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So You Want to Share Your Halloween Photos?

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Halloween mask 20/20 by Kevin O'Mara. October 25, 2011.  Shard on Flickr with a Creative Commons License.
Halloween mask 20/20 by Kevin O’Mara. October 25, 2011. Shared on Flickr with a Creative Commons License.

Last week Trevor Owens and I posted to this blog, asking people to share their Halloween photos with us this year in an experimental online collecting project.  That post is important, and if you want to participate you should read it at this link.  But in case that much detail leaves you feeling bummed like the fellow in the photo above, this post offers step-by-step instructions on how to get involved.

As we explained last week, you can participate just by tweeting your photos or posting them to Facebook with the #FolklifeHalloween2014 tag.  But in order for your photos to be considered for a place in the Library of Congress’s collections, we recommend that you use the Flickr photo sharing site, and add a Creative Commons license.  Here are the steps to take:

Step 1: Sign up for Flickr if you don’t have an account. Please note that Flickr is part of Yahoo, so if you have a Yahoo account you may already have an empty Flickr account.  Also, while you’re signing up, the pages may have Yahoo logos and insignia; this is a normal part of the process.  Go here to sign up!

Step 2: Once you have a Flickr account, you may want to get it ready by putting five to ten photos in it and requesting for the account to be moderated.  To be safest, don’t load photos with nudity or other adult content, just photos you’d be comfortable with anyone at all viewing. This will ensure your account will be ready and searchable by the time of the Halloween photo share. The process of uploading is pretty intuitive; just follow the menus.  Go here to request moderating!

Step 3: Take photos with a digital camera of scenes related to Halloween, All Saints, All Souls, Dia de Los Muertos, and other holidays at the end of October or the beginning of November. (We can’t explain how to do this one!)

Step 4:  Upload the ones you want to share to your Flickr account in the normal manner.  (The Flickr menus should guide you, but here’s how!)

 Dia de los Muertos, Getting ready.  By Daniel Baker. Hand-painted skull masks, face paint and brightly colored costumes are part of the Dia tradition.

Dia de los Muertos, Getting ready. By Daniel Baker. Hand-painted skull masks, face paint and brightly colored costumes are part of the Dia tradition. Shared on Flickr with the #FolklifeHalloween2014 tag and a Creative Commons License.

Step 5: Add a brief description, including a title,  the name of the photographer, where and when the photo was taken, and what it depicts. This can be added as you upload, but if something goes wrong you can change titles and descriptions later.  (Here’s How!)

Step 6: Add the tag #FolklifeHalloween2014. This makes it possible for people to find your photo.  (Here’s how!)

Step 7: Add a Creative Commons License. We really need you to do this if we’re going to consider your photos for the Library of Congress’s collections.  (Here’s how!)

As we said, we prefer the Creative Commons licenses that don’t prohibit altering the photos, but we may accept photos under any of the Creative Commons licenses.

That’s it, you’re done!  Except, of course, “repeat as necessary.”  We look forward to seeing your photos!

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