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This forum is basically dead...or at least dying...

dug777

dug777

Lifer
Just throwing it out there, but it's true...suggestions to get us posting and commenting?

More importantly, to get others interested. There's a few who post here regularly, but that number is fixed and/or decreasing...

I'm no better than anyone else, before that's brought up.

Primarily, I think the comp is kinda (and increasingly) pointless, we bust a gut, submit, vote, and then it just dies the moment the voting closes...
 
"A picture is worth a thousand words? "

😀

I understand your point. I'm a relative newcomer to the forum, I posted some of my stuff ...

A few decades ago, I started with Nikon FTNs, switched to Canon F1s & such, got out of photography when I gave up the darkroom (what's the point, photography without the back room is only 50% of the art, everything at that point is a snapshot)

When digital came out, I got a cheap Sony P&S, and a good color photo printer. When I decided there was something to it, I got a Digital SLR (Nikon D70) and some lenses.

I've since added a D200 and D300, a 5100 P&S that I keep with me everywhere, some more lenses and stepped up to an Epson 2400 printer (I like it a lot).

I picked the Nikon because it fit my (large) hands better, and the control layout seemed to work better for me than the Canon. I didn't really consider any other manufacturers ... the German stuff was too expensive for the features, and the others didn't have the variety of accessories.


How about a discussion on when you started, how you started, and what do you have now, and how do you like it?

I also noticed that most of the discussion is about cameras; not much digital darkroom stuff, color management, lighting / effects, add-in effect software ... DO you use Photoshop or some other darkroom software?

Tried any good filters lately?
What's your favorite printer paper? For general stuff, I like the Kodak Pro, but I also use several of the Ilford papers and like them a lot, as well as some from Eposn, Canon, and even some Offce Depot stuff.

I profile all the papers (make a custom .icc), to make it easier to hit the print I wanted to print the first time or two.

I prefer RAW to .jpg for the additional latitude for adjustments later.


So, there ya go. Nothing stirs up the boards like a little "Mfr A" versus "Mfr B" discussion (we could try a Mac Versus PC thing, but that's another forum).


Post up some stuff about yourself ... if you can't talk about yourself, at least a little, then pick a fight or something 😀 .

Great picture from everyone so far, thanks to you all for sharing.

Good Luck to us all!

Scott
 
As soon as the school year ends, my wife will be starting to submit photos. She's starting to read through the stickied posts and learning about her new D40.
 
I agree about the competition. It would be nice to have a discussion about the photos and why people chose one over the other. I almost think though that people are a little hesitant to providing feedback about photos - no one wants to hurt someone else's feelings about a photo that the other person thinks is special. And, most of us realize that not all of us are going to feel the same way about someone's photo. i.e. some are going to love a photo and some are going to find flaws.

Here: I'll provide an example: the sunset photo you posted a couple weeks ago. Incredible looking sunset. A lot of people thought it was a wonderful picture. I thought they were focusing too much on the beautiful sunset and not thinking about the picture of the sunset. I didn't like some of the elements in the composition of the picture. (I mentioned this before, that's why I'm using that photo as an example) - specifically, I thought the lamp post sticking into the sky detracted from the focus of the photograph - the sunset itself. I hesitated to mention it back then because I'm not formally trained in photography. As far as I know, the experts might say that the lamp post added some element to the photograph - scale or something - that I had overlooked thinking about. I thought you should have gotten into a car and driven like a bat out of hell to get somewhere more... photogenic to capture a photo of that sunset. It's like there were two different genres of photography being mixed together in one picture. Now, I don't know you, so I don't know if you'd be offended by me saying something like that. (I don't think so, based on your posts.) However, I've seen other pictures you've taken and you're probably a better photographer than I am. So, how dare me to criticize a picture that a better photographer took?

And that last little sentence sort of sums up what I think - a lot of people here are afraid to express their opinion about other people's pictures, because we're not quite sure where we rank in "expertise" in taking pictures. Personally, I'd love it if someone commented about the pictures I posted; I hate to hear "they suck" with no other comment. But, I'd wouldn't mind a bit hearing "they suck, BECAUSE... " and have someone elaborate on what I did wrong so that I can improve my methods in the future.

Maybe we could work on some guidelines for critiquing pictures, then have more people post threads to have their own work critiqued? It might be worth a try. (Something like the post your photos thread, but each person could create their own thread and have people actually discuss their photos.)
 
i don't comment because i'm too lazy to PP and put stuff up myself. i really just like taking pictures.
 
Originally posted by: ElFenix
i don't comment because i'm too lazy to PP and put stuff up myself. i really just like taking pictures.
Click to expand...

I'm the same way -- I love to take photos, but I tire of the PP and posting (I have them precariously saved to only my computer -- need to remedy that).

Anyway, one thing I will state is that it's difficult to have a photo site/forum without inline posting of photos. The click-through required to the photo hosting site is less than optimal. I understand the issues with having photos in the body of the message, but it's not ideal for a photography forum.

I've stopped posting much in general lately. Just don't have a great deal of time, and I'm on the computer all day at work so I'm less likely to do anything with it at night. I'll try to do better though. 🙂
 
When the temperature around here stays consistently above 10C, I'll start shooting more.
 
I agree with you, I shoot a lot of pictures and always want to submit something but never want to take up forum posts continuously if I get a good shot one week and then another the next week, I don't want this forum to turn into my blog.

Maybe a flickr group would be in order?
 
i would consider this forum is in a "growing" stage.

Since DSLR and high quality P&S are getting cheaper and cheaper, I can expect more people pouring into this forums for tips and advices alike.
 
Originally posted by: ElFenix
i don't comment because i'm too lazy to PP and put stuff up myself. i really just like taking pictures.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:

As much as I sometimes wish I were able to dedicate myself to photography as much as fuzzybabybunny and some others do, in the end it comes down to having other hobbies as well, so I end up shooting in fits and spurts.

In a couple months though you'll all be able to mercilessly critique my feeble attempt at wedding photography. A couple of my friends are getting married and they don't have the money to spend on a professional photographer (pot luck reception, etc) so they drafted me to "do the best I can with what I have". Wish me luck. 😛

ZV
 
Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Originally posted by: ElFenix
i don't comment because i'm too lazy to PP and put stuff up myself. i really just like taking pictures.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:

As much as I sometimes wish I were able to dedicate myself to photography as much as fuzzybabybunny and some others do, in the end it comes down to having other hobbies as well, so I end up shooting in fits and spurts.

In a couple months though you'll all be able to mercilessly critique my feeble attempt at wedding photography. A couple of my friends are getting married and they don't have the money to spend on a professional photographer (pot luck reception, etc) so they drafted me to "do the best I can with what I have". Wish me luck. 😛

ZV
Click to expand...

Heh, I can dedicated myself to shooting, but I don't have enough time to dedicated to processing. Regular life is too frickin' busy and I'm behind on literally thousands of photos from various trips 🙁
 
Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Originally posted by: ElFenix
i don't comment because i'm too lazy to PP and put stuff up myself. i really just like taking pictures.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:

As much as I sometimes wish I were able to dedicate myself to photography as much as fuzzybabybunny and some others do, in the end it comes down to having other hobbies as well, so I end up shooting in fits and spurts.

In a couple months though you'll all be able to mercilessly critique my feeble attempt at wedding photography. A couple of my friends are getting married and they don't have the money to spend on a professional photographer (pot luck reception, etc) so they drafted me to "do the best I can with what I have". Wish me luck. 😛

ZV
Click to expand...

Find LOTS of redundant equipment, shoot on several cameras, each with several memory cards.

They're all happy & smiling now, but if you shoot everything to one card, and "the dog eats it" they will never talk to you again; they'll take you to court, abuse your small furry animals, debase your entire family for generations.

Weddings are "special" especially the first few tries for either or both of the involved parties. In the vein of "business is business," there are no "friends" in wedding photography, especially if the bride has a Mother. Even if your firends forgive any mistakes, the Bride's Mother will never forgive you, and she's probably old, so everyone else will side with her. They'll all hate you for screwing up her little girl's Most Precious Moment in Her Entire Life (or until she's divorced and re-marrys).

Also, expect as a possibility, that there will be "No Flash Photography" in the church (if it's in a church) ... but while YOU are not allowed (you being the "official " photographer) the friends & family will pop up and flash away (they are forgiven, after all , they are NOT the "official photographer") and screw up any color balancing you may have prepared ahead of time.

Check out the church ahead of time to see what color the walls are ... if they're some goofy color (like a melon yellow or institution puke-green with fluorescent lighting) be prepared to do a little post-production for color correction, or do a little filter work, or shoot at an angle to avoid the melon-colored walls.

You are (whether you know it or not) are walking a thin line ,,, be afraid, be VERY afraid, and try to think of everything that can possibly go wrong. It also helps to have plane tickets out of town on the red-eye following the reception ... in case something screws up, you MAY be able to avoid the Mother's Hitman ... having Dexter on your ass is not a Good Thing.

I won't go into how I would know of these things, but trust me, your worst enemy is a Bride's Mother with Funky Photos if you are the photographer that took 'em.

Good Luck, really, you poor man. 😉

Scott
 
If only we could imbed photos here / link to nudity...things could change 🙂

But I agree, there just aren't that many die-hard photographers in the AT forums.

I think the recent Photoshop tutorials (Odin?) are a great thing, and I think this forum would continue to improve the more constructive it gets.

I know I have a lot to learn still.
 
Originally posted by: ScottMac
Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Originally posted by: ElFenix
i don't comment because i'm too lazy to PP and put stuff up myself. i really just like taking pictures.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:

As much as I sometimes wish I were able to dedicate myself to photography as much as fuzzybabybunny and some others do, in the end it comes down to having other hobbies as well, so I end up shooting in fits and spurts.

In a couple months though you'll all be able to mercilessly critique my feeble attempt at wedding photography. A couple of my friends are getting married and they don't have the money to spend on a professional photographer (pot luck reception, etc) so they drafted me to "do the best I can with what I have". Wish me luck. 😛

ZV
Click to expand...

Find LOTS of redundant equipment, shoot on several cameras, each with several memory cards.

They're all happy & smiling now, but if you shoot everything to one card, and "the dog eats it" they will never talk to you again; they'll take you to court, abuse your small furry animals, debase your entire family for generations.

Weddings are "special" especially the first few tries for either or both of the involved parties. In the vein of "business is business," there are no "friends" in wedding photography, especially if the bride has a Mother. Even if your firends forgive any mistakes, the Bride's Mother will never forgive you, and she's probably old, so everyone else will side with her. They'll all hate you for screwing up her little girl's Most Precious Moment in Her Entire Life (or until she's divorced and re-marrys).

Also, expect as a possibility, that there will be "No Flash Photography" in the church (if it's in a church) ... but while YOU are not allowed (you being the "official " photographer) the friends & family will pop up and flash away (they are forgiven, after all , they are NOT the "official photographer") and screw up any color balancing you may have prepared ahead of time.

Check out the church ahead of time to see what color the walls are ... if they're some goofy color (like a melon yellow or institution puke-green with fluorescent lighting) be prepared to do a little post-production for color correction, or do a little filter work, or shoot at an angle to avoid the melon-colored walls.

You are (whether you know it or not) are walking a thin line ,,, be afraid, be VERY afraid, and try to think of everything that can possibly go wrong. It also helps to have plane tickets out of town on the red-eye following the reception ... in case something screws up, you MAY be able to avoid the Mother's Hitman ... having Dexter on your ass is not a Good Thing.

I won't go into how I would know of these things, but trust me, your worst enemy is a Bride's Mother with Funky Photos if you are the photographer that took 'em.

Good Luck, really, you poor man. 😉

Scott
Click to expand...

They ain't paying me, and I ain't counting the photos as my wedding gift to them. I was very clear that I was doing this only because they had no other option and gave strong recommendations that they hire someone who knew what the hell he was doing.

The positive sides though are that I did the engagement photos of the couple as a favor so they know roughly what to expect and that I don't bother with posed shots because I suck at them. The couple, at least, know that I'm not a pro and I'm not worried about them. They're comfortable with a photojournalistic style. As far as the bride's mother, well, after some of the stories I've heard from the Bride about what her mother has done to her during the planning, I'd be all too happy to tell the mother where she can stuff the photos if she doesn't like them. The Bride would just laugh with me. 😛

More seriously though, I know there are about a billion ways this can go wrong. And I'm aware that it probably will. But hey, if it's not me getting at least _something_, their only other option is whatever photos the guests get from P&S and disposable cameras.

The biggest thing in my favor here is that I'm not dealing with "bridezilla". The Bride is someone who, instead of spending huge amounts of money she didn't have on a wedding bought herself her first car (a 1992 Honda Civic DX, with 211,000 miles) so that she and her fiancee could get to work. Here's to practical women. :beer:

ZV
 
Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Originally posted by: ElFenix
i don't comment because i'm too lazy to PP and put stuff up myself. i really just like taking pictures.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:

As much as I sometimes wish I were able to dedicate myself to photography as much as fuzzybabybunny and some others do, in the end it comes down to having other hobbies as well, so I end up shooting in fits and spurts.

In a couple months though you'll all be able to mercilessly critique my feeble attempt at wedding photography. A couple of my friends are getting married and they don't have the money to spend on a professional photographer (pot luck reception, etc) so they drafted me to "do the best I can with what I have". Wish me luck. 😛

ZV
Click to expand...

Heh, I can dedicated myself to shooting, but I don't have enough time to dedicated to processing. Regular life is too frickin' busy and I'm behind on literally thousands of photos from various trips 🙁
Click to expand...

Ha ha ha...couldn't have said it better myself! I love to shoot (just took nearly 1,000 of the DC cherry blossoms) but my computer has been flakey, thus limiting my post processing abilities. I have never really gotten into PS pics, but trying to learn.

There's also the problem of not enough time in a day...never seem to be able to do everything that I want to do. I wouldn't call the forum dying by any means. The contest, maybe, but this forum is active with lots of good informative posts!
 
Some great stuff here folks, and perhaps something I've learnt from this thread is that if you're a little controversial with your thread, you get the replies 😉

I couldn't agree more on the loving shooting, hating pp thing. but I'll try, ok? 🙂

As far critiquing others is concerned, just do it :beer:

I'd rather a photo I took (especially a contest photo) got savaged by the critics than ignored 🙁
 
Why can't we embed pics. Like every forum on the internet allows it. . .with effective moderation I don't see a problem. In years, I've never seen anything bad on dpreview's forums for example.
 
Originally posted by: ScottMac
Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Originally posted by: ElFenix
i don't comment because i'm too lazy to PP and put stuff up myself. i really just like taking pictures.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:

As much as I sometimes wish I were able to dedicate myself to photography as much as fuzzybabybunny and some others do, in the end it comes down to having other hobbies as well, so I end up shooting in fits and spurts.

In a couple months though you'll all be able to mercilessly critique my feeble attempt at wedding photography. A couple of my friends are getting married and they don't have the money to spend on a professional photographer (pot luck reception, etc) so they drafted me to "do the best I can with what I have". Wish me luck. 😛

ZV
Click to expand...

Find LOTS of redundant equipment, shoot on several cameras, each with several memory cards.

They're all happy & smiling now, but if you shoot everything to one card, and "the dog eats it" they will never talk to you again; they'll take you to court, abuse your small furry animals, debase your entire family for generations.

Weddings are "special" especially the first few tries for either or both of the involved parties. In the vein of "business is business," there are no "friends" in wedding photography, especially if the bride has a Mother. Even if your firends forgive any mistakes, the Bride's Mother will never forgive you, and she's probably old, so everyone else will side with her. They'll all hate you for screwing up her little girl's Most Precious Moment in Her Entire Life (or until she's divorced and re-marrys).

Also, expect as a possibility, that there will be "No Flash Photography" in the church (if it's in a church) ... but while YOU are not allowed (you being the "official " photographer) the friends & family will pop up and flash away (they are forgiven, after all , they are NOT the "official photographer") and screw up any color balancing you may have prepared ahead of time.

Check out the church ahead of time to see what color the walls are ... if they're some goofy color (like a melon yellow or institution puke-green with fluorescent lighting) be prepared to do a little post-production for color correction, or do a little filter work, or shoot at an angle to avoid the melon-colored walls.

You are (whether you know it or not) are walking a thin line ,,, be afraid, be VERY afraid, and try to think of everything that can possibly go wrong. It also helps to have plane tickets out of town on the red-eye following the reception ... in case something screws up, you MAY be able to avoid the Mother's Hitman ... having Dexter on your ass is not a Good Thing.

I won't go into how I would know of these things, but trust me, your worst enemy is a Bride's Mother with Funky Photos if you are the photographer that took 'em.

Good Luck, really, you poor man. 😉

Scott
Click to expand...

I used to read some of the stories posted on a Canon forum awhile back from professional wedding photographers, and it was quite frightening while funny at the same time (because it wasn't me!). While there's plenty of money in wedding photography, the amount of garbage one has to go through to get that money is really not worth it! Now that I've been shooting for a little while, I understand the difficulties much better and can appreciate the expertise it takes to get a portfolio of good shots of an event.

 
Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
More seriously though, I know there are about a billion ways this can go wrong. And I'm aware that it probably will. But hey, if it's not me getting at least _something_, their only other option is whatever photos the guests get from P&S and disposable cameras.
Click to expand...

Some of the most interesting photos we have of my brother's recent wedding are not from the pro photographer they hired. They got some great portraits from him, of course, but the ones that we all laughed at/with are the ones that the little kids took. We gave all of the kids their own disposable camera and told them to go take pictures of anything they wanted to and they actually managed to get some really great shots of the guests and each other simply. People react much differently when a cute little kid is taking the pictures of them instead of an adult they don't know.

Short version: If the venue allows it, take several disposable cameras and pass them out to kids at the reception and tell them to take some fun pictures then give the camera back to you so you can develop the photos.

 
Originally posted by: episodic
Why can't we embed pics. Like every forum on the internet allows it. . .with effective moderation I don't see a problem. In years, I've never seen anything bad on dpreview's forums for example.
Click to expand...

AT hasn't allowed embedded pics as long as i've been here. i don't know whether it did before fusetalk became the forum software. FT allows it, but it's turned off for everyone but the mod account and maybe the admins/forum owners.

i'm not sure whether the software would allow embedded photos in just a single forum. if it's not possible to keep it in just the DVC forum, it's a no go. if it is possible, i'd still probably support a restriction to members with, say, 100+ posts.

assuming those issues can be resolved, then it's a possibility.

FM's rules seem to work well enough.
 
Originally posted by: ElFenix
Originally posted by: episodic
Why can't we embed pics. Like every forum on the internet allows it. . .with effective moderation I don't see a problem. In years, I've never seen anything bad on dpreview's forums for example.
Click to expand...

AT hasn't allowed embedded pics as long as i've been here. i don't know whether it did before fusetalk became the forum software. FT allows it, but it's turned off for everyone but the mod account and maybe the admins/forum owners.

i'm not sure whether the software would allow embedded photos in just a single forum. if it's not possible to keep it in just the DVC forum, it's a no go. if it is possible, i'd still probably support a restriction to members with, say, 100+ posts.

assuming those issues can be resolved, then it's a possibility.

FM's rules seem to work well enough.
Click to expand...

I would want to see the TOS changed if they ever considered embedding.

 
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