Agilehound
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 p.2 #3 · Your Favorite Photo Forums? | |
What do you think makes a forum a nice place.
Interesting / inspiring photography. An active forum - I only post photos where I kind of "keep track" of them and I won't remember to visit a forum once/week to see if anyone's out there. If no one responds, why bother posting? Members that know how to give and receive an honest critique.
What have you seen that works or does not work?
Forums with "greats" that are above CC. They usually have a large fan of hero worshipers (for good reason, they're usually very good) but almost always it seems to turn into a secret backlash rising of people who don't enjoy their work. When someone dares to give CC to the current hero, it almost always turns into a fight with people defending both sides . . . nobody, I mean NOBODY should be above CC. Perfection does not exist, unless the only person meant to view the picture is yourself and you think it's perfect.
OTOH, no one is hoping to get zinged here & it when only the faults of an image and none of the strengths are pointed out - it doesn't feel good. People have feelings. There is something good in nearly every image, and people wouldn't put the image here if they felt it had absolutely no merit. Take a second to recognize the effort, we're all in this together and the person you help or encourage today may be the person who is there for you tomorrow.
How did you find the experience at those forums to be different from one another?
Problem solving seems to vary by forum . . . some forums want to throw more gear at a problem. Others will avoid a particular lighting situation all together, and still others don't see that as a problem at all. I've gotten very different feedback on the same images, depending on the culture I post in. I came back here after being gone for several years because I wanted a different perspective / skill set giving me feedback. It's really interesting to see how it varies.
WHY do you think that happens?
Part of it is Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.  There is a heavy lean towards studio lighting here (so it seems to me) vs where I usually hang out studio is not the norm at all . . . when a plumber has a problem, they're going to look in their existing toolbox first to find a solution.
IF you did not join one of those forums, WHY?
If I feel there's too many creepy people on there urging each other on to create soft core porn . . . I move on. That's not my thing, nor is my interest theirs. If it's too slow, I don't bother. If it's primarily landscape/nature - I move on. If I spend a few days lurking and don't see anything at all that inspires me - I go. As selfish as it sounds, I want to hang out with people who are better than me, so I can learn from them.
IF you did join at one time and left it, WHY?
Lack of response on multiple threads is a big one. Everyone posts clunkers now & then, that's to be expected, but in general I don't type for the joy of hearing my fingers click the keys. If no one's interested in what I have to offer - off I go.
IF you did not post your own photos there, WHY?
I am very very serious about getting good at this someday. I can read all the theory in the world but until I see my work through someone else's eyes, well, I'm how on earth do I know I'm getting where I want to be? So I always post photos, there is no better way to get where I want to go.
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