Additional forums?

[KenB]

So there's Nature and Wildlife and Sports why not a Portraiture, Street, General, etc? I understand keeping the number of forums to a minimum but it seems that there could be a couple more other than Viewfinder and Critique.

Just a thought.

[Photo-John]

Thanks for the comment, Ken. The specific galleries, like Sports, Nature, and Studio, are for subjects that require very specific techniques and/or equipment. They're also subjects that we were getting a lot of posts and repetitive questions. The three subjects you listed fit in with forums we already have, I think. Maybe we could do a better job of pointing people to those forums, though. We also have a bunch of gallery categories that they would fit into. Your "general" category would be either the ViewFinder or Help Files forums. Portraiture should probably go in either the studio or ViewFinder forums. And I'm not sure a dedicated "Street" forum makes sense. I can add a Street category to the gallery, though. I think that makes sense. A dedicated portraiture forum might be a good idea, if there's enough interest. I don't mind adding more forums, as long as they get enough action. And right now we have a couple that don't get much attention.

Does that answer your question? Let's see if we can get some more people to weigh in on this. I'm interested in continuing the discussion. And I am willing to add another forum as long as it will get used. And I might remove one of the slower ones we currently have to make space.

Thanks!

[Greg McCary]

I agree most other sites have way to many forums and to many pictures get posted all over the place. The fewer the forums the more likely the picture will be seen and the more help you will get. I think someone said it here before " less is more". I like the set up we have.
Greg

[JSPhoto]

Thanks for the comment, Ken. The specific galleries, like Sports, Nature, and Studio, are for subjects that require very specific techniques and/or equipment. !

LOL, you could merge sports and wildlife/nature, it's pretty much the same gear and action shooting is similar......on second thought, naw, too many bird nerds would get run over by race cars or football players :thumbsup:

My point though is that nature shooting and sports are very similar gear and technique wise, just different targets so to speak. Loupey did very well in his sports shooting ventures and found it similar to shooting nature.

JS

[mn shutterbug]

Although I'm still a newcomer, I'm going to give you my 3c worth. I'm with Greg. I like the existing setup. If the sports and nature/wildlife get combined, I for one may have to wade thru a lot of sports pictures to find the wildlife photos I enjoy. I guess maybe I'm a bit lazy. If the thread doesn't show up on the initial page, I won't migrate to a second page. Sports just does not intrigue me, wildlife does.

[KenB]

Although I'm still a newcomer, I'm going to give you my 3c worth. I'm with Greg. I like the existing setup. If the sports and nature/wildlife get combined, I for one may have to wade thru a lot of sports pictures to find the wildlife photos I enjoy. I guess maybe I'm a bit lazy. If the thread doesn't show up on the initial page, I won't migrate to a second page. Sports just does not intrigue me, wildlife does.

That's one of the things to avoid. By having all threads go into one or two forums, the early threads in the day roll off the first page quickly and, subsequently, see less traffic, which is exactly what you want to avoid. IMO, by intelligently and selectively adding forums -- forums that are assured good traffic -- you can actually increase exposure. Of course, if done haphazzardly and/or without consideration, the opposite would be true.

I don't think merging sports and nature would be a good thing as the two subjects, while sharing many of the same techniques, are still widely different. My primary interest would be to see the addition of a Portraits forum.

[JSPhoto]

Although I'm still a newcomer, I'm going to give you my 3c worth. I'm with Greg. I like the existing setup. If the sports and nature/wildlife get combined, I for one may have to wade thru a lot of sports pictures to find the wildlife photos I enjoy. I guess maybe I'm a bit lazy. If the thread doesn't show up on the initial page, I won't migrate to a second page. Sports just does not intrigue me, wildlife does.

ummmm, I was being sarcastic....although they DO use the same gear and much of the technique side is the same as well.

JS

[WsW-WYATT-EARP]

ummmm, I was being sarcastic....although they DO use the same gear and much of the technique side is the same as well.

JS

yes as you said loupey has done well in the sports forum and now brent is crossing the line into the n&w area .... has the world gone mad????????????????

A portraiture section would be useful I think - I can think of a mod for it off the top of my head. She does wonderful portraits. It seems the studio section is mainly equipment talk.

I agree that your general section is the viewfinder.

[almo]

A portraiture section would be useful I think - I can think of a mod for it off the top of my head. She does wonderful portraits. It seems the studio section is mainly equipment talk.

I will go one better on you. I believe you are speaking of Alison, and if there is a portraiture forum she has to be the mod. Frankly, on this site there is no better chioce for a portraiture mod.

[Greg McCary]

I wouldn't mind seeing the sports and N&W forums moved up the page into general photography section though. I think it would increase traffic.

[JSPhoto]

I wouldn't mind seeing the sports and N&W forums moved up the page into general photography section though. I think it would increase traffic.

I said that last fall (about the sports forum) and it got shot down .....thats why I didn't bother this time. People find it, but many do not and then post their questions where they end up in the wrong forum or get moved to the right forum.

JS

[walterick]

I know PJ puts a lot of time into making this site as comfortable, friendly and accessible to users as he can, while still maintaining its integrity and simplicity. The idea of starting new forums comes up every so often. Usually what happens, is one person wants a Puppy Dog Forum, then another says why can't we have a Kitty Cat Forum, then another feels we should also have a Kids Forum and well, how does one decide. I don't envy Photo John his job I like the idea of a Portraiture Forum, I think Alison would be a good mod for natural light but we would also need an experienced pro who is accustomed to studio lights, paying clients, professional models, etc. In this, I think Asylum Steve would be a good bet. And of course, I'm still holding out for a Travel Forum

[Skyman]

my two cents worth is that the big three - photocritique, viewfinder and help files cover an awful lot of ground in an open and accesible way. i started to think about what forums i would add such as "in camera" for exactly that in camera techniques and "post processing" for digital darkroom and other post processing techniques but I think the best part of the PR community is that people who come from different photographic fields and genres etc can offer input and often come up with solutions you may not have thought off. Also people aren't exploring the site effectively, many of us (and I am guilty here) often don't get out of one or two forums let alone look at the review, learn and share portions of the site. this can only be helped if people post links to threads that are relevant to threads elsewhere on the site.

[interestingstuff]

How about Photograph in Show Biz? I'd like a forum like that!

[Photo-John]

How about Photograph in Show Biz? I'd like a forum like that!

What do you mean? Are you talking about celebrity portraits, paparazzi-style photography, event photos, or what?