The possibilities for creating new forums on here

[Andrew Plume]

dear fellow members

in brief, please take a look at - viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2774 (particualrly Charles' recent post) which doesn't just deal with wet plate stuff.....................

and perhaps post your views on here

thanks and regards

andrew

[Andrew Plume]

hi fellow forum members

52 views on this post to date - how about a little input, perhaps................

as Charles has rightly said, it's 'our forum'

andrew

[acs]

If people are looking to change things... some ideas to get discussion going. This doesn't necessarily mean I'd vote for these

Maintenance and DIY

• Experience or requests for help in repairing cameras, bellows, shutters, etc.

Tutorials

• To put Joanna on the spot, I remember her mention of micro movements and also the use of filters to get colour from b+w exposures -- both could be interesting topics to develop. Maybe experience using different kit for macro work, etc. People starting out might appreciate something on metering and the use of grads, etc. (I have the impression that there are a surprising number of people dipping their toe into LF so tutorials might be a good way of pulling people in)

Wet and Dry darkroom

• All things processing... (maybe a sub section under tutorials)

Equipment

• Always a difficult one as they can be the life and death of a forum but they can be good resource for people starting out. Could be combined with reviews...?

Reviews

• If this was confined to kit then perhaps best included under equipment but depending on how it went there’s perhaps a danger of it getting lost there. If spun out into its own section then there might be scope to have reviews of exhibitions etc. Essentially a database of local experience with all things LF. These could either be pre-planned reviews, or just a case of someone posting say a lens and people jumping in with experience – the trick is not to have duplicate threads on the same item.

Other formats

• Maybe just keep people and discussion here... could be very inclusive or just things like XPAN, etc.

A number of these could be combined or spun out depending on how busy we might expect them to be.

We must also remember that there are other good resources out there, notably the US LF board and of course Tim's LandscapeGB.

[Andrew Plume]

Hi Andrew

good to have seen your listing and thanks for the input

regards

andrew

[Marizu]

My personal feeling is that I prefer the forum with fewer categories.

The reason for this is that we are quite a small forum and sometimes we go for a short while without much discussion.
By spreading it out over sub-forums, we need to go clicking through more sections just to see if something intriguing has happened.

On the first page of General Discussion, we have posts that are three months old. I'm not sure that we're progressing discussions so fast that they are getting pushed from the front page without people having a chance to read them or respond.

Whatever happens, I'm sure that it will remain a cosy place for friendly interchange.

[Andrew Plume]

thankyou Marizu, makes a lot of sense, even though I've proposed more forums........all should be heard, of course

and an excellent collodion portrait of you by John Brewer over on his site too

regards

andrew

[Neil Barnes]

I would incline to agree; small is good in many ways. We do not have a huge amount of discussion here - though I'm doing my best!

Areas I'd like to see - and which I am discussing on other fora - might involve developer recipes and processes (I'm strictly a monochrome chap) and perhaps also multiple negatives with filters for colours (hint: you only need *two* filters!).

But in both cases, they're probably best as individual threads within the main general discussion thread.

Neil

[Andrew Plume]

Hi Neil

.........yep you are and we could do with more discussion on here imho

regards

andrew

[Joanna Carter]

Hi Neil

Areas I'd like to see … perhaps also multiple negatives with filters for colours (hint: you only need *two* filters!)

There is a thread I started in the Critique section viewtopic.php?f=6&t=977 , resulting from my first efforts at "trichromie" (with three negatives). Henri Gaud, from the French Galerie Photo forums is somewhat of a master and mentor in this area and it was he who very kindly gave me a set of filters.

But in both cases, they're probably best as individual threads within the main general discussion thread

In the years that these forums have been running, there certainly hasn't been enough interest in trichromie to warrant the creation of a dedicated forum, even though it is one of my pet subjects

[IanG]

There needs to be a better way of showing images, uploading etc, the board sotware is rather out of date and the newer version are much better.

A section of Antique & Collectible cameras & Restoration would be useful.

Ian

[John Hamlen]

I'm definitely in the Less=More camp here. As long a bulletin board has good search capabilities - and phpBB (used here) does - then dozens of forums makes a board very hard to navigate. The more categories in a taxonomy, the more the chance of topic "wanting" to be in more than one category.

One of the great things about this board is that it hasn't gone new-forum-crazy (like others I could mention).

It's fine just as it is. If we are going to change it, my vote would actually be for even fewer forums as I think that neither PROJECTS nor LOCATIONS are "paying their way" in terms of usage and could easily be rolled into DISCUSSIONS. Just my $0.02 worth

[Andrew Plume]

There needs to be a better way of showing images, uploading etc, the board sotware is rather out of date and the newer version are much better.

A section of Antique & Collectible cameras & Restoration would be useful.

Ian, entirely appropriate and spot on too

the forum's software from what I can gather from a number of posts does need to be upgraded but whether that involves unexpected costs etc, I have no idea

................ my vote would actually be for even fewer forums as I think that neither PROJECTS nor LOCATIONS are "paying their way" in terms of usage and could easily be rolled into DISCUSSIONS. Just my $0.02 worth

I agree John, they're pretty well dormant for signiifcant periods

Note for the mod's of this forum

personally I'd like to see the top five 'guidance/instrumental' posts moved off of here and carted off * to a separate section - in that way, ones eye is more quickly drawn to the most recent post under this forum - anyone else agree, please?

andrew

* sorry Joanna, no pun intended

[Joanna Carter]

Note for the mod's of this forum

Note to Andrew: one thing that would help people find and follow threads is if you could try and avoid making several short replies, one after the other, in the same thread. I have edited your last three posts to give you an idea of how to consolidate replies. Please don't take this as any kind of reprimand, just something that helps everyone trying to follow threads of conversation.

personally I'd like to see the top five 'guidance/instrumental' posts moved off of here and carted off * to a separate section - in that way, ones eye is more quickly drawn to the most recent post under this forum - anyone else agree, please?

We are just about to have to move these forums to a new server, due to the friend who arranged our initial hosting leaving his present company. We do have an offer of alternative hosting and are hoping for a smooth transition. However, for the time being, the forum structure is unlikely to change significantly and, since none of us get paid for looking after the forums, I can't yet see a strong enough case for having to spend hours moving posts and forums.

Don't get me wrong; we are not against change, it's simply a case of pleasing the most people for the least effort

[Andrew Plume]

Note for the mod's of this forum

Note to Andrew: one thing that would help people find and follow threads is if you could try and avoid making several short replies, one after the other, in the same thread. I have edited your last three posts to give you an idea of how to consolidate replies. Please don't take this as any kind of reprimand, just something that helps everyone trying to follow threads of conversation.

personally I'd like to see the top five 'guidance/instrumental' posts moved off of here and carted off * to a separate section - in that way, ones eye is more quickly drawn to the most recent post under this forum - anyone else agree, please?

We are just about to have to move these forums to a new server, due to the friend who arranged our initial hosting leaving his present company. We do have an offer of alternative hosting and are hoping for a smooth transition. However, for the time being, the forum structure is unlikely to change significantly and, since none of us get paid for looking after the forums, I can't yet see a strong enough case for having to spend hours moving posts and forums.

Don't get me wrong; we are not against change, it's simply a case of pleasing the most people for the least effort

Joanna

.........you've done what?

Sorry but I take great offence to this and definitely consider it to 'be a reprimand'. I am not an infant and I do not need a lecture, thankyou

This is the second time that you have done this to one of my posts, the first being approx twelve months ago - at least Joanna at that time, you had the decency to inform me of this by a pm whereas this time you have broadcast it to 'all and sundry'

If you are intending doing it again shouldn't you run it past me first - this isn't something that in the normal circumstances that I would wish to be aired on here but rather than by a pm. Anyhow you've made your 'amendments, public so to speak. I have to say that you are imposing your style far too heavily on this forum - moderators should moderate and not intrude........................

In the meantime how about reinstating my postings please?

fwiw, I see no reason at all to change my style - it's yourself, I feel who needs to change and for the benefit of other forum members who are similarly feeling as I do, that you are overly intrusive. To be perfectly frank all of the good work that you have done on here (and I have absolutely no reason to question the merits of it) is being dissipated by this unnecessary pettiness

andrew

[Andrew Plume]

Joanna

email sent to Charles

andrew