group and embed a small or medium-sized version of your image.

Some groups are invitation-only. As your images become more visible, you will eventually have visitors post these invitations as comments. It’s important to follow the rules of each group as they are set by its administrators. Typically, they have to do with the types of images that can be posted or how many can be posted in a day.

They can also include directives, such as “Post 1, Fave or Comment 2″, meaning for every image you post to the group pool, you have to fave or comment on at least 2 existing ones.

There is usually some HTML code provided that they will want you to include in your comments. All you have to do is find that code in the group’s front page, then copy and paste it into the comment box.

Explore
Last but not least, the Explore section on Flickr is a collection of the images with the most Interestingness on any given day. Interestingness itself is a secret algorithm that Flickr uses to determine which images should be highlighted in this section. While the exact method used in this determination appears to be a closely guarded secret, it’s not hard to guess what it does in broad terms.

If your image gets the right kind of attention, meaning it gets a certain number of views, comments and faves, there’s a possibility it will appear on Explore. The higher it ranks on Explore, the more people see it. One of the easiest ways to track your images on Explore is to use the Scout application from Big Huge Labs.

Please let me know if this two-part series on Flickr was helpful to you. If you feel there was anything I didn’t cover, or if something wasn’t clear, I’m happy to fill in any gaps.

Flickr is one of the today’s most popular photo sharing sites. Whether you’re a professional who wants visibility and honest feedback on your work, or an enthusiast who just wants your photos to be seen and enjoyed, Flickr is a great place to share your images and engage in discussions about them in a non-commercial setting.

Despite its popularity, the finer points of using Flickr to its full potential and bringing visibility to your images can be illusive. This is the first of a two part walkthrough that explains how to take full advantage of your Flickr account.

With a free Flickr account, you can upload two videos and 100MB worth of photos each calendar month. You can also organize your photos into three photosets and post them in up to 10 groups.

For $25 per year, you get a Pro Account, with unlimited photo uploads (20MB per photo), unlimited video uploads (90 seconds max), unlimited bandwidth and storage, unlimited photosets, archiving of high-resolution original images and the ability to replace a photo. You can also post your photos in up to 60 group pools and view your count and referrer statistics. You’re also able to browse and share ad-free.

The Basics
After you sign up, there are some housekeeping decisions about your account you should get out of the way, so you don’t have to think about them later.

Under the “You” menu, select “Your Account”. On that page, the two sections you need to take care of first are under “edit who can see what” and “if it’s searchable”. Change the options as necessary.

In the “Your Flickr web addresses” section, set the name you want to use. This is the URL you will be sending to your viewers so they can see your images. If you don’t set it, then your URL will have your actual Flickr user ID , which can be hard to remember, such as 24392742@N06. Think carefully about this, as cannot be changed once you set it!

Then go back to “Your Account” again and click on the “Privacy & Permissions” link. Set the options to suit your comfort level.

Set any other options you like in “Your Account” and “Your Profile” (under the “You” menu). When you’re done, click on “Home”. You are now ready to upload images to your Flickr account.

Uploading Images
To upload images, click on “Upload Photos” on the home page. Then click on “Choose photos and videos”. Navigate to the location of your photos and select the ones you want to upload. You can select several at once if you like.

When you have selected your files, you can set the privacy options for those images, such as whether they’re visible only to friends and/or family, or to the public.

After they have been uploaded, you are presented with the option to enter titles, descriptions and tags. Set those to your liking and click on “Save”. To help bring attention to your photos, take the time to create clear, meaningful titles, write good descriptions and tag your images carefully, so that the search engines can find them more efficiently (SEO). Voila! You now have images in your Photostream.

At this point, you can select “Organize” in the menu bar to put your images in Sets, or you can create Collections of Sets if you have several you want to keep together.

Linking To Your Images
You can obtain a static link to your photo by clicking on All Sizes above the image. This brings you to a page where you can select the size of the image you want to display or download. Copy and paste the URL corresponding to your choice. You’re also given a block of embed code you can use in a website or a blog, with a link back to the photo’s page.

Note that the Flickr Community Guidelines specify that if you post a Flickr photo on an external website, the photo must link back to its photo page, so even if you grab the individual link rather than the embed code, it’s up to you to make sure it points back to the source.

Slideshows
Your Photostream can be viewed as a slideshow by pressing the “Slideshow” link at the top right of your page. Any set you create can be viewed that way as well.

If you mouse over your slideshow while it’s running, you’ll see a menu of options across the top. One of those is the Share option, which gives you a link to the show that you can give to people, and embed code you can use to incorporate the slideshow into your website or blog.

If you haven’t already opened a Flickr account, go ahead and give it a try. Set your privacy options as described above, upload some photos and have some fun. In the next post, we’ll cover adding Contacts, Faves, Comments, Groups and Explore.