Does anyone else find many of these posts banal?

Phew!  As the OP I am glad it appears that I am not alone in my views and was not simply having a bad night when I posted my comments!  I have to say though that even here there have been a couple of responses that have not been “on message” from my perspective – everyone is entitled to their view though.

During the past six years I have enjoyed much correspondence on this site, even participated in healthy yet hopefully good-natured debate, have learned a lot and perhaps even given the odd tip or two in return.

I would hate to remove DP Review from my favourites list but right now it seems to have little to offer me.  A couple of respondents disagreed with my thought that perhaps members should have to qualify in order to join an “elite” forum.  With hind-sight they are of course absolutely correct – the forum should be a font of learning.  Six years ago I might not have qualified to join so I would have been denied my learning.

I arrogantly consider myself a competent sports tog – on and off-forum I have tried to help members interested in this genre.  Unlike most genres it is not too difficult really, you just need to know the right settings then go click, click, click!  Recently, I have felt the urge to take architectural shots.  Frankly, I know the theory of how to do this and do not need anyone to tell me which buttons to click in Photoshop but I do not yet have an architecturally-oriented eye for perspectives.  It would have been great to have found people here who would have looked at both my original and corrected versions and commented on whether I was correcting perspectives effectively.  Was I going to post such a question here? No way!  All I would have got was a bunch of people who have never taken an architectural shot telling me that I was an idiot!

Ah, I hear you say – there are specialist forums for this sort of thing.  I found this out the hard way three weeks ago and share this with you to prove that DP Review is not the only forum facing challenges!  Out of the blue I received a mail from a highly competent pro who basically told me that I was being slagged-off on a specialist architectural forum that I had never heard of and that he was trying to stand up for me!

It transpired that another tog had lost a commission in favour of me.  Unbelievably, he involved the client by identifying them (and me) and proceeded to rubbish my images.  Immediately several others joined in the tune.  Then the real photographers responded by saying that actually my images were very acceptable, perhaps I might have changed this and that but where was the problem?   A few days later the OP confessed that he was inexperienced, had been hoping for the gig, was fed-up that he lost it and wanted me to stick to sport in future so he could get some work!

I sometimes wonder if I should avoid the internet entirely but in this instance I had no choice.  There were dozens of posts both criticising and praising my work.  I did not participate at all because my client had been identified and it would have been unprofessional to have got involved yet still I got grief (and a little praise and support)!

I don’t know the answer to all of this but will continue to monitor this forum and hope that the good guys and gals, experienced or inexperienced, competent or learning, will prevail!  I am a passionate photographer, accredited for many high-profile sporting events, a contributing journalist to Pro photography magazines and a Fellow of The Royal Photographic Society.  I have much knowledge to contribute, coupled with a burning desire to learn more about genres I might understand but am not experienced or proficient in.  I so wish that DP review was a forum for such an exchange of knowledge.  I believe it wants to be but at present, for me at least, it is not.  I believe that both DP Review and its members should consider how best to rectify this.  DP Review’s silence on this matter could well prove to be its downfall if changes are not instigated.

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Regards
Deegee FRPS
www.duncangrove.com
www.duncangroveblog.com
Q:- What's the difference between artists and photographers?
A:- Two artists can have a conversation without discussing their paintbrushes!