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SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


Hi there! I'm forums user and noted bad poster SoundMonkey, and I guess I'm your new Dorkroom mod. Brad, if you're out there, all the best, and you did a hell of a good job.

Of course, the latest rules thread is from 2009, so…

Critique
Be nice. Well, be as nice as you can be. Some photos are pretty much terrible, but that's probably not a good reason to go on a six-paragraph rant about it. Express your opinion, and move on. If you're needlessly being a dick to someone, bad things might happen. If you're on the receiving end of the critique? Probably the person is critiquing your photograph, not you, so try not to take it too personally. If you feel it's unreasonable, then by all means, report it, but try to actually read the crit before mashing the report button.

Megathreads
Hot drat do I love megathreads. If you're going to post in one, please at least read the first couple pages and the last couple pages, to make sure what you're posting about wasn't either in the OP or recently discussed. And by all means, if you feel that a 250-page thread is getting unreasonably large, and you have a well-thought-out OP, shoot me a PM and maybe we'll start a new one. If you're the OP of a megathread, try to keep up with it, or indicate you're sick of it and let someone else start a new one.

Tiny Overly-Specific Threads
Try to post threads that are interesting to more than a couple people. Did you take a trip to Branson recently? Cool. Maybe start a travel thread, or contribute to an existing one, as opposed to starting a Branson thread. Try to put some thought into the OP and make it accessible to as many people as possible. It's always a good thing when you post a thread that everyone can be interested in. EDIT TO CLARIFY: If you took a trip somewhere and have a shitload of pictures, by all means go hog wild. Similarly, if you're starting a project or something and the thread is tiny but is going to get bigger, that's cool too. Just try to stay away from "Thoughts on the ShadyTech FireHazard9000 EN-EL3e battery charger?".

Selling/Buying/Shilling
Please don't shill your non-gear-related products/services. If you have gear to sell, or if there's gear you want to buy, post in the gear selling thread. If you have a business idea you'd like some feedback on, there's a thread for that too. If you have some novel concept that you're not sure about, send me a PM and we'll see if it's a good idea or not.

Miscellaneous Catch-All Creepy-People Rule
Please don't be creepy or stalk people or anything like that. It really shits up the forum and I'm really likely to probate you for it, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. We're here to talk about photography, nobody cares who you'd have sex with or who you think is a terrible deviant or who actually is a terrible deviant. Do you want to post a thread about relatively-worksafe fetish photography? Run it by me first, but once you post it, anyone who's obviously trying to get in your pants is going to have a really bad day.

Communication
Did you gently caress up your thread title? Did you forget a thread tag? You should probably avoid doing that, but if you did, feel quite free to PM me and I'll fix it at some point. Please don't just post "mod please fix thread tag" in the the thread, because I don't actually read every post of every thread.

Maintenance
Is the a stickied thread that's out of date? Is there a newer version that should be stickied? Let me know. I know the moderation has been a bit slow lately, so if there's something that needs fixing, tell me about it. If you don't have PM, reporting your own thread is an ok way to do this too (just report the OP to make it easier on me).

Suggestions
Now… it just so happens it's almost a brand new year! I'm leaving this thread open for suggestions about how you think Dorkroom could be improved, with specific focus on Photo A Day, which seems to have stagnated somewhat recently. If you have any ideas about how to make Dorkroom better, please post them, but also please don't poo poo up the thread debating other people's ideas too much. I'll probably close this in early January and implement whatever changes sound like a good idea.

The Chill Zone
Some of us like to hang out in #creatives on irc.synirc.net, which is probably the closest thing Dorkroom has to an unofficial IRC channel. Come chat, get your photos critiqued (or made fun of), or just be impaired and belligerent with us. Do note that the forums are generally not the place to discuss things that happen on IRC, although feel quite free to come on IRC and ask me any questions you might have.

Dumb Internet poo poo
Let's just not do macros, memes, ragecomics, dumb catchphrases, etc. I'm pretty sure this is a forums-wide rule but it bears repeating.

Don't Be Horribly Boring
Do not post status updates for your order. Feel quite free to tell us that it arrived and what your first impressions are. Let us know if it's backordered to hell at every place except one. Do not, however, tell us that its tracking status just changed from "In Progress" to "Exception" and you don't know what that means.

:snoop: The Condensed Version: :snoop:
code:
1.   Don't be an rear end in a top hat with critique, and don't get butthurt/mad about negative critique.
1a.  Don't get mad at the internet.
2.   Don't helldump or talk about irc poo poo.
2a.  IRC.  Do not talk about it.  Do not talk about IRC.  IRC is a thing you should not talk about.
3.   Give critique in PAD and don't give it in photo dump thread
4.   Don't be intensely unfunny or stupid or make low-content boring posts (to the point where I actually notice).
5.   Don't be creepy or sexist or racist or any of that poo poo.
6.   Use the drat report button.
7.   Don't shill your own poo poo unless it's legitimately a useful thing to post and you say it's yours.
8.   No loving referral links (including Amazon).
9.   Don't get mad at the internet.
9a.  "You just don't 'get' my art, man." is not an acceptable response to anything.
10.  Don't post SO BADLY that I am actually moved to take time out of my day to do something about it.
11.  Read thread rules before the first time you post in a thread, if applicable.
12.  If you have an issue with me or something I did, contact me privately and I'd be happy to 
     talk about it, don't start massive derails.  If it's a comment or suggestion post it in this thread.
13.  Contacting me:  Email: [email]soundmonkey@somethingawful.com[/email], AIM: sasoundmonkey, IRC (see above), PM.
14.  Max image size is 1024 pixels long-side.
15.  Do not link to stuff on reddit because reddit is universally terrible.
16.  Don't PM me about rule 15.
17.  Rule 17 doesn't exist.
18.  In this day and age, the term 'hipster' is not representative of any specific cultural group, manner of dress, 
     or style of photography.  As such, using it as a blanket term is really stupid and you really shouldn't do it.
18a. The word "hipster" is not banned, just its use as a reason to hate or dismiss someone's work or person or clothing/camera/etc choice.  Don't be a dumb.
19.  No page snyping outside of the best thread and the chat thread.  Also no emptyquoting outside of those threads, unless it's hilarious, as determined by me.
20.  No being incredibly pedantic and smug about crop factors with your "oh it's not REALLY 50mm, :smug:" bullshit. Yes. It really is 50mm. 
     Learn what field of view means.
21.  Do not loving post What The Duck comics.  They are terrible.  Posting this will get you a week off.
22.  Do not post in Dorkroom if you are one of the following people (or a namechange of any of them): vendagoat
36.  No whining about being poor to the point where it's annoying.
Thanks, people of Dorkroom! As always, if you want to chat, you can PM me, e-mail me, or ideally, find me in #creatives on irc.synirc.net.

EDIT FOR IMPORTANT THINGS: Don't be afraid of the report button. If you see a lovely post and it breaks or nudges some rule, just mash report. It takes me almost no time to review a report and deal with it, it's not like I'm going to get mad that you hit report or something.

Of course don't make total bullshit reports though.

MORE EDIT: You can also AIM me if you have a question/concern/belligerent drunk-rant, sasoundmonkey

SO MUCH EDITING: Additionally you can e-mail me at soundmonkey@somethingawful.com.

also there's a discord i guess https://discord.gg/98XxqMB

SoundMonkey fucked around with this message at 07:02 on Dec 10, 2020

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SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


Dread Head posted:

I know you mentioned selling stuff but I could possibly see having a thread that people could list (non gear) stuff they are selling. I think there are a number of people who sell prints etc. If we kept it to one thread it would not be disrupting other threads and people who are interested in buying or selling work etc have a place to do so.

Did you have categories in mind? I can see a couple different threads for selling stuff, but a "everything but gear" thread might get a bit jumbled.

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


Reichstag posted:

Not selling related directly, but I would love to trade photobooks with people. They're expensive, but looking at amazing art is something everyone can do more of.

If you want to start a photobook-trading thread, I think that'd be a great idea. You'd probably want to outline the potential risk involved though (ie you send some dude a $40 photobook, and might get nothing back). It'd be a great way to present more of a sort of collection of work that just a single print though.

EDIT: And by 'trading' I mean 'no money or other commodity except books of photos changes hands'. If someone really likes someone else's work, they could buy it off them in a print-selling thread just to keep it simple.

SoundMonkey fucked around with this message at 08:08 on Dec 21, 2011

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


This is more of a suggestion and encouragement than a rule...

Project Threads
I think it'd be really cool to see ongoing project threads. The forum's not so busy that they're going to get blasted off page 1 in five minutes, and it's be neat to see someone develop an idea and see their progress and everyone else's feedback and stuff.

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


Paragon8 posted:

Can we have a stupid questions thread. Although that probably won't help as the people who ask stupid questions seem to have selective illiteracy.

I thought you were kidding for a second, but GWS's "Stupid/Small Questions" thread actually does pretty well. What kind of thing were you thinking of that would make it different from the general questions thread? Just like, questions so small/dumb that they'd get lost/poo poo on in the main thread, like "why is 'Tv' used to mean shutter priority"?

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


Paragon8 posted:

Yeah, I think that might be good. I was meaning more the occasional person who'll just stumble into the canon thread and ask about point and shoots while ignoring the P&S thread. But a thread where it's safe to just ask one liner questions might be good for stuff that might get ignored in the bigger threads.

I agree in principle - there's probably a subset of people who show up here but either don't know enough to even say anything in the questions thread, or have no intention of getting a DSLR so they don't post in the newbie DSLR thread. If a thread like this were to exist, I'd figure the OP would want to have links to other threads where certain questions might be more appropriate to ask (ie, P&S thread, Newbie DSLR thread, etc), but that oneliner questions that don't fit anywhere else are welcome.

So yeah, we can have that thread if you want to post it. If nobody posts in it, I guess nature will take its course and it'll drift gently onto page 2, but I don't see any reason you couldn't give it a shot.

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


^^^ I wasn't considering getting rid of SAD altogether, but it does seem like both threads need a little retooling. They're pretty important, I mean, posting photos is a huge part of the reason we're all here.


Mannequin posted:

One thing I wish is that the Snapshot thread was a place to dump what the poster thinks are essentially thoughtless/throwaway type pictures, and that we went back to a more critique-oriented forum in PAD. Before SAD there really was a monthly PAD thread that we all posted in. If you have access to the archives you can dig up those old threads and see how we were critiquing more and talking more about each other's photographs, which is a better type of format in my opinion. I really hate being the author of this snapshot thread where everyone posts and no one necessarily discusses photography. It seems that because there's a reason not to critique, people don't. And I think we all like it when people comment on our photos, good or bad, because it shows that they're worth talking about. Sometimes there is critique in the Snapshot thread, other times there is an outpouring of love for one particular photo or photographer, but most of the time there's just silence. It's a shame. And I am one of the guilty parties, I don't speak out enough and critique enough, and sometimes I don't do it because I don't feel like it, or I'm tired, and other times I question the value of my own opinions. Who am I to give a critique? Am I worthy of being critical about somebody's photo? I think these are questions many of us ask ourselves.

I don't know if this is a problem that can be fixed short of nixing the SAD thread and enforcing critique in the PAD thread. All the snapshots could theoretically go in their rightful mega threads -- the pet thread, the portrait thread (if it's an insignificant portrait not really worthy of a detailed critique), the film thread, etc. I don't know, maybe all this is a bad idea, but I just hate how there's very little discussion in SAD.

Those are actually two threads I was trying to come up with ideas for. While I'm a huge fan of critique, the current PAD rules seem to have drastically reduced how many people post, although the critique that is there is generally really good. What would you say to making SAD monthly, with critique "very strongly encouraged", and relaxing the PAD crit requirements slightly? I think both threads fill different but important niches (even back in the day, PAD could be a bit daunting for newbies), but it seems like SAD sees more posts just due to being "easier".

I'd hope that we could get something like GWS's Iron Chef / Newbie Iron Chef thing going on - everyone welcome in both, but if you're doing really well in one, there's some encouragement to move to the other.

In the meantime, I'd be in favor of encouraging especially good SAD posters to try their hand in PAD. I can't think of concrete new rules as yet, but for the time being, I'm pretty unlikely to probate someone for "low quality" crit (although do at least say SOMETHING). If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them.

SoundMonkey fucked around with this message at 06:45 on Dec 28, 2011

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


There are a lot of great ideas here, especially from hotpants. What I'm seeing seems to boil down to this:

SAD: post photos that don't easily fit into a themed thread, or that you'd just like people to see. People are absolutely free to comment on them if they like, but it's not required. Also a place for photos that maybe weren't that great but turned out to have some interesting feature, etc. Posters are encouraged to cross-post to PAD if the critique gets serious.

PAD: post photos that you think are a good example of your work, from newbie to professional, with the desire that other people comment on the photo and suggest improvements / ask questions. Again, critique of other photos is not mandatory, but at least some kind of text is - even if it's just you explaining what you were going for, why it did or didn't work, etc. Critique is generally expected to be at least constructive. There should probably be a rule against "go back to SAD".

(experimental) Tear Me A New One: You post photos that you believe are your best work, with the expectation that people will tear into them and your poo poo will be thrown to the dogs. Critique may (and probably should) tend towards the harsh, but anything short of calling your mother a whore is probably okay. Nobody should really be too upset, because hey, you chose to post in the thread, and sometimes you really do need to hear a non-niced-up opinion of your work.

It would end up as sort of a three-tiered thing, with a no-holds-barred portfolio-review style thread occupying the space where PAD currently is, and PAD being the middle-ground between that and cat pix.

The themed threads seem to be doing really well as-is, though.

Thoughts?

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


East Lake posted:

Yeah the themed threads are doing ok. I feel like they'd be thriving if most SAD posters used them more though. For the Tear Me A New One thread (good name!) I was thinking it would be the place to be be an elitist dope. Sort of a non-serious hate thread like the post terrible photographers thread but with our stuff. I think it would conflict with PAD a bit if it was serious critique oriented. But really I or any other Dorkroomer can start up a thread like that anytime. King Hotpants' ideas are the most important.

Yeah, the hate thread could be a humorous sort of thing wherein you post some picture of yours, and get poo poo like "what the gently caress is that, a three-legged dog pissing on anthony hopkins? at least it's in focus this time". Sometimes everyone's gotta vent a little, and it tends to help people be nice in other threads. Everyone has a lot of poo poo they're not proud of, and at least it could be used for the entertainment of others, all in good fun.

The question now is... rules. I think the guidelines people have come up with are great, but there's nothing really enforceable. Not that there necessarily NEEDS to be, it's not like I want to spend half my day dealing with reports, but if there's some kind of post in SAD or PAD that you think should actually be prohibited, now would be the time to speak up. Obviously all the standard forum rules still apply to everything (table breaking, 4chanism, being a belligerent drunk/high cocknuckle, etc).

I'm also very open to people encouraging picture-taking by whatever means necessary. You got a lovely old rangefinder you don't want? Post a thread asking people to submit their best (some kind of photo), give it away as a prize. Little mini-photo-contest things are just as fun, and I may well kick this off myself when I get back home.

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


:siren:NEW POLICIES:siren:

Snapshot A Day: This is now for photos that don't fit in themed threads, or are some photo you thought would be poo poo, but turned out ok, that you didn't really feel was worthy of posting anywhere else. It is NOT for photos that you don't want to post in PAD because you don't think you're good enough. Everyone is good enough to post in PAD. Bad things will happen if: you're a dick to someone needlessly, spam a huge number of low-content photos, or generally discourage people from posting photos. Mannequin, if you'd like to write a new OP and start a new thread, I'll lock the old one whenever. Whether or not this is monthly is up to you, we'll see how much volume it gets.

Photo A Day: I'd like to see this be monthly again at some point, but until people get used to it, the current format will probably work. This is now for photos where you have put some thought into the photograph, regardless of your skill level ("I thought the tree looked good on the side of the frame line that" is fine), and a place where you are strongly encouraged, although not required, to give critique to other photos. This is for photographers of all skill levels who would like the feedback of other photographers on their work. TheLastManStanding, you could either edit the OP or start a new thread, whichever. Bad things will happen if: you post angry belligerent critique, post a bunch of low-effort photos, post more than 3 without having a good reason for it, or generally harm the level of discussion in the thread.

Mystery Science Dorkroom 3000: This is a thread wherein you post your terrible fuckups, and people make fun of them in a humorous fashion. We all have lovely pictures that didn't work out, and now they can be entertaining to others. East Lake, you wanna start this one? Or if East Lake is busy, anyone else feel free to go nuts. Basically you can just go and make fun of photos people post, and anyone posting a photo is gonna have to accept it as all in good fun, because hey, they posted the photo. Bad things will happen if: you post a photo that isn't yours, you abuse a person instead of a photo, or if you have no sense of humor and get all internet hurt over some jokes. Anyone posting in this thread should know that people are going to make fun of their work.

That cover it?

SoundMonkey fucked around with this message at 09:38 on Dec 29, 2011

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


nonanone posted:

Because I kind of just want to dump photos to share with people, though I don't mind writing a bit about technique and thoughts each time, I don't want to have to (or be strongly encouraged to) get critique on any ol' snapshot. What determines what's good enough that it should go in PAD?

To put it simply? Whether or not you'd like other people to give serious consideration/critique to it. There's nothing saying you can't explain your snapshot a bit, or discuss it, just that in SAD, you shouldn't really be expecting critique.

EDIT: To clarify, you could post the exact same photo in PAD and in SAD, and the difference would be what you expect to get back out of it, and how seriously you take the photo. I don't think there's a "bar" as far as quality goes, although if a bunch of people found a photo posted in PAD to be of what they considered to be low quality, their critique would probably reflect that.

SoundMonkey fucked around with this message at 10:03 on Dec 29, 2011

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


East Lake posted:

Probably just axe this theme thread stuff and then you're good. Reworking SAD/PAD should be fine for now. I'm probably the only dude clamoring for theme thread stuff and I can increase activity by posting in theme threads! :downs:

I'm definitely going to do an MSD3K though when I get around to it.

The theme threads are great, people should just be less afraid to post in them. And hell, it's not like there's a rule that you can only post a photo in one thread. Sometimes you want critique from the world at large, sometimes you want critique from people who shoot the same kind of thing you do. The theme threads don't seem to be a big issue though, they're doing fine on their own as-is.

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


Schofferhofer posted:

I don't post in PAD because nobody posts there anymore and I cbf.

Problem spotted.

Also, generally, if you have one or more eyes and there is a brain attached to them, you can critique a photo. It may not be great critique, but it beats nothing.

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


Yeah, #c isn't some officially sanctioned dorkroom IRC channel or something, it's just where most of us tend to hang out. People should certainly know it exists, but the forums aren't the place for discussion of whatever shenanigans go on there.

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


Mannequin posted:

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

May I humbly suggest that we stick to ideas for improving dorkroom, and not import irc drama. Or any drama for that matter, other than the Who Owns Pentax This Week game.

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


TomR posted:

I have about 3/4 of an idea for a thread I think may be fun. How about a challenge/call out thread where you can post a dorkroom regular who's work you like, but ask them to shoot something different.

For example: I really like USERNAME's landscapes, I would like to see them do a portrait of a person.

There would be no prize or penalty, just a fun thing to get people doing something outside their comfort zone.

Thunderdome is reborn!

This is probably a good idea, anyone have any further suggestions for it?

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


Martytoof posted:

On the heels of the thunder dome suggestion:

I'd like to suggest a photo-contest-lite. Throw ideas into an inaugural thread and pick one out every month. Start a new themed thread every month. No voting, no prizes, just something to get people shooting every month with a theme in mind. Critique would be entirely optional. Call out photos you really like, ask questions about the setup, scene, etc.

So basically like a themed SAD. Definitely not labelled as a contest, just a way to get the creative process up and running.

I know there are weeks and months where I can't come up with an idea to shoot to save my life, so a push in a themed direction would probably be enough to get me started looking around. Sure you can say that I shouldn't need a suggestion to start shooting interesting stuff, but let's be honest: sometimes we just need a push to get out of a creative rut.

Or perhaps even a lovely custom title, winner determined by a randomly selected judge.

No prize at all is good too though!

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


Also, both SAD and PAD are stickied for the next month to encourage posting with the new guidelines. It made me sad to see the once-proud PAD barely clinging to page 1. Now go post.

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


Martytoof posted:

The only reason I suggest no prizes is that I think it would be best if there were no "competitive" nature to intimidate people who see an amazing photo and decide to just not bother. The way I see it it would be a "post your themed photo no matter how bad you think you are" sort of thing, draw in the most inexperienced photographers too.

Not that I thought the competitive nature of the contests killed THAT many entrants, but I sort of suspect people took a look at some of the amazing stuff that was posted by virtue of the "one entry per person, make it count" thing and didn't think they even had a chance. Or worse, didn't want to embarrass themselves by posting an amateur attempt.

I think I used the phrase photo-contest-lite when I actually meant themed-SAD. Post as many themed photos as you like. Hell, getting someone to post a photo every day would be the ideal situation here if they find they're on a roll if it keeps them looking for this month's theme every day :)

Maybe sometimes prizes will just magically appear :)

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


I'd be very much in favor of a book trading thread, with the standard disclaimers (don't send anything you ever want to see again, etc). This would work especially well for beginner style books - there's only so many times you're going to open Understanding Exposure.

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


He is in no way tied up in my basement.

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


8th-samurai posted:

So chains then?

Hey, his choice, not mine...

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


8th-samurai posted:

Hot mod on mod action :pervert:

MARTYTOOF YOU SAID YOU'D NEVER TELL :argh:

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


Mannequin posted:

Hey SoundMonkey, now that you're actually posting in the Dorkroom these days how come you don't post more often in the photo threads such as PAD/SAD? Do you still take pictures? What is your role here besides moderator? I mean, generally you seem pretty quiet. I looked at your post history and saw that your last post in the Dorkroom before becoming mod was 4 months ago. Is this low contribution (for lack of a better phrase) due to some outside effect like traveling? Or is it because you primarily focus your energies elsewhere such as [nameless chatroom/organization]? Just curious why your presence here has died off over the years.

I probably haven't been shooting as much as I should, but I do enjoy reading Dorkroom quite a bit even if I don't always post. There's a lot of good discussion going on usually, and hopefully PAD will continue to see more posts with the updated rules.

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


Mannequin posted:

I like SoundMonkey. I just haven't seen him post much and wanted to ask why. I should be getting some film back from the lab this week so I expect to be posting more pictures shortly. And after that, probably a few more rolls in a couple more weeks as I took 8 this past weekend.

I've also been quite busy with work these days :) But I'm pretty much back in the saddle, I'll probably post a bunch of photos I took in NZ over the holidays (when I find my card reader :v:).

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


ConfusedUs posted:

The most banal and common of critique will be the "rules" critique. Rule of thirds! Don't chop off hands! You missed the focus! Overexposed! Underexposed!

A subset of this are the "distracting" people. That white collar is distracting! That red flower, in the background, out of focus, 3px high...it's distracting! That shadow of a bird on the field? DISTRACTING

The best critique starts with "What is this photo's purpose?" and goes from there.

These are actually all excellent points, it does get a bit tiresome to see the same often-inaccurate critiques used over and over (not that I'm saying this is the case, but it does pop up sometimes).

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


ConfusedUs posted:

I've actually toyed with the idea of a High Level Critique and Style Development thread, but that's more or less what PAD was trying to be before your benevolent reign, and it tanked.

I guess someone could make that thread if they really wanted to, but yeah, when there WAS a thread for that, almost nobody posted in it.

EDIT: Which probably led to it having the highest average posting quality in dorkroom :v:

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


ConfusedUs posted:

Once upon a time, I would bring my powers to bear, swooping down on PAD like an eagle, wings spread and claws outstretched, reaching for the low-hanging fruit of underexposure. I would snap at amputated limbs with rabid fury, and my beady eyes could catch the slightest of focus mishaps. I would scream my rage to an uncaring sky. The mice would freeze in their tracks, holding their 18-200 lenses forth like a shield, but it did no good, for I was a living ball of feathers and hatred, rending their photos limb from banal limb.

But no longer.

I yearn for more, for the peace of wispy skies and carefully managed color palettes. I thirst for the cool balm of style, but I fear that my thirst will go unsated, for this is the land of the common critique.

I really, really want someone to illustrate this.

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


guidoanselmi posted:

what the hell? friendly concern and curiosity is now a bannable offense?

You may notice that I replied nicely to his friendly concern.

Also if you're looking for a place to have an issue with a ban, there's the neat little 'Requested By' field in the leper colony that lets you know who you should talk to.

Additionally, new rule as of now. This thread is for chat about Dorkroom and its various threads and policies. Hell, it's even for discussion of my posting if you really want it to be. It's not for discussion of other peoples' moderation decisions or whatever opinions you might have about IRC.

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


Sevn posted:

Is anybody going to jump on this and make a new thread for it? I would love to have my photos shamelessly ripped apart for no reason other than to vent.

East Lake hasn't done it and it's been a while, so if you want to be a Famous OP, feel free to make the thread (just make a decent OP at least).

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


This is, as mentioned like two posts ago, not banchat.

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


xenilk posted:

In a perfect world, this would be great.

Unfortunately I strongly believe that if this is enforced we'll all look like elitist and will scare new people away as they won't be able to formulate the ideal critique you're looking for.

ConfusedUs is right on the money for what qualifies, at least in my mind, as good critique. However, like he said, encourage not enforce - I don't want to become the judge of how good someone's idea of critique is, and it would probably discourage newer members from giving critique, when really, what they see is just as valid as what anyone else sees.

Having said that, really truly horribly bad insulting critique is probably still not a good idea.

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.



Additionally...



SoundMonkey fucked around with this message at 21:51 on Jan 20, 2012

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


As a fun side-note, the correct place to express displeasure about moderation policies is not, in fact, a belligerent AIM message, pretending to be someone else, on a throwaway account. It did make my day however, so thank you to the person who did that.

It's also not a good idea to do this if you have a really distinctive writing style. Wink wink.

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


Ok new rule since every brand is releasing the greatest camera ever at the same time.

Do not post status updates for your order. Feel quite free to tell us that it arrived and what your first impressions are. Let us know if it's backordered to hell at every place except one. Do not, however, tell us that its tracking status just changed from "In Progress" to "Exception" and you don't know what that means.

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


the posted:

If I do that url/img linking thing for sharing tumblr images from my tumblr site the same way as flickr, is that approved or no?

I'm going to have to check on this.

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


The gods have spoken and yes, it is fine to link from Tumblr, might just wanna do the same link-back thing as Flickr to be safe. Although I personally couldn't find a drat thing in their TOS even mentioning this, so I'm pretty sure it's fine.

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


Revolucion posted:

I am pretty sure we do not have a thread dedicated to highly edited and manipulated photos? I am thinking something somewhere between Photography Post-Processing and PAD with an emphasis on experimentation and creativity.

Apart from one other poster I can think of, I haven't seen anyone post really altered stuff, perhaps a dedicated thread would pull them out of the wood work?

Thoughts? I am happy to create the thread but would be good to know if there was an interest for it first?

I think I know what you're going for here, and I'm not going to stop you from making it, but if it goes down a bad road in terms of the whole goddamn ~digital art~ thing again, I'm gonna gas the gently caress out of it (no hard feelings though).

SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


MrBlandAverage posted:

I think that if there's a thread dedicated to this kind of work then the idiots who complain about it can avoid it, and anybody who enters the thread just to poo poo on it can be probated or worse.

As long as people don't think it's a ~safe space~ to post terrible HDR without being mocked for it, why not make a thread and see how it goes.

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SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


Unless the topic is "digital art", HDR, or "being Snapshot A Day", you don't actually have to run every thread idea past me, you can just post one. If nobody likes it, it'll end up on page 2 and forgotten, and if it's horrible it'll get gassed. Whatever you do, at least try to have a decent OP.

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