Participation in Nature Threads

Friends, I did some checking and the Monday in Nature and Nature Unlimited threads have experienced a deep decline in participation, to the point where, over the past six months, we have only seen 10 or more responses to any given thread on a very few occasions. Compare this to as recently as late 2020, where most threads received 15-20 responses, and some many more than this. Single-digit participation was by far the exception rather than the rule. I sincerely and emphatically treasure my association with all of you. I wonder, though, if we are all receiving benefits from these efforts commensurate with the effort involved in making these threads happen twice a week. My personal situation currently is somewhat distracted, with business issues demanding more and more of my time and attention. I'm wondering if other regular participants would be willing to kick off these two threads each week should I be unable to do so? How do you all feel about this? Is there enough interest on your part to simply start the threads if you see I've been unable to do so? I will not feel usurped in any such case. I'm hoping we can all agree to share the load a bit, at least for a few weeks or months. If we value our opportunity to participate in this forum I'm hoping this is not too big an ask. Please share your thoughts and feelings on how we can best support and encourage one another. Thank you, David. Edited June 27, 2022 by DavidTriplett

Friends, I did some checking and the Monday in Nature and Nature Unlimited threads have experienced a deep decline in participation, to the point where, over the past six months, we have only seen 10 or more responses to any given thread on a very few occasions. Compare this to as recently as late 2020, where most threads received 15-20 responses, and some many more than this. Single-digit participation was by far the exception rather than the rule. I sincerely and emphatically treasure my association with all of you. I wonder, though, if we are all receiving benefits from these efforts commensurate with the effort involved in making these threads happen twice a week. My personal situation currently is somewhat distracted, with business issues demanding more and more of my time and attention. I'm wondering if other regular participants would be willing to kick off these two threads each week should I be unable to do so? How do you all feel about this? Is there enough interest on your part to simply start the threads if you see I've been unable to do so? I will not feel usurped in any such case. I'm hoping we can all agree to share the load a bit, at least for a few weeks or months. If we value our opportunity to participate in this forum I'm hoping this is not too big an ask. Please share your thoughts and feelings on how we can best support and encourage one another. Thank you, David.

I look forward to these posts, even though I am not able to post as often as I should. I think maybe more people are going back to work and are concentrating on getting their lives back together after the pandemic.

Please keep it going. Besides, I have photos I do want to post.

Thanks for the great job you have been doing. I know it can be a strain at times. Maybe being able to post more than one photo?

David, there just hasn't been anything worthwhile around, beasts, birds or bugs. On top of that, a new pet as a timewarp distraction. I suppose I could post a wildflower or two, but that seems kind of minimal! Sorry!

Folks, anyone is free to start the Friday Nature Unlimited threads. It doesn't have to be David every week.

David, there just hasn't been anything worthwhile around, beasts, birds or bugs. On top of that, a new pet as a timewarp distraction. I suppose I could post a wildflower or two, but that seems kind of minimal! Sorry!

We're in the dog days of summer here in New Mexico. Many wildflowers are past their best. A lot of bird nesting is over. Migration hasn't really started. Plus it's HOT and DRY. Thank you to everyone who posts, and especially the thread-starters!

I reread the Nature Forum rules. There is nothing that says the images have to be current.

 

For those who use Lightroom and have keywords associated with their images, now would be a great time to go back and find those forgotten gems to post

My personal situation currently is somewhat distracted

Ditto here - just moved from California to Maine. Getting settled currently doesn't leave much time (if any) for photography and I only recently started to participate in the forums again - but quite sporadic.

ust moved from California to Maine.

What a drastic change. Maine is enjoyable for photographers, though it can be very cold in the winter. Good luck Dieter!

Mary and Dieter, I think we should start a fall foliage thread in October. Can I count on the two of you, among others, to contribute? When we lived in New Jersey in the 1990's, we used to visit New England every October, I think except for 1999. Totally unexpectedly, we left the East Coast the following year and have been back to New England only once in 2008.

Mary and Dieter, I think we should start a fall foliage thread in October. Can I count on the two of you, among others, to contribute? When we lived in New Jersey in the 1990's, we used to visit New England every October, I think except for 1999. Totally unexpectedly, we left the East Coast the following year and have been back to New England only once in 2008.

For landscape photography, think New England is at its photographic best in the fall and winter. Wildlife is abundant as well.

If there were a "current only" policy.....

 

I am, for reasons beyond my control, living on past "glories".

I mostly post very recent images from the past few days so that I wouldn’t repost something I have posted before. But I have posted images from a few years back occasionally.

Ditto here - just moved from California to Maine. Getting settled currently doesn't leave much time (if any) for photography and I only recently started to participate in the forums again - but quite sporadic.

 

Welcome to Maine!

For landscape photography, think New England is at its photographic best in the fall and winter. Wildlife is abundant as well.

Agreed that Maine can be spectacular in fall and winter; spring and early summer can also provide excellent opportunities particularly with the spring and summer flowers. Don't forget the dark skies Maine has and of course the rocky coastline that can be beautiful in all seasons.

Maine is beautiful. My sister and bil used to live in Gerogetown and I visited every now and then. Then several years ago (unfortunately for me) they sold their house and moved to a gated community in SC. I particularly like the coastline - Route 1 all the way up. Just enjoyable.

Speaking of Maine, not sure how many of you remember Bob Atkins, who founded this very forum. After their retirement, Bob and his partner Kathy moved to Maine about a decade ago. They live just outside of the Acadia National Park. I used to see them once a year back in New Jersey, but I have lost touch with them.

Speaking of Maine, not sure how many of you remember Bob Atkins, who founded this very forum. After their retirement, Bob and his partner Kathy moved to Maine about a decade ago. They live just outside of the Acadia National Park. I used to see them once a year back in New Jersey, but I have lost touch with them.

Bob Atkins' articles have been a great source of information for me and he always writes them in an easy way to understand.

Found Bob Atkins on Facebook. It seems he has not updated his website for a long time.

Can I count on the two of you, among others, to contribute?

I can only promise that I'll try.

I can only promise that I'll try.

Me too, no promises. ;) Where I live now is further away from Maine but beautiful as well - just need to find the time to explore. However, I am thinking of visiting Maine's Machias Island again sometime for puffins.

I think we should start a fall foliage thread in October. Can I count on the two of you, among others, to contribute?

I'll try to contribute as well. Colors here not as spectacular as New England, but we can have amazing combinations of snow, fall colors, and red rocks. I promise to do what I can do.

Thank you to everyone for engaging and keeping things going. I came up for air long enough to post an image from this holiday weekend (Pioneer Day here in Utah), but this coming week is going to be another tough one, including a quick trip to St. George for a project meeting and site inspection. Hoping I'll be available for Nature Unlimited and MiN, but we'll have to see how things go. Thanks again for all that you do!

I have been back to California for 22 years. Fall foliage is not nearly as good as it is in New England. Additionally, New Jersey is known to be Garden State and foliage there can be spectacular in early/mid October. Another issue is that foliage at where I live (San Francisco area) seems to peak in mid November. It is considerably later than it is in New England. For those in New York State, Harriman State Park is another one of my favorite locations, and it is not that far from New York City.

 

BTW, I'll try to start at least Monday in Nature each week if I have new images, as I tend to mostly post new images. But anyone please feel free to start Monday in Nature and Friday Nature Unlimited threads.

If there were a "current only" policy.....

There is no "current only" policy of which I am aware. Besides, what would be an acceptable definition of "current"? I frequently go back into my archives (shallow as they may be) for inspiration, or to see if I can extract something more pleasing using my more mature processing skills. Please don't think that images we share here must be within a specific time frame. The only boundaries are content and authorship.

I suppose I could post a wildflower or two, but that seems kind of minimal! Sorry!

In my world wildflowers are absolutely fair game. I was brought up waiting around for my dad to capture the perfect wildflower shots on our backpacking trips. (I still have the Nikkormat EL he used for many of those.)