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FORUM CHANGES and UPDATES - NOW LIVE!

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 8:48 pm
by Greg Downing
After much thought and discussion behind the scenes we have made the following changes to the Forums:

Forums to be eliminated:

1. Member's Lounge; Will be locked for 2 weeks and then removed. We found the forum was rarely used. It can be found at the bottom of the index page for now.
2. Photo Essays; Same as above. We will have an outlet for short articles and essays that will be announced later but it will not be in the forums. Also at bottom of index page for now.
3. EHK; (replaced with a new "Travel and Culture" forum. See new forum descriptions below and it will make sense....
4. Mini Articles: This forum has not been active in years, it has been deleted.

Forum descriptions that have been be changed (new description/title as indicated):

Birds
For posting and feedback of images of birds. Human elements allowed. Captive birds should be labeled with (c) in the subject line.

Wildlife
For posting and feedback of images of land and marine creatures other than birds and macro subjects. Human Elements allowed. Captive wildlife should be labeled with (c) in the subject line. Domestic animals are not considered wildlife and should not be posted.

Landscapes
For posting and feedback of images where the natural outdoor world of land, sea and sky is the primary subject. Human Elements allowed when they are not a significant part of the scene. Scenes with significant human elements should be posted in the Travel and Culture Forum.

Flora and Macro
For posting and feedback of images of plant life and close ups. Human Elements allowed.

Digital Creations - changes to "Photo & Digital Art"
For posting and feedback of creative images produced and/or modified using any optical, digital or other technique. Images created should start with subject matter that meets the guidelines of any of the other image galleries.

NEW Forum to be added:

Travel and Culture
For posting and feedback of travel and cultural images with human elements that are visually or compositionally significant. Some examples would be: images of people with a cultural theme, cityscapes and historical architecture.

Other notes:

1.Images of the week have been moved to the top of the Forum Index list in order to bring more attention to these outstanding images.

2.Help Forum has also been moved to the top so that it is easily seen by newcomers.

There will be some other minor changes coming soon as well as some housekeeping that needs to be done related to these changes.

We welcome your comments and questions!

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 10:10 pm
by E.J. Peiker
Looks great and is much more streamlined Greg!

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 10:34 pm
by Anthony Medici
Help, help, I'm confused. (Easily done I know!)

Where do HDR or stitched landscapes go?

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 10:43 pm
by Royce Howland
Tony, as long as they look like landscapes, they go in Landscapes. :) HDR and stitched images were never required to go in DC before, and they are not required to go in P&DA now. P&DA is intended for people who want their images to be presented and commented upon in a purely artistic context, not one of the genre contexts. Some guidelines for P&DA are forthcoming to explain its evolution from DC...

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 11:32 pm
by thorin
Greg,

Thanks for letting us know what was going on.

Very much appreciated.

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 12:06 am
by pleverington
Greg will metal birds with afterburners get posted in the birds forum then? :)

Paul

Re:

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 1:40 am
by Jens Peermann
pleverington wrote:Greg will metal birds with afterburners get posted in the birds forum then? :)

Paul
Only shots of them feeding their chicks. :wink:

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 4:44 am
by Miguel Lasa
Great news and update Greg, looking forward to see the new travel forum and those birds in their human elements :)

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 5:46 am
by Bill Lockhart
Greg,

The new Travel and Culture Forum is a great idea. Through the years of participating here, there were lots of photographs I wanted to share but could not, the new forum will give me that opportunity. I hope the membership will walk over to the new forum and take advantage of what one can post there. Hopefully, we will also see more detailed comments from the member about the circumstances of the shot. Sometimes the story really enhances one's understanding of the work.

Best regards,

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 7:27 am
by Vivek
Greg

Thanks for the changes... they appear to be streamlining in nature.

I don't know if this is the right place to post but how about a "No words" forum where there is a monthly theme (which unfortunately has to be conveyed using words) and members post images based on the theme?

-- V

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 8:39 am
by Steve Fines
I just browsed through the IOW gallery - this is a great way to highlight these images - much easier to view them than before.

There is some really stunning work here!

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 3:05 pm
by LouBuonomo
Cool.. now we got culture !

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 6:04 pm
by George DeCamp
Very nice moves and good to see YOU posting more these days!!!!

Re:

Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 5:48 am
by david fletcher
George DeCamp wrote:good to see YOU posting more these days!!!!
Lot of talent not being seen by us hungry souls: :D. Effort with the changes appreciated. Think the updates will be good. Thanks.

Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 10:22 am
by NDCheryl
The changes look great.

Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 10:52 am
by Tim Marks
Great changes. I especially like the addition of Travel/culture. Thanks for all the hard work you folk do!

Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 11:57 am
by MPC
Great to see new travel forum, very excited!!!

Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 1:04 pm
by Juli Wilcox
I think the changes are GREAT. I'm glad to see hand of human elements allowed in the genres and to welcome the Travel and Culture, but really, the condensing is really neat for the whole site. Congrats!

Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 9:34 pm
by Rick Gens
This is a great idea Greg. I love it. For a second I was wondering where EHK went. Gosh I guess I have been gone for a long time

Rick

Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 7:43 pm
by Davidw
Greg,
I like it! Particularly the fact that some human elements are allowed. Occasionally they cannot be avoided, and do not necessarily ruin a good shot.

DW