What’s Your Preference?

jiminyClickit · #1 (**permalink**) 10-24-2007, 12:22 PM

As if I had gone to sleep like Rip van Winkle, and awoke long after, that member number has turned over faster than I can believe. Since the last few thousand have zipped by almost before comment, I'm wondering what this means to each of you, new or seasoned member.

It certainly has increased the variety of photos presented, while perhaps shortening the time available to comment on each one.

Have you found the increase to be helpful? Are there drawbacks? If so, how would you resolve them? Have you found yourself doing things differently?

wulf · #2 (**permalink**) 10-24-2007, 01:15 PM

When I saw the title, I thought it meant that you had passed the 7,000 posts threshold... that milestone won't be long

Wulf

Saralonde · #3 (**permalink**) 10-24-2007, 01:35 PM

Remember celebrating 1000 and 2000? Now I'm waiting for the 10,000 mark

!

Changes for me personally? I used to read every post. A week on vacation this summer put an end to that. Now it is much harder to keep up with everything and I find occassional posts that get lost in the shuffle. "Critique My Shot" is a particularly difficult one to keep up with.

I do find that with more people there are more opinions and more knowledge to spread around. I don't think a day goes by where I don't learn something new or learn to think of something in a fresh way.

wulf · #4 (**permalink**) 10-24-2007, 01:52 PM

I think the biggest problem of getting larger is that you don't get the same chance to build a sense of relationship with other people on the site. For example, there was a time when I probably read every single one of Jiminy's postings but I suspect I miss some of them now.

All in all though, I think it is positive to have a constant stream of new people and a good number who stick around. Even with larger numbers, there is still a sense of getting to know people while fresh faces mean that the site doesn't get bogged down with in-jokes that put newcomers off.

Wulf

Teewinot · #5 (**permalink**) 10-24-2007, 03:28 PM

...what Saralonde said...

Actually I too used to read most every post, but after my month-long vacation in August and the recent surge in members, it became too difficult to keep up. So what do I do differently now? I have regular threads I always post to (e.g. assignments, wwyd, weekly polls, etc.), but for the rest, I try to focus on threads that have gotten little or no replies as a general rule of thumb.

Congrats DPS!

TW1NS · #6 (**permalink**) 10-24-2007, 03:44 PM

as a fairly new member - the trend I have noticed, is that you will find people that find the forum, get excited, hang back for a bit, and then jump in to varying degrees...i have noticed that a few members will post 5 or 6 pics in succession wanting critiques, don't get a response and then they fade away slowly into the night....personally, i don't feel I have the expertise to comment on many pics, post about 1 or 2 pics every two weeks...read alot about post processing and get alot of great ideas from the assignments and have viewed so many great pics...the increasing number of DSLR's being sold is astounding and I foresee the sight reaching 10,000 very fast.

wulf · #7 (**permalink**) 10-24-2007, 03:58 PM

I think you can learn a lot more by figuring out how to offer constructive comments on other people's pictures than just throwing up a lot of your own for others to talk about. The reason is that the former action forces you think critically (even if you end up not posting anything), making you better able to critique your own work on the fly, whereas the latter can throw up all sorts of excellent responses that "go in one ear and out the other).

I check the site frequently. If there are a lot of new posts, I tend to skim through and only check the ones I have already been involved in (hightlighted in green), although I also use the RSS feed option to provide an easy way to at least glance at the first post of every new thread (not least so I can jump on oversize pictures and squash them down to size

)

Wulf

clockdoc · #8 (**permalink**) 10-24-2007, 06:01 PM

I personally appreciate the wide range of experience levels represented in the group as well as the broad spectrum of cameras used to make the photos we see posted. I am happy to help anyone in any way I can but I must admit that I tend to shy away from those members who flood the Critique pages with many shotsof the same subject. I often will look for those postings that have few or no comments to see if there is a way I can encourage them. It saddens me to read comments that some members feels they need the "latest and greatest" equipment to make a good photograph. We often forget about becoming students of "light" when we are so busy being students of photography. Growth is good, I just hope I can keep up. 8-)

Jamesc359 · #9 (**permalink**) 10-24-2007, 07:52 PM

I think growth is a good thing, but sometimes I do feel that this place moves to fast. I'm one of those new guys, so I'm a contributer to that myself. I always try to checkout and reply to as many topics that I can provide a relevant reply to, but sometimes it's just a little to much. Especially when I'd rather be taking photos!

Quote:

Originally Posted by clockdoc

It saddens me to read comments that some members feels they need the "latest and greatest" equipment to make a good photograph. We often forget about becoming students of "light" when we are so busy being students of photography.

I totally agree myself. Except I usually find it more annoying than saddening. I often close the tab when I stumble upon a topic that the poster is whining about not having a better camera and how their picture would be so much better if they did. Even worse is when it becomes apparent they haven't even read their camera's manual. How can anybody expect to even begin to learn the operations of a DSLR when they can't even take the time to learn how to use the point and shoot they already have?

Nicole · #10 (**permalink**) 10-24-2007, 08:08 PM

I miss some of our older members who don't post as much any more

Either that or I don't see the posts as often because of how fast the forum moves. But like wulf said, you don't get to build up that same relationship with people with as many people, so you do what you can.

I find myself agreeing with Clockdoc and Jamesc about how gear doesn't necessarily make a better photographer (granted, sometimes you hit limits, but there are often ways to work with those). I think that too often DIY gear is underrated because it's not the best and most flash. But that's really just a tangent because of the last few posts

But really... 7,000 members is a lot of people to bake for

(Mike, Dave, Jim... you'll know what I'm talking about)