Creators & audience
Best time to post in r/photography
The best and worst hours to post, the rules that get posts removed, and a check of your draft against both.
Posts in r/photography are most often removed for self-promotion issues. It is a public subreddit that allows both text and link posts and does not require post flair. In our latest sample of 224 recent posts, an estimated 98% were still up about a day later.
/r/photography is a place to politely discuss the tools, technique, art and culture of photography and to post topics that would be of interest to other photographers.
The best and worst hours to post in r/photography
In our sample of 740 recent and top r/photography posts, activity and scores peak around Thursday 4am UTC, and are weakest around Sunday 5am UTC. Based on posts sampled through Aug 31, 2026. Times in this sentence are UTC; the grid below converts to your local timezone. Timing helps a clean post get seen. It does not save a post that breaks a rule.
- Window 1
Thu around 4am
avg score 778.8 · 4 posts sampled
- Window 2
Tue around 3pm
avg score 725.5 · 2 posts sampled
- Window 3
Sat around 7pm
avg score 415.3 · 4 posts sampled
Your timezone: UTC (GMT+0). Darker cells mean more posts in our sample.
Compare r/photography against every tracked community on the best time to post on Reddit tool.
Estimated survival rate
98%
of 224 recent r/photography posts we sampled were still publicly visible about a day later.
How this is measured
Estimate. We sample recent public posts and check again about 18 hours later to count how many are still publicly visible. Posts removed at the moment of submission never become publicly visible at all, so the true removal rate is at least this high. Last sampled Sep 5, 2026.
r/photography rules: what actually gets removed
Each rule below is paired with the way it is most likely enforced. Where the rules state a number, we quote it. Where they do not, we say so instead of guessing.
1.Photo Sharing in Community Threads
Enforcement variesThis sub is for discussing photography, not just sharing your work. We have regular community threads where you can share your photos. Posting images is allowed as self-post using the photo as an example for the discussion to either begin a conversation about aspects of the example or to ask a photography-related question. The image should be used to support an overall broad and nonspecific topic/question rather than the focus of the post. Visit r/photographs, our sister photo sharing sub.
2.Post is a gear-related, troubleshooting pricing or post-processing/style/emulation question
Enforcement variesQuestions asking for equipment purchasing advice, searching for X or Y product, troubleshooting, pricing or post-processing/style/emulation questions should be posted as comments in the most recent Official Question thread, stickied at the top of the subreddit. Before posting, please read the FAQ. When seeking purchase recommendations, please be specific about how much you can spend.
3.Stand-alone questions must contain a minimum amount of context and not be common duplicate questions
Removed by moderatorsInteresting discussions/questions on broader topics may be permitted as self-posts at the discretion of the moderators. Please ensure you have used the search function before posting as common, duplicate questions will be removed. Please also ensure you include enough information for your question to be answered or a discussion to be had. Post titles *must include details as to the subject of the post.*
4.No Spam or Self-Promotion
Enforcement variesWe do not allow any blogspam, ads, shortlinks, seeking votes for contests, referral links, crowdsourced funding, circlejerking, karmawhoring, surveys and/or market research, or DAE/ITAP posts. Any self-promotion must be no more than 10% of your submissions to the sub or Reddit, per Reddit's guidelines. No direct for-profit advertising or self-promotion of any kind is permitted outside of the relevant weekly community threads.
5.No Classified Ads or Job Offers
Enforcement variesIf you want to sell a photography item to redditors or want to buy a photography item from a redditor, please use /r/photomarket. If you just want to share some great photography-related deals, please use /r/PhotographyDeals/. If you are looking for a photographer or retoucher to do a job for you, head over to r/PhotographyJobs.
6.No Personal Attacks
Enforcement variesWe do not allow personal attacks. Violations may result in a ban.
7.No Rants
Enforcement variesThis is not the place to have non-constructive rants about photography or photographic trends that you happen to dislike—for those, we invite you to use the recurring Salty Saturday thread.
8.Flair is for Portfolios
Enforced automaticallyUse the flair system only for your portfolio and nothing else! Not allowed for example: Gear, blogspam, shortlinks.
9.Lost & Found
Enforcement variesIf you've lost or found a piece of photography equipment, please head over to the [Lost & Found.](https://www.reddit.com/r/photography/comments/tt3gm1/photography_lost_found_early_2022/)
10.No AI-generated text
Enforcement variesAll posts and comments must be made in your own words. Generative AI is not a reliable source of information.
11.No Preset Talk
Enforcement variesWe do not allow preset questions on this sub. For more information, see this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/photography/comments/1fnj4xk/new_rule_no_preset_talk_on_the_main_page/
r/photography does not publish karma or account-age minimums in its rules. Subreddits often enforce unpublished filters on top of what they write down, which is why posts from new accounts can vanish without a message here.
Can you self-promote in r/photography?
No. r/photography bans self-promotion outright: product links, launch posts, and thinly framed feedback posts get removed. The sub's own wording: "No direct for-profit advertising or self-promotion of any kind is permitted outside of the relev". If you want eyes on your project, contribute first and look for communities with a promo lane.
r/photography by the numbers
- Members
- 5.6M
- Active right now
- Not public
- Posts / day
- 12
- 395 comments / day
- Community age
- 18 years
- since Jan 25, 2008
| Median title length | Posts with a link | Posts with flair | Dominant format |
|---|---|---|---|
| 44 characters | 4% | 100% | text posts |
What gets removed in r/photography
Self-promotion
r/photography bans self-promo outright. Product links, launch posts, and thinly framed "feedback" posts are removed.
Low karma or a new account
r/photography publishes no karma or age minimum, but unpublished account filters are common at this size. New accounts should comment before posting.
Reddit's sitewide spam filter
A separate layer before the subreddit ever sees your post. New accounts posting links, URL shorteners, and repeated domains are its favorite targets. Removals are instant and silent.
A shadowbanned account
If the account itself is shadowbanned, every post looks live to you and invisible to everyone else, in any subreddit.
Wondering about a post that already disappeared? Start with why Reddit posts get removed or run the free shadowban check.
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r/photography posting questions
Can I post links in r/photography?
Yes. r/photography accepts link posts. The usual sitewide traps still apply: URL shorteners, affiliate parameters, and brand-new domains get filtered fast, and promotional links are judged against the sub's self-promo rules. One clean link to the original source is the safe pattern.
Does r/photography require karma to post?
r/photography does not publish a karma minimum. That does not mean there is none: many subreddits enforce unpublished karma and account-age filters that remove posts silently. If your account is new or has little karma, that is the first thing to rule out when a post disappears.
Can you self-promote in r/photography?
No. r/photography bans self-promotion outright: product links, launch posts, and thinly framed feedback posts get removed. The sub's own wording: "No direct for-profit advertising or self-promotion of any kind is permitted outside of the relev". If you want eyes on your project, contribute first and look for communities with a promo lane.
Is r/photography strict?
Moderate, by our estimate (26/100 on our strictness scale, from its measured removal rate, 11 rules, and its stated gates). About 2% of recent posts disappeared within a day in our sample. Strictness is about enforcement, not hostility: a strict sub is predictable if you follow its rules.
What is the best time to post in r/photography?
Based on our sample of recent and top posts, activity and scores peak around Thursday 4am UTC and Tuesday 3pm UTC. Treat this as a starting point, not a guarantee: a post that breaks a rule gets removed at any hour. The heatmap on this page converts these windows to your local time.
Why do posts get removed in r/photography?
The most common reasons are self-promotion violations, plus the layers every subreddit has: Reddit's sitewide spam filter, unpublished AutoMod rules, and account-level gates like karma and age. In our recent sample, roughly 2% of r/photography posts disappeared within about a day of going up. Many removals are silent, so checking your draft first beats finding out after.
Rules last checked Aug 31, 2026
Go deeper: how AutoMod removals work, the shadowban explainer, or earning karma the allowed way.
Stop getting silently removed.
Know if your post survives before you hit submit, and fix it if it won't.
Check my post for freePaste a draft · verdict in ~10 seconds