ah the penny dropped, was wondering only when it would, fm has recently turned into is a public announcement blog for wedding photographers, blog links to complete weddings using keywords to promote websites etc etc.
It was bound to rank high with search engines and you are bound to be found on the internet eventually.
So you watch what you say and who you say it to, lots of verbal borderline stuff on here lately.
Great post Evan, here's hoping it raises the bar to a civil, democratic, constructive and productively inspiring wedding forum.
I really hate to make any comments to the wedding photogs here. It often turns into some type of argument or name calling or someone wants to be the police. How many brides are so fat and wear sleeveless dresses that you cannot even use the pics as samples? Too many to count. Sugar coat that or better yet; Photoshop that.
What is with this lens flare anyway? Too many bad zoom lenses used in difficult lighting situations? Or, the BG profile double portrait with one of them highly out of focus that one of them looks terrible? What is with taking a pic at the reception of a smiling bride but someone is in the foreground out of focus ruining the shot? Critique yourself first.
While important for everyone, this is especially relevant to those who have their *personal name* or *business name* as their forum handle.
The last thing anyone needs is for their personal or business name getting indexed by Google and having it point back to some trashy, classless post they made on an internet forum.
I really believe that most of the folks in here are decent, helpful, awesome individuals.... and most of the recent issues have been more a case of momentary lapses of situational awareness than people intentionally making inappropriate comments.
Again, no one is suggesting that you don't critique (or critique hard!), just be clear that you're addressing the photographic techniques in the image.
I've been on this board for more than a bit, and despite a few failings, I still believe its the best place on the 'net for wedding photographers.
Tony Hoffer wrote:
A very good reminder. I've had a few people find out about this place and specifically ask not to post their pics cause they don't want to hear the responses... Kinda stinks, but it's true.
I can imagine that if we all play by the rules then maybe less people would be scared, but I can totally understand them not wanting people commenting about their wedding or images. I didn't think about that till just now after you brought this up.
