amehta Loc: Boston

I wonder if all of this is a symptom of an unmoderated social media tool used by a lot of people who are not familiar with social media etiquette?

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

I don't think anything in this forum is broken. I have spent a hard 8 months or more here in order to learn from the ground up. I have asked some very elementary questions and because some members with terrific knowledge took the time to give me direction I am learning at a faster pace than I could have given the mental skills that I have. I have spent more money on learning than I have on equipment, or close to it. I have hired tutors, bought books, bought videos and watched many free videos from Youtube, B&H and Adroama. My primary source has been UHH and I am grateful. There will always be some new people just exploring the idea of photography. Then you have others that are more serious and will stick with it. I still have questions that need answering and I expect that I will ask them and I hope someone on UHH will help me. There are 10 or 20 people here that always seem to mentor new people like me and, Ametha, you are one of them. I have deep gratitude to those people.

Mark7829 Loc: Calfornia

Your're right. Because this works for me (you), it should works for everyone else because... as you have stated, you have spent more money on learning than equipment? I don't see the correlation.

If you want to explore, please explore but if you come into these forums and want to engage in meaningful conservation, please come in here with more than what's on the forums today such as, How do I activate PS Elements. Again, these forums should not be the first place or the lazy place to ask a question whose answers can be found easily and quickly using other media. After you have exhausted traditional and conventional methods, please ask and I would be glad to help.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

medavis43 Loc: Folkston, GA

I would not hesitate to ask an opinion on a piece of equipment before I bought it - or comparisons. This is a good place to do it. So many of you are so knowledgeable and kind to share that knowledge. As for someone who has no clue, giving them some web links is helpful I think. It's nice to have a starting place. Us old people didn't have the luxury of information at our fingertips. We learned from others we knew. I have learned a lot here and I have learned a lot just by looking at your pictures and the comments on them.

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

"these forums should not be the first place or the lazy place to ask a question whose answers can be found easily and quickly using other media. "


Seems like that is the whole point of coming to a Photography Forum,,, Google gives out all sorts of questionable sources based on key words (often the wrong ones first). A Photographer's Free Forum should be able to point people in the right direction either within this site or externally, rather than berate the questioner.

several posts (my own included) suggest a need for an easily identifyable ability rating. Learner - newbie- ex film wanting digital info- more $ than iq- etc so that response can be geared to help them at their own percieved level, rather than at our perception based on their wording. No-one is suggesting a seporate section. no one suggests limits to answeres. no one suggests it will be fool proof. But we are getting a lot of similar threads.

Knowlege has to have some previous knowlege to stick to. A retiree has a wealth of knowlege and experiences and the free time to develop new skills in a remarkable quick time frame. New information will find lots of connections to allow leaps of intuition and understanding. This is not available to a younger, busy, hard working, family orientated person juggling relationship, children,job,life in general and a new potentialy expensive hobby.... There are inevitable cash differences and perceptions about 'value for money' 'value of a hobby' etc.

There are people in the forum who are able to gear their advice at a level appropriate to the poster. Some who state the obvious like read a book or google it. Some who hijack everything to a text based conversation between friends or regularly disparaging less favoured individuals. And finally those who suggest throwing cash at any problem as the only 'learning aid'.

perhaps a simple easily flagged discriptor attatched to the topic line would weed out those who can't or wont help before they open the post and find something 'annoying'.

most people want to be helpful - beginners can help other beginners but may shy away from technical issues because they feel inexperienced. However, they will read and learn from answeres given to basic questions to re-enforce their skill set. Its also more interesting than a rant.

We cannot have endless subsections, its even questioned as to the benefit of some existing sub sections...so an index system for topics may well be an alternative way to allow responses to be better meet peoples needs.

a scowling 'smilie' may yet become the favoured flag for those about to give someone grief so that the rest of us can ignore it.....

medavis43 Loc: Folkston, GA

[quote=G Brown]"these forums should not be the first place or the lazy place to ask a question whose answers can be found easily and quickly using other media. "


Seems like that is the whole point of coming to a Photography Forum,,, Google gives out all sorts of questionable sources based on key words (often the wrong ones first). A Photographer's Free Forum should be able to point people in the right direction either within this site or externally, rather than berate the questioner.

several posts (my own included) suggest a need for an easily identifyable ability rating. Learner - newbie- ex film wanting digital info- more $ than iq- etc so that response can be geared to help them at their own percieved level, rather than at our perception based on their wording. No-one is suggesting a seporate section. no one suggests limits to answeres. no one suggests it will be fool proof. But we are getting a lot of similar threads.
(edited for space)

Thank you. We all had to start somewhere. Not everyone is a techie. As you say, some of the articles are of questionable value and sometimes we just need an explanation in lay terms of what we read. For the old folks just starting again after film, digital is like learning to drive a jet plan after driving a horse and buggy. We have questions. We need things explained to us. Yes, I can read but if I don't know what the terms mean, it doesn't do me any good.

orterrym Loc: Miami

Sorry oldtigger, but "Newbies have rights too" is just not true. While I agree with you philosophically, in a recent supreme court decision, the justices held in a 5 to 4 resolution, that while Newbies are "technically" photographers in the broadest sense of the term, they have no "rights" on any forum of which they have been a part of in less time that it takes to obtain tenure. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote "While Newbies are indeed a protected species and should therefore be given the same respect as the Greater One horned Rhino or the Southern Rockhopper Penguin, to say they have rights is a bit of a stretch. We hold these truths to be self evident that aperture settings and white balance are not something we are entitled to. That is to say, this knowledge is more a privilege to be earned, rather than a right or entitlement." I'm just saying.....

amehta Loc: Boston

I agree. And "Google it" is often the least useful answer. First, you need to have a pretty good idea of what you are looking for to find it. Second, while I may get an answer almost immediately on Google, that's partly because it knows that half my searches are related to photography, so it's already gearing the searches that way. The same cannot be said for most new photographers here.

I would definitely appreciate both the <sarcasm> and <rant> emoticons. Maybe I should just use
:evil: and :twisted: more. :-)

medavis43 Loc: Folkston, GA

:)

terry44 Loc: Tuolumne County California, Maui Hawaii

We should welcome all and give them open-ended advice from which they can make an educated decision

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

Sometimes Google has driven me crazy. Often times it is directing me to a commercial site. I don't remember how I came across UHH in the beginning but I did and I'm grateful because you gave me permission to be ignorant and you directed me gently and sometimes not so gently to think on and in your terms and vocabulary. I am far better today than I was almost 9 months ago when I came from nowhere knowing nothing about how to speak dslr. I wasn't stupid. I was just ignorant. If I can help another ignorant person to gain self-confidence and garner a little pride of accomplishment I will gladly do so. I don't care how elementary a question might be. If I can help, I will. There are many polished and talented photographers here who reached out and I will always be grateful that they didn't tell me I didn't know enough to be here.

amehta Loc: Boston

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

A lot of times someone will ask the "Canon vs Nikon", "Raw vs JPEG", or another of the "UHH Top-10 Dogmatic Discussion Topics (TM)" questions, and someone will post the "here we go again" comment. I try to give the :thumbdown: or "you don't have to watch" response to that, not because I care about that person's opinion, but because the OP needs to know that their question is not being dismissed by everyone.

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

You are among the group that sparked hope in me and some of your answers, more than I care to admit, have sent me off on research missions so I could understand what you were talking about. When you get off into a math discussion with someone regarding technical issues, well, my head spins. That's not a bad thing. It just means more research. This seems to happen about the time I have one of those "Ah Ha" moments. And the beat goes on, as the song goes.

amehta Loc: Boston

Yes, I do sometimes get more mathematical than anyone wants. :lol:

If it's any consolation, some of my posts are done after I've gone on my own research mission.

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

:D