Growing as a photographer: Do forums help?

[Leigh Youdale]

Forums (and RFF in particular) are a very good source of help and information that would otherwise be undiscoverable or at least require a lot more digging and research.
But it's a two sided coin and there are some very opinionated photographers here, the work of several not supporting the strength of their assertions.
Some are even inclined to a certain amount of hyperbole - even impolite in moments of stress.
So you just have to be careful and use judgement whom you take notice of!
Other photographic forums are not immune to this either, but the opinions tend to be less strenuously offered.
On another front, forums can be a distraction and, like any internet community, can chew up large amounts of times when it feels like you're "doing photography" but in fact you'd be much better advised to turn off the computer and get out with your camera.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Forums (and RFF in particular) are a very good source of help and information that would otherwise be undiscoverable or at least require a lot more digging and research.
But it's a two sided coin and there are some very opinionated photographers here, the work of several not supporting the strength of their assertions.
Some are even inclined to a certain amount of hyperbole - even impolite in moments of stress.
So you just have to be careful and use judgement whom you take notice of!
Other photographic forums are not immune to this either, but the opinions tend to be less strenuously offered.
On another front, forums can be a distraction and, like any internet community, can chew up large amounts of times when it feels like you're "doing photography" but in fact you'd be much better advised to turn off the computer and get out with your camera

Dear Leigh,

Not at five past nine on a chilly winter's night! Yes, I know it's spring for you buggers, but not here.

Actually, most of today has been spent matting and framing an exhibition for Frances in a small local venue next week.

And (as inherent in your post on deciding whom to notice) there are different flavours of 'opinionated'. There's 'opinionated and makes you think' as well as 'opinionated and pig-ignorant' and even 'opinionated and appears to have an idea, occasionally, of what he is talking about'.

Cheers,

R.

 

[monochromejrnl]

grow how? yes if it means access to more information but it's up to the individual be able to decipher the signal from the noise...

lots of knowledgeable people on this and other forums and even more opinionated folks however, let's not mistaken knowledge and opinions for experience and skill..

I've generally learned more by doing than by reading but YMMV.

 

[Tompas]

There are a lot of very good photographers around here on RFF, showing some of their images in the gallery and sometimes sharing some of their know-how in the forums. One can definitely learn from them.

But don't spend so much time here that you have no time left to photograph. 😉

 

[Jason Sprenger]

Forums are great for finding answers via search and for understanding "the community" of photographers on-line, the pro's, the artists, the amateurs, and the gadflies.

They're diverting but once you feel you've gone through a cycle of the usual messages and they're repeating themselves, you've graduated and it's time to move your attention elsewhere. For a forum is about photography, but it isn't photography itself.

In one's odd moments, as an effective alumnus, it's useful to check-in at the alma mater to stay current with what people are doing, because things do change, but relevant change isn't as fast folks would try to sell to you.

It's the same with galleries. While you're inspired by them they're useful, when it's the same old stuff, better to attend to something else to keep your creativity going somewhere productive.

 

[Steveh]

I love RFF and it's the only forum I really spend time on, so this is more about RFF than forums in general, but on balance I think it has probably hindered me more than it has helped me.

Before I found RFF I had a Nikon D80 and a couple of lenses for "serious" shooting, and a Fuji Digicam I used to take everywhere with me. I took lots of shots I and other people who saw them online really liked.

Since I discovered this site I've bought, and sold again, two Leica M6s, two contax G1s, two or three (each!) Olympus OMs and Nikon FE(2)s, a Mamiya 645, a Mamiya C330, assorted OM and M mount lenses and a Coolscan V ED - and that doesn't even count all the cameras I still own. I've had fun processing 35mm and 120 in all kinds of different developers. But if I'm brutally honest with myself I've probably taken less than 10 (certainly less than 20) really good photos with all of those cameras put together, and I've spent way too much time mesing about with equipment, film scanning, developing etc. when I could have been out trying to make compelling images.

That's the GAS angle which lots of people here are familiar with - but I also think there's a "groupthink" on RFF in terms of what kinds of images are worthwhile that can be very seductive but quite limiting. The thread a few weeks ago the mods locked after 6 pages of people claiming that various teenagers who were shooting ad campaigns at 17 and/or had a squillion followers on Flickr weren't talented sticks in my mind as the most absurd recent manifestation of that kind of mindset.

All of that said, this is still by far the best photography related forum I've found, and incomparably better and more interesting than DPreview and the like - but can anyone recommend a forum that's JUST about images? Does such a thing even exist, or do forums always end up being mainly about equipment?

 

[M4cr0s]

Forums can be great fun...and source of great frustration 😀

I've always been one to read myself to knowledge, ever since I was a kid. It's one of my most preferred methods of acquiring knowledge. You have to filter though, and forum-reading gets tedious. However I would never have learned so much about photography if I hadn't been spending a lot of time on forums. Clearly you reach a saturation point where're your gettin' kinda full of it. You've seen all the threads before, the questions and the endless repetition of the same arguments. You have to wade through loads of uninteresting stuff before you find something remotely useful or interesting.

These days I feel I get more out of shootin', but I still have periodical spells of forum activity when the weather is bad, doing research or I got time to kill. Forums can be entertainment too and a break from the TV or photo editing.

I like the RF forums, although shooting RFs is not what I do most. There's some really good discussions here and point of views one don't see at the more gear centric techie forums. Not that RFers aren't gear centric, I mean owning more than two different 50mm's for the same mount might be a borderline compulsive/obsessive disorder 😉 At least the odd philosophical/ethical thread pops up, or photographers are being discussed. Very enjoyable at times!


Mac

 

[FrankS]

Forums, camera clubs, books and magazines can only take you so far. Talking about photography will only take you so far. There may be mentors along the way, but it is a solitary/individual journey of creative growth by doing and experimenting, IMO.

 

[peterm1]

I don't find they help much although in general I enjoy them and enjoy the opportunity to share my work and observe others' work.

But even though I like looking at others work, in terms of photographic inspiration / learning from others I find too many people who contribute to most forums are either set in their ways photographically ("I only do street photography because thats the only way to use a rangefinder"), obessed with their equipment (or the equipment they lust after) or worse still are pixel peepers - who have a particularly odd form of obessive-compulsive disorder. I know that sounds harsh but you asked for the truth.

I do enjoy the social aspects though and the kibbitzing opportunities that affords, even though as another poster said there are also inevitably a few extremely over opinionated people who believe they have all the answers and then proceed to try to ram them down your neck.

I find more actual learning and development comes from looking to photo books, a few blogs and a few high quality magazines for inspiration.

 

[Mackinaw]

Are forums helpful for photography? Generally no, unless you have questions specifically related to gear.

If you want to learn about picture taking, forget the forums and look at the gallery. There you can find inspiration.

Jim B.

 

[ferider]

They teach you about focus shift and DOF of cropped sensors.

🙂

 

[excellent]

Absolutely, RFF and its members helped me greatly.

 

[peter_n]

I've found PN, the LUF and here great for helping to sort the convoluted issue of what RF lenses to buy, but only the galleries are helpful in growth. I depend more on shooting, exhibits and books. I recently posted about the 1982 book Walker Evans at Work in the library additions thread; now there's something that helped me grow as a photographer!

 

[ricnak]

I am new to rangefinders.

This forum has helped me BIG TIME. I like the forum, I like the gallery. I find inspiration all around.

I see myself with a photo hobby rather than as a photographer (even after all the expense!). This is a nice place to be a fly on the wall.

Cheers
'
Helen

 

[Ezzie]

50/50 I'd say. The RFF as a whole including gallery, helps me quite a bit. I pick up bits and pieces on other forums, and from books and magazines too. There are just some things that you don't know that you don't know. But the more I shoot the more I learn. And to be quite honest, its more fun.

 

[Richard G]

Yes, helps even the photographic output. I've learnt more about the properties of the different film types and how this should affect choice of exposure than I did from my Dad's friends or from books, and even my return to film was largely on account of the forums. RFF is the richest and most generous of those I've sampled. Seeing others' photographs makes me think about what I might try, and the quality on offer is high. But it's true, getting out and shooting is the key.

 

[exiled4979]

Have forums helped you grow as a photographer?

Where have they helped, how long for and have they ever hindered?

Do you think forums can help a photographer reach dizzy heights, or are forums and true, noteworthy excellence in the field mutually exclusive?

I guess that it's really up to a photographer, you can either find information yourself, compare tons of images, do this and that, or you can always ask if someone had same idea/problem and get a quick answer.

I'd always suggest to someone who is just starting with photography to join forums and communities, it helps to have someone to give you advise and direction in crucial times, but with time people mostly start doing everything the way they want, or like, so advises aren't really that important.

Except when it comes to gear and buying, then they always come in handy 🙂

funny thing is, I just wrote something on my blog on connecting with others as part of a learning curve 🙂

 

[Ti29er]

An interesting distraction for a working photographer and a sounce of information.

I don't grow though these web forums, and some a pretty dire, sucking in the would-be professional (please Sir, please Sir) into their web of competitions and mentoring to the point that immersion becomes complete within two or three months.

I learnt from glossy magazines, truth be told. Photography too! 😉

Tim

 

[tapesonthefloor]

This: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1477342&postcount=16

 

[nikon_sam]

This one has helped me fine tune some things...
I have become more thoughtful in my film developing routine...plus I have gotten away from the normal chemicals I have used most of my life...having a open mind and experimenting with different things (film, cameras, chemicals...) have come easier when you're able to talk with others who have gone before you...