who would join forum?

back alley

back alley

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a slightly twisted question...perhaps?

i'm wondering if photographers like hcb or weston or smith would join a forum if they were available to them?
would they spend their time chatting with the likes of us or be more productive by being 'out there' shooting?

any thoughts?
 
My gut reaction on reading this was to think 'absolutely not' - they'd be out there shooting. But then I thought again, and I suppose it really depends on whether they were 'forum type guys' or not. Some photographers are, some aren't ........

John
 
Leonardo would, he was very communicative.
Johannes Kepler, too.
And Copernicus, of course.
Ms. Merian certainly too.
And many others.
Alas, they didn't know of photography...

Back to the present:
There are very competent photographers and authors who have actually joined this forum here.
 
Are there any present or in the last 10 years that have joined forums that were super well known photographers? I don't know of any but this is my only place. John Sexton, McKenna, Butcher, Birnbalm, Ralph Gibson (more than a few misspelled)? are they on forums?
 
back alley said:
a slightly twisted question...perhaps?

i'm wondering if photographers like hcb or weston or smith would join a forum if they were available to them?
would they spend their time chatting with the likes of us or be more productive by being 'out there' shooting?

any thoughts?
Click to expand...

It is impossible to know of course, but it is my understanding that at certain times in history, well-known photographers gathered together in various ways to socialize, share information, talk about new gear, new methods, support each other, fight duels, critique each other's work, and so on.

It wasn't just photographers. I have read a lot about the famous artists and writers who gathered in and around Paris and New York in the 1920s, for the same reasons.

At the amateur level, camera clubs and societies filled that role pretty admirably, with camera magazines and letters-to-the-editor for shut ins and people in small towns without a cadre of shutterbugs.

What might not have happened is that the hoi polloi would not have rubbed shoulders with the famous and noted photographers. A person such as myself, for example, would not have been permitted to blow raspberries towards HCB, or even some of our more well-known members. Not that this stops me.

As a person who once ran a computer BBS in the early days of personal computers, long before this internet thing, I can say that people like to get together and chat. It seems to be a popular pastime. And birds of a feather flock together.
 
charjohncarter said:
Are there any present or in the last 10 years that have joined forums that were super well known photographers? I don't know of any but this is my only place. John Sexton, McKenna, Butcher, Birnbalm, Ralph Gibson (more than a few misspelled)? are they on forums?
Click to expand...

If they were, they'd be clever not to say so.
 
I think it would depend upon how sociable the individual photographer was, as well as whether s/he wanted to share his/her knowledge with amateurs and aspiring pros and if s/he determined this the best way to accomplish it.


My thanks to the accomplished photographers, both amateur and professional, who contribute to this forum.


- Murray
 
Nick Brandt talked a bit about his technique in a photo.net posting a few years ago in response to some typically idiotic forum blather:

nick Brandt , Feb 23, 2006; 12:00 a.m.
A friend told me about this thread. Reading through it, I felt compelled to address some of the questions and many inaccuracies!

Firstly, 90% of my photos are taken from the safety of a vehicle. Only the chimps and one special herd of giraffes are photographed on foot. Neither I nor anyone else could ever get this close to wild animals any other way. Forget about safety - most of the animals would run away (and a few would attack).

Secondly, the depth of field issue. I'll say it categorically - NONE of the depth of field thing is done in Photoshop - it is all done in camera. You could not get those focal planes shifting in focus in the same plane in the way that they do in Photoshop and expect it to look like this. Don Satalic is soooo wrong. Oh, and I don't use soft focus lenses. Don't even know what they are. The longest lens I own and use is a 200mm. Great lens. Tried the 300 once and hated it. Too conventional. So yes, I am close, but safe.

All anyone really needs to know is that I work in a very very impractical way - very manually - and lose a crazy number of potentially great shots with all the faffing around I do. But I do it because occasionally something great comes out of such impractical methods. My friend Rocky Schenck taught me not to reveal my trade secrets some time ago. As for my EX-SF dealer's comments, I don't know where that came from.

Grading - I nearly always use a heavy ND grad for the sky, and often a red filter, to get the sky dark. But there is significant grading done in Photoshop - the vignetting is invariably photoshop - I'm a sucker for it.

Okay, so if anyone is still reading this thread, there you go.

PS What is a 'bokeh'?
 
Soooo, none of them ever sat around a Paris Cafe, desert bar, Yosemite Valley or brothel and chatted...???
 
That question would be answered by how many big name or high level photographers are on forums right now. As for the old guard, I suspect most of them would be too busy shooting and working to be talking shop with a bunch of amateurs.


There was, rather famously, that time when Seal turned up on RFF with a digital Leica, and no one believed it was him!
 
Archiver said:
That question would be answered by how many big name or high level photographers are on forums right now. As for the old guard, I suspect most of them would be too busy shooting and working to be talking shop with a bunch of amateurs.


There was, rather famously, that time when Seal turned up on RFF with a digital Leica, and no one believed it was him!
Click to expand...

Exactly, I was going to mention that. Seal is a musician first and photographer second, but I can't see any basis for expecting that a famous photographer would overall be treated much better if they joined the forum. For reasons I do not really follow, when some people interact with a person who is "high profile", they do not always play well. I have it on good authority that, one on one, Seal is quite charming, but he didn't stick around long after a couple of run ins with members who were, to be kind, rather crass.
 
Sarcophilus Harrisii said:
Exactly, I was going to mention that. Seal is a musician first and photographer second, but I can't see any basis for expecting that a famous photographer would overall be treated much better if they joined the forum. For reasons I do not really follow, when some people interact with a person who is "high profile", they do not always play well. I have it on good authority that, one on one, Seal is quite charming, but he didn't stick around long after a couple of run ins with members who were, to be kind, rather crass.
Click to expand...


I wasn't at RFF at that time, but reading back over that thread was pretty bad. He loves Leica, loves photography, and was really enthusiastic about gear. Really, someone with that combination of traits could be any of us.
 
Once you are into it as real thing, here is no needs for forums.

I'm not talking about weddings photogs, btw :)
Those are abundant at Americans populated forums.
 
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