As a special treat… and because it’s Christmas… we’ve put together a list of 30 great Flickr groups that you might want to join or just enjoy.

Some of these have been recommended to me by my lovely followers in Twitter and some I’ve just come across. There’s no particular order so have a look through and you might find something that tickles your fancy.

1. tiltshiftmaker – Group for tilt-shift photos made using the tiltshiftmaker.com website.
2. iamnotaterrorist – Police in the UK and abroad routinely invoke bogus anti-terror legislation to prevent photographers from carrying out their work, and photojournalists are constantly filmed at gatherings and their details kept on an ever-growing database.
3. best100only – Highly Competitive – Flickr’s 100 Best has the aim to host the 100 best photographic images on Flickr[whatever that means ] and be an active group. By means of “one-on-one challenges” the photos in this pool are repeatedly viewed and compared with different challengers, until they are replaced by better ones. The intention is to provide a fun, respectful mechanism for constructive critisicm, with worldwide membership.
4. strobist – The brightest group of photogs on Flickr. It was created to accompany Strobist, the off-camera lighting blog.
5. lightsource – This group is dedicated to the Studio Lighting podcast LightSource from www.studiolighting.net/! Welcome listeners, guests, critics and friends…
6. Critiquing Film Photos – This group is intended for those of us who enjoy doing things the old fashion way. Loading the film, reading the meter, selecting aperture and shutter speed.
7. Diana+ & Diana F+ – The premiere hot spot to share images, tips, stories, and comments on the Lomography Diana+ & Diana F+ cameras! Note: members are limited to 5 photo uploads per day.
8. Holga – Holga camera group.
9. Lensbaby – If you’ve got a lensbaby camera lens, and photos to boot — post them here!
10. Photofocus – This is a place for Photofocus audience members to share their child-safe images. If you have an image you think is relevant to our audience or you would like to enter an image that is in response to one of our contests, this is the place to do it.
11. tiltshift – Tilt shift is a place to display and share photos in which focus and/or perspective was manipulated by an IN-CAMERA or LENS effect that involves tilting, shifting, or swinging. This includes, though is not limited to, large format view cameras, bellows attatchments, tilt shift lenses, lensbabies, etc.
    Fake tilt/shift work that has been done in photoshop is NOT ALLOWED.
12. Poor-Man’s Macro (PLEASE, read the description carefully!) – This group is for those who take macro pictures using anything but a macro lens: any variation of reverse lens technique, extention tubes/rings, magnifying glass, microscopes, you name it! This page contains some info under the section “Equipment”.
    For example, one can hold a reverse lens on to another lens or to a camera body (in fact, there are special adaptors called “reverse mount” just for that!) and take extreme macro pictures, depending on the focal length of the lenses.
13. “The .Macro. Group” – CHECK OUT THE INTERESTINGNESS OF THE GROUP: JUST CLICK ON THE THUMBNAILS BELOW Macro only photography. Close up photos acceptable.
14. Super Macro’s! Comment on as many as you like ! – This group is all about sharing the best Macros on Flickr with its Members! Please feel free to comment on at least 3 photos in the pool after every post
15. Black and White – This group is for all the people who share a love for Black and White Photography! Please feel free to post Black and White images to the group pool, enjoy in the group discussions, and invite your friends!
16. FlickrCentral – FlickrCentral is a place for the newbies to get a taste of what Flickr is about, and a place for the more experienced users to keep a finger on the pulse of our favorite addiction. This group is for viewing Flickr from high above - a place for posts on things that are about Flickr or would interest MOST flickrites.
17. Catchy Colors – Our photo pool is all about Colors – DEEP, INTENSE, STRIKING, VIBRANT, RICH, CATCHY COLORSnot ‘composition’, not even ‘angle’ – JUST COLOR as you can make out from our group icon. As with us folks, we are all about FUN…very laidback, color loving, respectful bunch.
18. Canon DSLR User Group – Discussion of Canon Digital SLR equipment and issues common to Canon digital capture, post processing and technique. Feel free to post news, topics, and links of interest to Canon DSLR users. This group is open to all.
19. The Portrait Group – The purpose of The Portrait Group is to share, learn and discuss anything and everything about portraiture, including self-portraits.
20. The World Through My Eyes – Monochrome Mondays Open – TWTME is a group for everyone regardless of race, religion or sexual orientation. Everyone is always welcome here at TWTME
21. MACRO MONDAYS This group is for all macro-loving flickrites! The concept is simple: take macro shots according to a theme and send them to this group each Monday.
22. Monday Blues – All Blue because it’s Monday? Well welcome to Monday Blues! It’s simple just post your blue shots here every Monday and have a Happy Monday Blues (HMB!!)
23. Monthly Scavenger Hunt – Purpose of the group: On the first of each month there will be a list of 20 items that you need to catch in a photograph. Some months may have themes, most won’t. All through the month the members may access the voting booth and rate each photo on a scale of 1 to 10 using their own ideas about how the photo fits the category. Although this isn’t a requirement of the group, it’s fun and gives all members an equal chance at msh stardom. No videos allowed.
24. Monthly Scavenger Hunt – This group is set up to create a huge scavenger hunt on flickr! Every month there will be a new list available and your goal is to get as many items as possible! We are looking for some good photos and want to make our pool a pleasure to look at!
25. NYC Subway – Photographs of the NYC subway experience: On the train, on the platform, outside the entrance, at the turnstile, subway ads… you name it.
26. Secret Life of Plants – These are images that reveal something not obviously noticed about a plant (any type of flora). Macros often reveal those secrets but careful attention to plant development from bud to seed are also revealing. This is not a group simply for natural macros, many of which show what we know well – the stamens of common flowers etc…
    
27. Film Noir Mood – The term film noir means dark or black film. The French came up with the word in the late 1950s. The film noir style was developed in America in the 40s and 50s through dark crime dramas that were filmed with a shadowy type of cinematography.
28. B&W- B&W, Dedicated to the beauty that is black and white.
29. Gossamer Glimpse – this group is intended to showcase photos of (and through) transparent stuff. Delicate fabrics, screens and other such veils will fill our photos’ frames.
30. ROTHKOesque -This is a group dedicated to photographs which are, intentionally or not, “Rothko-esque”. Anyone familiar with Mark Rothko can immediately recognize his style, and to those who are drawn to it never tire of its surprising impact.