What is Lightstalkers?

Seems to be a decided lack of pontificating, navel-gazing "which of my 348 50mm lenses will give me the best bokeh????" type of threads by people who should just get outside more often there...I'm just sayin'.
 
LS is a community of photojournalists who discuss mostly issues related to the practice of photojournalism. Very little talk about cameras / equipment. Very interesting and useful site if you work in the field. You can find snooty people on any forum.

There is no obsessive camera or gear talk in LS. No one really cares about the difference in the out of focus rendering between one lens or another, folks are too busy taking pictures, meeting deadlines, dealing with questions of access, travel problems, copyright issues, etc.
 
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I tried joining and was rejected. Even though I have a PJ background I think my current entertainment industry status prevented me from being eligible (good enough) to join.
 
Just tried logging in and apparently I've been a member since November 11th, 2008. Not that I've ever visited much.
 
leicashot, don't feel too badly. I looked over a few threads there, and noticed a name of a guy who was banned from the forums of a national photojournalists' organization here.
Abrasive loudmouthed jerk, and his work was extremely pedestrian and weak...all yap and no shoot, basically.

It's always nice getting recognition from others, of course, but don't hinge too much of your identity upon others -- sometimes things aren't always what they seem!
 
I joined LS to participate in the discussion of the titling of Michael Reichman's 'Lolita' photograph.
Apparently they were right and I was wrong.
 
Colin Corneau said:
leicashot, don't feel too badly. I looked over a few threads there, and noticed a name of a guy who was banned from the forums of a national photojournalists' organization here.
Abrasive loudmouthed jerk, and his work was extremely pedestrian and weak...all yap and no shoot, basically.

It's always nice getting recognition from others, of course, but don't hinge too much of your identity upon others -- sometimes things aren't always what they seem!
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Oh don't worry i'm not offended nor disappointed. I'm happy with this forum of great people.
 
different crowd entirely. take a look at the board of novembereleven.org (organization of which lightstalkers is part of), some serious hitters there who walk the walk.

yes there can be some pettiness and there's usually very little mod interference ( if there are any mods at all) so threads can go OT quickly but that doesn't happen very much anymore, thankfully. the level of discourse can be quite engaging and well thought out which makes it a daily site for me.

where rff members tend to ask about cases and lenses, LSers will ask about on the ground working conditions etc in developing countries or they offer recommendations on fixers etc.. I'm very glad it's around and like rff, there's a definite sense of community there and that is the most important aspect of LS for me.
 
leicashot said:
I thought it must have been my poor work, but now that you mention it....:rolleyes:

I just tried 'enrolling' again to see what happens
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Just a thought that has little to do with the topic at hand but you might want to consider getting rid of the music on your site or at least turn it off by default.
 
But I thought there were almost no working photojournalists left? At least in the grand Magnum/Life tradition.

I mean I know a lot of people claim to be photojournalists but they don't make a living from the journalistic aspect of their photography...
 
leicashot said:
I tried joining and was rejected. Even though I have a PJ background I think my current entertainment industry status prevented me from being eligible (good enough) to join.
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Leicashot PM me with your portfolio what I've seen of your work your more than welcome to join.


Frank Petronio said:
But I thought there were almost no working photojournalists left? At least in the grand Magnum/Life tradition.

I mean I know a lot of people claim to be photojournalists but they don't make a living from the journalistic aspect of their photography...
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LS is probably the last bastion of people who do fit that description.

It is an exclusive-ish community oif people who work fulltime as photographers/journalists etc, its invite only because a lot of picture desks and editors will look to LS when their regulars can't take a job, its a forum for advice on things that don't happen in the rest of the world, the gear talk is more likely to be 'what vest will protect best againt a 9mm shot' than what lens to use.

Yes there are some ego's on the site, and a lot of cynics but its a great resurce to discuss the issues that are well outside the scope of the 'real world' such as BP vests, embedding procedures, how not to get shot at Israeli checkpoints etc.
 
Did you have an invitation from an existing member? IIRC, originally anyone could join, but they later made it into an invitation-only site.

leicashot said:
I tried joining and was rejected. Even though I have a PJ background I think my current entertainment industry status prevented me from being eligible (good enough) to join.
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