Mr. P
VIP Member
A word about message boards....from a great photographer, Ken Rockwell (and I'm as guilty as anybody) But this is SO TRUE!!!! Even here, sorry.....No, I'm not.
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A huge problem with forums is the people who post the most shoot the least. These forums make it tough to know the credentials of the posters. More weight is given to well-spoken frequent contributors than a competent professional who might step in to help. Worse, the crankiest members of the forum will proceed to heckle the one guy who knows and tried to help, and then he never returns.
Photographers tend to be crummy writers. Forums are overloaded with comments from the people you most want to avoid. Many of these people don't even own the gear they're discussing; they just like to talk! Not that all the information is bad, but it is disproportionately weighted in the wrong direction.
Look at any forum on any subject from art to zebras, and you'll see many who spend more time calling each other stupid than discussing the topic. Many who live in these forums take more pleasure in hurling epithets than in discussing the topic. As any high-school psychology student knows, these guys are confirming Freud's observations that all human action is based on making oneself feel important. I prefer to do this by creating bitchin' photos. Forum posters find it easier to try to look smart by posting as much as they can. Don't let yourself get distracted by the bickering or people trying to throw out a lot of information to look smart. Go make photos and see for yourself what looks good.
Euphemize these as "forums" or "online discussions," but they're still just chat rooms. They're the best places to get the worst information, since the least educated are the ones who contribute the most. Those who know the most are too busy making more photos to spend much time there.
******************************************
A huge problem with forums is the people who post the most shoot the least. These forums make it tough to know the credentials of the posters. More weight is given to well-spoken frequent contributors than a competent professional who might step in to help. Worse, the crankiest members of the forum will proceed to heckle the one guy who knows and tried to help, and then he never returns.
Photographers tend to be crummy writers. Forums are overloaded with comments from the people you most want to avoid. Many of these people don't even own the gear they're discussing; they just like to talk! Not that all the information is bad, but it is disproportionately weighted in the wrong direction.
Look at any forum on any subject from art to zebras, and you'll see many who spend more time calling each other stupid than discussing the topic. Many who live in these forums take more pleasure in hurling epithets than in discussing the topic. As any high-school psychology student knows, these guys are confirming Freud's observations that all human action is based on making oneself feel important. I prefer to do this by creating bitchin' photos. Forum posters find it easier to try to look smart by posting as much as they can. Don't let yourself get distracted by the bickering or people trying to throw out a lot of information to look smart. Go make photos and see for yourself what looks good.
Euphemize these as "forums" or "online discussions," but they're still just chat rooms. They're the best places to get the worst information, since the least educated are the ones who contribute the most. Those who know the most are too busy making more photos to spend much time there.
