GROUP GUIDELINES
Welcome to: ask the "ole pro" about photography. We hope your stay with us will be long and productive. The following guidelines have been devised to allow us all to enjoy photography in an atmosphere of conviviality and harmony. Please take the time to read them…
Etiquette
Good manners and simple courtesy should be the essence of all communications in this group. Robust discussion is encouraged, but if you are just looking for an argument, then step outside
. Management has the right to delete any thread they feel is counterproductive.
For the benefit of all we ask that political and religious views be excluded from debate.
Fonts
When using the message board, communications are enhanced if you use plain fonts such as Arial or Verdana. Verdana is a font with a high x-height specially developed for easy reading on screen.
Do not use fancy fonts or script fonts. They are difficult to read and only hinder communication. Use upper and lower case. If you must use colour, use it sparingly for emphasis.
Subject headings on the Message Board
Use clear descriptive subject headings. They will get you a better response to questions and members will be able to spend their time online more productively rather than wasting time opening threads with ambiguous titles. "Help with flash exposure!" is more useful to the potential reader than "Help!!!!!!"
Photo submission guidelines to the Message Board
Photos should be no more 640 pixels high, 700 pixels wide in order for members to view the photo on a monitor without scrolling, depending on the longest side of the photo.
If including more than one picture, place a carriage return <ENTER>between pictures so that they do not appear side by side and require side-scrolling.
Photos placed in a discussion thread should be approximately 100kb in file size.
Photo submission guidelines for albums
Digital real estate on MSN is valuable. To ensure that as many members as possible get to display their work, please limit your photo submission to a single album with a maximum of 12 pictures. This makes it easy for someone to review your pictures as a single page without succumbing to picture fatigue.
You'll get a better more detailed response to a well-edited 12 pictures than you will to several pages.
Try rotate your work regularly, rather than just adding to the album.
Management reserves the right to regularly delete excess photos as well as empty or inactive albums to allow space for new members to show their work.
Copyright
We respect the copyright of others. Do not post photographs that are not your own, unless you are doing so with permission and crediting the author.
False attribution of photography belonging to someone else as your own will not be tolerated.
Unacceptable topics
The managers will remove photographs considered to be pornographic. Posts considered offensive, criticizing religious beliefs, or subjects dealing with politics or nudity will be deleted. If you encounter such a photo or subject, please email the managers.
Photo critiques
Because it is not possible to place comments on pictures within albums, members seeking a critique of their pictures should post them to the message board. Bear in mind that giving a critique of an album is time-consuming. It can take up to half an hour to review an album properly. The feedback you get will probably be only relatively superficial.
If you include photos for critique in the body of a message (rather than as an attached file) on the message board you will get a better more detailed response.
For off-site links members posting these links should advise of large downloads, files or any programs needed downloaded for viewing purposes. Do not link up to spam or pornagraphic sites. These sites can be deleted by any acting manager if viewed as unsuitable for any reason. Posting off site links are discouraged since many members may not view them, posting a few photos on the message board will get better viewing results and more replies.
Photo editing guidelines
This subject is discussed regularly, vigorously and endlessly on the message board.
Essentially this group is dedicated to straightforward photography. This does not preclude editing or other enhancement so long as it does not change the essential meaning or essence of the original photo.
The reason for the emphasis on straightforward photography is that where the original photographic technique and principles employed to create a photograph have been eliminated by manipulation it becomes impossible to give an objective or meaningful critique.
Chrome writes, "Marty's intent, and mine, was for the members of this group to have a strong understanding of the fundamentals and discipline of photographic technique: to know how to expose properly, to understand the principles of good lighting, composition and framing, so that the best possible image is created in the camera, thereby reducing the need for further editing". Marty's last words to me were, "Keep it simple".
Last updated February 7, 2008
