What is a "Gallery"

[Byuphoto]

If I am not mistaken the purpose of this forum is to discuss the use of Rf cameras and not the collection. If we do not have photos then it is all about the equipment. If it is all about the cameras then it should be a collectors site and we could all buy Leicas and pat each other on the back and say we have attained nirvana. but since it is not and we don't all use Leicas then we should be using the camera. I like to post and I like to look at photos. I am a professional photographer, but in weddings/portraits, this stuff is for fun. BTW I do not participate in any wedding/portrait forums. I also do not need critique unless I ask. The only photos I am worried about are my studio/weddings and I do not need to be told what I should have done when I just sold $700 to the brides family. I come here to learn about fascinating old machined beauties and to be with others that appreciate fine craftsmanship. But I do not buy anything I will not use. I post in other forums that allow more discussion and it is always fun to read the reactions when they find it was taken with a 40 year old $40 camera

 

[nomade]

I agree with Todd, although i'm not posting or uploading recent photos (scanner leakage), but what's crap and what's not is a matter of what u finbd interesting, a very good point there mate...

I know people who can say that the 2% u think good is total crap and the 98% is the good work...

So i think if people need to be more carefull uploading pics, or that some people find it hard to browze a big gallery where each one uploads too mch photos, u can pout some limits, this way people can rotate the collection, and choose the best to upload, of coure the best for them...

 

[Byuphoto]

PS i had never heard of a bottom feeder till Joe told me about them.

 

[julianphotoart]

This is a great, spirited thread, regardless of whose side you're on. I hope I'm not too late to give my 2 cents.

This sort of discussion would get sorted out much better in person; such are the limitations of computer communication.

The various points of view are well stated. No right or wrong answer. No one will be happy with any particular direction.

I like the Gallery. Yet, I hate wading through dross, including my own. It probably is 99.9% crap but on the other hand everyone's opinion of crap is different and even someone's artistic crap can speak to me in some fashion -- if only to tell me where I should holiday next year.

Having said all this namby-pamby stuff, it would sure be refreshing if people could bluntly state their opinion about gallery postings. And it would be nice if people took it as "opinion" and not as fact. Not to get too new-agey about things but there's a saying that "if someone hurts you, pay them". In other words, if you say something that I feel hurt by, then it's my issue not yours.

 

[back alley]

Should we hold the forum in the same regard as the gallery, littered with meaningless dribble and "OT" posts by many who are just trying to pad thier post count???


i feel the need to say something here...but i'm not sure what that should be...

 

[kbg32]

Well put Todd. I find myself too new here to absolutely speak my mind.

Keith

 

[Todd.Hanz]

Well put Todd. I find myself too new here to absolutely speak my mind.

Keith

the great thing about this place is you "can" speak your mind, no restrictions on how long you've been a member...yet 😉


Todd

 

[Little Prince]

I feel compelled to say a few things too. But mostly in a humorous vein. I have a horrible headache today and will revisit this post when it goes away. Until then, "politeness is the new brutality" is a gem from Bill that people might have fun pondering over 🙂 . Love that sarcasm. Keep it flowing 😀 .

 

[jan normandale]

well , Bill is frustrated and sez so, Roman likes the open-ness and is right to like it. Joe wants constructive criticism, Bertram wants to see some improvement in the quality of photos posted, dmr436 is positive about our reticence.

Me. I'm gonna go into crop rotation. Bury/burn the last years stubble and get ready for new green spring grass to come up thru the burn.

cheers Jan

BTW I have had one comment on my photos out of about 10 which was negative I think. I can live with that.

 

[Roman]

Someone said we should require those who post in the gallery to participate in the forum, this would eliminate two of the best photographers the gallery has, Peter and Graski, both of whom post little in the forum but choose to speak volumes with thier images.

Just in case that this someone was me, I'd agree with you - but then, I would not consider these two (and a few similar ones) as members not participating - sure, they do not post regularly in threads - maybe they are not interested in gear talk, maybe they don't consider their English good enough, whatever - but they do still participate in that they regularly, consistently post a few good shots, over a long time, and do react to questions and comments about the pics (which are some of my favorite ones, BTW); that's different from registering, posting 30 pointless pics once, and never again, and mostly without even any comment about the pics - those were the non-participants I meant!

Roman

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Obviously there is no concensus as to what a "gallery" is, and you could go on debating this until you turn poiple ("purple", for the uninitiated).

A solution, of course, would be to create two photo upload areas: a Gallery, and an Album. The Album would be the "multipurpose" one. The Gallery would be, well, that which those of us who know what the difference between a photo album and a photo gallery is, is.

 

[Todd.Hanz]

I see your point Roman.

Todd

 

[Roman]

Betram,
I don't consider it a bad thing if photos are critiqued, rather to the contrary, it is always good to get some feedback.
It's just that looking for critiques & comments for the pics that you consider your best ones, for me is not the only reason to post them in the gallery; different people post for different reasons, and as long as this freedom is not abused, there should be nothing wrong with that. And I think 99% of all members would not mind to get even a negative comment (provided it is worded in the friendly tone most of us like RFF for) - evne if they were not looking for it when posting. Does this make sense?

Roman

 

[hoot]

looking for critiques & comments for the pics that you consider your best ones, for me is not the only reason to post them in the gallery; different people post for different reasons, and as long as this freedom is not abused, there should be nothing wrong with that.

Agreed, but let's take it a step further. Just as different people post different images in the gallery for different reasons, so different people surf the gallery for different reasons. (My own reason for visiting the gallery is usually because I want to see beautiful, inspiring photographs). I think that dividing the gallery into clear-cut categories (e.g.: vacation and family snaps / equipment shots and technical demonstrations / "serious" photos I want serious critiques on - or perhaps just "Album" and "Gallery", as Gabriel has just suggested) would make surfing the gallery a more pleasant, more time-saving, and less frustrating experience.

Additionally, I think it would make sense to make the equipment photos and technical demonstrations searchable; i.e., by camera, lens, developer etc. Say you want to know what photos taken with a 50mm Summilux look like - just search the gallery or follow the directories.

 

[Bertram2]

Betram,
different people post for different reasons,
Roman

Obviously yes! And my question was if all the reasons are congruent with the idea of a "gallery" in the traditional sense we all know.
All pros ,who run their own website follow this principle of taking the best only, it's their business card so to say. And most of the really good amateurs i know follow this idea too, they spent MUCH more time in chosing the right one than shooting the pics itself. And the better they are the more time they need btw !!

My question could have been in other words if the RFF gallery is less worth , don't we have the same obligation to quality as we had on our own sites ?Can you post here whatever you want, from whatever reason you have ?
At the time it runs exactly this way but my perception is that this does no good to the technical and artistic communication which is somehow paralized by a kind of inflation.

And i suggested, as a way to escape this inflation and the downfall of communication, to install a critique forum for all those, who consider response to be important for their further personal development of craft and art. NO MATTER HOW GOOD OR BAD THEIR PICS ARE !! Excuse me raising my voice, i hope even all those got me now who keep me as an elitist stuffed shirt because i say there is an inflation of quality going on in the RFF gallery. All I have learned about photography I have learned by watching photos .

I just asked for opinion , and now i got them and have to make my personal conclusions.

Leaving aside the critique forum idea which does not seem to be very popular,
meanwhile I would suggest to limit the posts to one pic per day. This would force some to post the very best at first and maybe, after 10 days going back and forth which would be best next they would hopefully abstain from the last 20 they have got still in the pipeline of originally 30 they had at the beginning.
A reduction of 66,6 % ! 🙂 That should help for awhile to keep the server running.

Best regards,
Bertram

 

[Bertram2]

I shoot images of what "I" find interesting, I don't think about Bmattock, Bertram or anyone else before pushing the shutter (sorry guys!).

I value the gallery because it shows the end product of our gear,
Todd

Todd,
no, not sorry, not that easy. I must tell you I find this remark pretty violating. It implies I want you to make to think about my quality standards before you shoot and makes me look as an sour-faced self taught art teacher who wants to teach this community manors. How did I earn THAT ?

And let me tell you your remark about the "result of your gear "was surprising for me too. I always thought our photos were the result of our passion, an expression of our emotions, catching a slice of life or what else on could say.
But a result of your gear ??? Does that mean your gallery is a sample of test shots only ? Do you post pics only to show how the XY lens works ? I f so I can understand why the whole discussion sounds strange to you.

Bertram

 

[Hektor]

How about admin allocates enough space for everyone to upload 3 pics, you can say a lot with 3 good pics. - Then if some people want to upload more, well ok but only while some others are not using their allocated 3-space. - Then if space is filling up with the takeup of the initial 3-space, the people with excess over 3 get their excess over 3 auto-bumped off, without reference.

They dont complain 'cause more than 3 is only a concession while others are not using their 3, and them's the rules !

IS THIS FEASABLE ?

 

[back alley]

did i mention that i really dislike rules?

and capital letters, i really hate capital letters.

i think it's time for our nightly prozak, glass of wine or brandy, whatever works for you all,
our gallery is not hurting anyone.
like tv we can choose to watch or not, change the channel or not...

joe

 

[RayPA]

The problem I have with the supposition you put forth, Bertam, is the idea that members aren't posting their "best" stuff. It is a somewhat elitist position to take a broad swipe and discount everything as dross, for whatever reason, quantitative or otherwise. BTW, I happen to think the quantitative issue, and the resulting limitation, is a direct result of an increase in membership (more people, more photos), and not a blindly foolish flood of worthless images. Ownership of this board made a push to increase membership and was successful.

If you're hung up on the semantics of the word Gallery, then maybe it's time for you to revisit the concept. The web, like money, changes everything, including our traditional concept of a gallery. I like our gallery here, but it's not an ideal place to feature work and it pales in comparison to some websites I've seen where the artist has taken the time and care to present their images. I think even a site like pbase has more to offer along the lines of gallery-type presentation. Here we all have the same format which is cluttered with text, graphic elements, and icons, etc.

If honest critiquing is the answer to the preceived quality issue, then by all means lead by example.

I'm finding it really hard to swallow your argument. I'm all in favor of the "crop" rotation method and both daily and gallery size limitations.

 

[dmr]

did i mention that i really dislike rules?

Yes, thank you! I was waiting for somebody (other than me) 🙂 to say that!

Hey, we had one abuser - and it took me a while to find it - and now we have all kinds of proposals which burden not the abuser, but those who don't abuse. IMAO, clearly a reaction to an incident and not an action to a need.

Fix the problem - you did it - but don't fix what ain't broke.

Rules and formality will only discourage the non-abusers from uploading -- uploading the photos I want to see when I click on the gallery, and yes, I enjoy seeing a couple pages of fresh shots, even if they're not all prizewinners.

Okay, I'll shut up. 🙂