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Haselsh1
12-06-2015, 14:49
OK, so I am getting so bloody soft in my middle age but I would like to thank the guys who run this forum for allowing me to say my bit and also for allowing me to show my photographic images to the world. You all do an amazing job through some very difficult times. Cheers...!!!

walpurgis
12-06-2015, 14:55
Well you are one of the founding members Shaun. It's only right that you are looked after. :)

Marco
12-06-2015, 15:58
Thanks for your feedback, Shaun, which is appreciated. We'll always look after those who put something back into our community (as you do), instead of only taking from it. Worst are those who just take, and then moan like a girl when something doesn't go THEIR way... :rolleyes:

People should always remember that they have no God-given right to try and turn an existing forum into their personal 'vision of correctness'. If that's what they want, then my advice is to go and start one of their own, based on what they consider as 'correct', pay the costs involved, and see how they get on! ;)

For everyone else, the realisation is that established forums, such as AoS, simply 'are what they are', so you either fit in or you don't. Try really hard NOT to fit in, and you'll end up being banned. It's as simple as that.

That's why it's important to READ, very carefully the rules and/or ethos of a forum before joining it, as it's too late afterwards to claim 'biased moderation', when your behaviour/mentality is in complete conflict with what the owner [he who pays the bills] considers as 'correct', or indeed the majority of the existing membership.

With nearly 11,000 members (and many amongst those who participate regularly), AoS is at a stage now in its development where there is no need for it pander to the whims of every Tom Dick and Harry, or to try and be 'all things to all men' - indeed it was never designed to be like that in the first place. Therefore, we choose who deserves to stay here and who doesn't, as well as operating a zero tolerance policy towards deliberate irritants [read as those who try hard not to fit in].

I just thought I'd take some time out to make that point, and to say thanks to all of you who respect (and accept) the above, and help make AoS the great community that it is :cool:

Marco.

Barry
12-06-2015, 19:30
OK, so I am getting so bloody soft in my middle age but I would like to thank the guys who run this forum for allowing me to say my bit and also for allowing me to show my photographic images to the world. You all do an amazing job through some very difficult times. Cheers...!!!

Your photographs are always a delight to look at - so thanks for sharing them Shaun. :)

My only complaint is that your photos make my own efforts seem quite sub-standard. I used to take very good photographs (or so I was told) when I used film cameras, but since using a digital camera I seem to have lost "the eye". :(

struth
12-06-2015, 19:36
Yes, always look forward to the pics yourself, Peter and the other contributors to the abstract gallery show us; we mere mortals enjoy seeing what can be done.

Marco
12-06-2015, 20:20
I used to take very good photographs (or so I was told) when I used film cameras, but since using a digital camera I seem to have lost "the eye". :(

Perhaps there's a lesson to be learned there: one of technology making you lazy? You know what they say, if you don't use it, you lose it... ;)

You should also know that Shaun is a major exponent of the merits of film photography.

Marco.

struth
12-06-2015, 20:28
used to have my own dark room for B&W when young. very enjoyable hooby, but dont have the gear now and tbh getting stuff developed is getting difficult film wise so sold all but one of my film cameras and went digital,, but I held out for some time :eyebrows: digital became so easy that, I would agree that it has taken a lot of the skill and anticipation and excitement out of photography.
With Film you got one shot and might have to wait an week to get the results. now, it is instant and errors dont cost money and you can take so many that your bound to get some goodish ones that if needed you can promptly fix in a photo studio app. Thus you kinda forget how to see and frame the right picture over time. modern life leads to laziness of the mind alas.

Marco
12-06-2015, 20:36
modern life leads to laziness of the mind alas.

Ain't that the truth, bro!

Marco.

RichB
13-06-2015, 00:01
Thanks for your feedback, Shaun, which is appreciated. We'll always look after those who put something back into our community (as you do), instead of only taking from it. Worst of all are those who just take, and then moan like a girl when something doesn't go THEIR way... :rolleyes:

People should always remember that they have no God-given right to try and turn someone else's forum into their 'vision of fairness' or perfection. If they want that, then my advice is to go and start one of their own, based on what they consider as 'correct', pay the costs involved, and see how they get on! ;)

For everyone else, the realisation is that established forums, such as AoS, simply 'are what they are', so you either fit in or you don't. Try really hard NOT to fit in, and you'll end up being banned. It's as simple as that.

That's why it's important to READ, very carefully the rules and/or ethos of a forum before joining it, as it's too late afterwards to claim 'biased moderation', when your behaviour/mentality is in complete contradiction with what the owner [he who pays the bills] considers as 'correct', or indeed the majority of the existing membership.

With nearly 11,000 members (and many amongst those who participate regularly), AoS is at a stage now in its development where there is no need for it pander to the whims of every Tom Dick and Harry, or to try and be 'all things to all men' - indeed it was never designed to be like that in the first place. Therefore, we can choose who deserves to stay here and who doesn't, as well as operating a zero tolerance policy against irritants [read as those who try hard not to fit in].

I just thought I'd take some time out to make that point, and to say thanks to all of you who respect the above and make AoS the great community that it is :cool:

Marco.

Hi Fi fora are like planets each with their own orbits, inhabitants and atmospheres. Occasionally they align in the night skies but more often than not they spin around each other and sometimes exert gravitational pull on one another. We of the membership are simply astronauts, visiting interesting new worlds but mostly returning to the planet we call home. Our role is to bring moon rocks back from the new planets we visit to enrich our understanding of the universe and to take artifacts from our home worlds to the other planets so that they may in turn learn from us.

To boldly go....

Marco
13-06-2015, 08:13
Lol - I'll have some of whatever you're smoking, dude! :lol:

But yes, I agree....

Marco.

Joe
13-06-2015, 08:43
Hi Fi fora are like planets each with their own orbits, inhabitants and atmospheres. Occasionally they align in the night skies but more often than not they spin around each other and sometimes exert gravitational pull on one another. We of the membership are simply astronauts, visiting interesting new worlds but mostly returning to the planet we call home. Our role is to bring moon rocks back from the new planets we visit to enrich our understanding of the universe and to take artifacts from our home worlds to the other planets so that they may in turn learn from us.

Or destroy them with fire, if we're in a bad mood.

Barry
13-06-2015, 09:32
Perhaps there's a lesson to be learned there: one of technology making you lazy? You know what they say, if you don't use it, you lose it... ;)

You should also know that Shaun is a major exponent of the merits of film photography.

Marco.

Indeed - my film cameras were fully manual: manual focusing, manual exposure control; I would take a light reading with a light meter (or even estimate the setting) and decide on the aperture and shutter speed. I would even choose the focal length of the lens, as I didn't use zoom lenses.

My digital camera, which admittedly is a compact pocket jobbie, is auto-everything - and I just hate it! :(

If I could still continue to use Kodachrome 64, I would be back to using my film cameras (of which I have 8 :doh:) like a shot!

Marco
13-06-2015, 09:46
And we call that 'progress'? ;)

Marco.

Joe
13-06-2015, 11:16
A 'proper' digital camera enables you to override all the automatic stuff if you're so inclined. But I think 99% of a shot is in the composition, which is why mine are usually crap.

Haselsh1
13-06-2015, 13:44
I have always done silver halide based photography in the past and as an old friend once told me, "Never burn your bridges" so even though I have my trusty old Mamiya RB67 up for sale I do intend to keep my Pentax 645 and maybe even buy more lenses for it. I cannot understand these people who claim that film is so difficult to use these days because it is no longer available... bollox to that, just try looking in the correct places, seek and thou shalt find...! I obtain all of my photography gear from Silverprint in London or Ag Photographic. No shortage, no problem, it does however run very expensive these days. That brings me on to yet another issue, the pricing of photographic printer paper. Why is cotton fibre printer paper so much more expensive than paper coated with the halides of a precious metal...? This one I simply cannot understand.

To carry on a comment made by Barry; I too find that things are so very different with a digital camera. OK, when I use my Pentax 645 it has a built in TTL metering system but with the Mamiya RB67 it is a handheld exposure meter every time. I liken shooting real photographs to listening to vinyl in that there is a whole different procedure that has to be followed to obtain the most precise results. Camera, tripod, filter, composition allowing for the rule of thirds and then manual calculation allowing for the filter; all things I am very sure Barry will know about. Digital camera; aim and shoot with a bit of composition. What we are losing here is skill...!

Yes, I still shoot film and I shall bloody well continue to do so and yes, I process my own film in a tank the old fashioned way but then I slide a black piece of vinyl out of a Nagaoka sleeve and put it on my Thorens turntable. Am I making sense...? Do you feel what I feel with these words...? Digital photography is not photography, it is IT in a similar way to digital music on a PC or Mac. These technologies are purely about convenience and I know damn well I do not do things because they are convenient in the same way I am damn sure Marco does not. I once visited a photographic gallery in Glasgow with a female friend and 99% of the time I could tell her which was silver halide and which was digital. It is as obvious as CD versus LP.

OK, once again I have been allowed to say my bit. I have now been involved with photography for 45 years since I was 10 years old so yes, I am damn passionate about it and I adore it with all of my heart. I love film to bits but I am starting to find a place for digital. I've said enough I think.

Haselsh1
13-06-2015, 13:45
And we call that 'progress'? ;)

Marco.

+1 to that

Haselsh1
13-06-2015, 14:06
I have just put a film scan of a medium format negative onto the Abstract Gallery thread 'Malham Limestone Pavement' so that a direct comparison may be made.